Machine Translation Services

Get Fast, Efficient Translation with Our Machine Translation Services

Do you need a quick, affordable way to translate large volumes of content into another language?

JR Language’s machine translation (MT) services are the ideal solution. We combine the latest automatic translation technologies with human post-editing to deliver the right balance of speed, cost, and quality.

Our translation company uses professional human translators and advanced technology to support our multilingual work. Machine translation services are one of the technologies in our toolbox that helps us provide adequate and tailored translation services for our clients.

What is Machine Translation?

Machine translation (also called automated translation, automatic translation, AI translation, or computer translation) refers to the process of using artificial intelligence to translate content from one language to another without human intervention. MT software and tools are often used to translate massive volumes of content—millions of words—quickly. In these cases, translation quality is not always a key factor.

As a longstanding translation company, JR Language provides machine translation services for clients who want large swathes of information translated quickly and at a low cost. After the automated translation process, documents can be further edited to reach the desired quality. This is done through a process called human post-editing.

Compelling Benefits of Machine Translation Software

Machine translation services from JR Language offer several key advantages:

Stay in your budget: Nothing beats our professional online translation services from an accurate human translator. But sometimes, it’s too costly of an option. MT provides a very practical and cost-effective alternative for expanding your language capabilities—especially if you have a large volume of content that’s always changing. It works with most language pairs, from Japanese and Spanish translations to French and Portuguese translations.
Save time: When the clock is ticking, you might not have the luxury of waiting for a professional translator to translate your important document. Automatic translation can deliver translated texts in a fraction of the time of a human translator. MT translations provide decent quality and a general understanding of the original message. If further refinement is needed, the team at JR Language can perform post-editing services to create a more polished and professional version.
Reach the market before your competitors: If you’re in a highly competitive, global market, the quick turnaround and low cost of machine-translated content can give you a serious advantage.
Assume no risk: We will provide you with a sample so that you can evaluate the machine translation. Then, together, we’ll determine if you’ll be able to use a raw machine translation output, or if you’ll require post-editing and glossary development to get the perfect translation results.

What Are the Different Types of Machine Translation?

Machine translation comes in several forms, with each using a different kind of technology. These include:

Statistical Machine Translation (SMT)

This type of automated translation software “learns” how to translate by analyzing existing texts done by human translators. While they’re suitable for basic translations, statistical machine translation systems don’t factor in language context, which can lead to less-than-accurate translations.

Rule-Based Machine Translation (RBMT)

RBMT depends on built-in bilingual dictionaries and linguistic rules to perform a grammatical analysis of the source text and the target language. Since the translations are rules-based, the resulting texts can sound mechanical in tone and often need to be fine-tuned through human post-editing work to ensure fluency.

Hybrid Machine Translation (HMT)

This type of machine translation leverages the best aspects of SMT and RBMT to create higher-quality translated texts. However, even with this improved fluency, extensive editing is sometimes still required for HMT-translated documents.

Neural Machine Translation (NMT)

NMT relies on neural network models—similar to the human brain—to create statistical models that are referenced during the translation process. Instead of depending on pre-set rules, this approach uses fully automated machine learning technology to “train” software on how to optimize translations. Since it was introduced in 2016, NMT has quickly become the dominant form of machine translation technology in the marketplace.

What is the Best Machine Translation?

JR Language prefers and uses state-of-the-art neural machine translation technology to support our machine translation services. Machine translation has come a long way since the first days of Google translate. Now we have the ability to develop content-specific glossaries and use these during the translation process. We’ve found that NMT produces translations that are much more natural sounding than other methods and significantly better in terms of accuracy and fluency. Our technology team will work with you to determine the best-fit solution for the language pair and subject matter of your project.

How Accurate is Automatic Translation?

The accuracy of machine translation varies depending on the complexity and terminology used within the piece, as well as the languages involved in the process. More widely spoken languages, such as Spanish, have been used more often— providing more data for the machine translation to work with and develop, and thus will render more accurate results. Additionally, a document with simple, commonly used phrases will translate better than one with complex phrases and terminology.

MT technology has come a long way in recent years. But the quality of the output of the machine translation software must always be evaluated. This allows us to decide if the raw translation produced is good enough for the client’s needs and expectations. Different clients might aim for a different level of quality based on their needs.

