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Chaim enquired:
> I am looking for machine translation software that can provide accurate
> translations for machine part descriptions that will go into
> machine-generated parts manuals. I would like to be able to load
> spreadsheets or databases of machine part descriptions in one
> language, and
> the software will output these same part descriptions in other languages.
> If anybody on this list can recommend software that is best able to
> accomplish these tasks, please let me know.
Speaking as a translator, I would highly doubt there is such an
off-the-shelf program. Actually I don't believe there is but who knows, I
may be wrong. I have not used machine translation software.
For me, translating company part lists (from German into English) is always
an adventure. I often come upon names that don't exist anywhere else but in
that particular company or it is some regional variation, etc.
ISO/DIN/whatever standard terminology is rarely adhered to consistantly and
I have to research and bug people to find out what the heck they are
referring to. Usually there is some simple often-used term in German but no,
these people couldn't use _that_ term. Then there are the cases where there
is more than one term in English but only one term in the target language or
vice versa. Then decisions have to be made as to which one or how to
differentiate.
The only way to get the results you actually need is to have your terms
translated properly and then take advantage of repetitions using
computer-assisted translation memory tools (this is _not_the same things as
machine translation - these are tools translators use to keep track of what
they have already translated within a project and across projects). This
costs money but will save you money in the end if a high quality parts list
is what you need.
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