If you’re looking for a basic understanding of a text, our AI machine translation services is a smart bet. Neural machine translation technology—the approach used by our translation agency—does an excellent job at providing an almost-perfect translation. And often, “almost perfect” is just what you need. MT output can also be improved to obtain a better-quality translation when you have the text post-edited by our professional translators.

When to Use Machine Translation?

Machine translation services deliver high linguistic quality at a fraction of the cost of traditional, human-powered translation services. MT is a good choice if you are, for example, testing your content in a new market and aren’t ready to invest in professional translation services. It’s also ideal for straightforward support content and more informal content such as:

Machine translation can also be beneficial during the e-discovery process, which typically generates massive volumes of digital content. MT makes it possible to quickly and efficiently identify which important foreign-language documents should be translated by a professional translator—and which documents can undergo automated translation.

If you’re participating in a bid on a project in a foreign language, and need the RFP document translated into English promptly so you can get started on your proposal, a machine translation is a good way to go. You’ll get a “good enough” translation to be able to respond to the bid. We can always polish the translation with post-editing from our professional translation team.

In summary, if the translation is for your internal use, and you need to get a gist of the content—or if you’re in a rush or have a limited budget—then machine translation is probably a good option.

Post-Editing for the Perfect Finish

Are you mostly satisfied with your machine-translated text but it needs a little bit of refining? JR Language offers human post-editing services from our experienced human translators. These professionals possess both linguistic skills and deep expertise in a range of subject areas.

During post-editing, our professional translators carefully review your MT translations for fluency, accuracy, and consistency. Where needed, they’ll rewrite and/or edit the document to ensure a natural-sounding language flow.

The combination of MT and post-editing is useful in a variety of scenarios. Ask us today if it’s right for you!

Examples of Machine Translation with Post-Editing

Law firms, publishing companies, and other organizations have successfully used this new technology with us to reach their goals. These projects mostly involve very large amounts of content, but the quality of the raw machine translation is not good enough for the contents use. As a result, we prepare specific glossaries and perform detailed post-editing to render a perfect translation. Some projects JR Language has completed using MT with post-editing include:

Is Machine Translation Right for You?

At JR Language, we practice a consultative approach to working with our clients. If you’re wondering whether our machine translation services are a good fit for your project needs, contact us to discuss.

We can help you decide whether you’ll benefit from MT on its own—or if you’re better off with a combination of automatic translation and human post-editing. In some cases, professional translation by humans is the best way to capture your message and deliver it to multi-lingual audiences, but we’ll let you know if that’s the case!

Machine Translation Services Frequently Asked Questions

How does automatic translation work?

Machine translation uses algorithms and statistical models to analyze the structure and meaning of a source text and generate a new version in the target language. Some machine translation systems also use neural networks and deep learning techniques to improve accuracy.

What are the advantages of machine translation services?

The main advantage of machine translation is speed and efficiency. Machine translation can quickly translate large volumes of content at a relatively low cost compared to human translation.

What are the limitations of machine translation?

The main limitation of machine translation is accuracy. Machine translation systems can need help with idiomatic expressions, cultural nuances, and other complexities of languages in general that require human understanding and knowledge.

How accurate is machine translation?

The precision of the machine translation output can be different due to several elements, such as the domain and complexity of the content, language pair, and the characteristics or type of the machine translation software. While machine translation can be helpful for simple or repetitive content, it is not recommended for content that requires a high degree of accuracy, nuance, or cultural context.

How can I ensure the accuracy of machine translation?

Our translation company recommends reviewing the translated content carefully and making any necessary edits or corrections to ensure the accuracy of automatic translation. In some cases, and for some applications, MT can be used alone. But to guarantee the correctness and appropriateness of the translation, machine translation should be used in conjunction with human translation or post-editing services to improve the accuracy and quality of its output.

Can machine translation be customized for specific industries or domains?

Machine translation can be customized for specific industries or domains, such as healthcare, finance, or legal, to improve accuracy and ensure that industry-specific terminology is translated correctly.

Is the use of machine translation appropriate for legal or technical documents?

While machine translation can be used for legal or technical documents, it is generally not suggested due to the high risk of mistakes and inaccuracies. Legal and technical documents require high accuracy and precision; therefore, human translation is typically selected.