Defining the Translation Purpose - Quality Assessment for Raw MT and Light Post-Editing. A use case presented by Lena Marg (MT Project Manager at Welocalize)

1. TAUS ROUNDTABLE VIENNA
MARCH 2016
PRESENTATION
RAW MT & LIGHT POST-EDITING

2. “It’s not about translation,
it’s about
the user experience.”
LinkedIn, Microsoft — and many more —
TAUS Annual Conference

3. Demand for Raw MT Solutions is Growing
To Enable Instant Communication Between Internal / External “Users”
(Tech Support, Customers…)
To Provide Instant Translation of Important Information
to Internal Partners Across the Globe
To Leverage Infinite Volumes of Social Media Content in New Markets
Worldwide, Drive Sales & Market Share
To Enable Other Solutions Such as Social Media Listening

4. TRANSLATION PURPOSE
Enter/Grow Social Media Presence in New Markets
Faster & 24/7 Support For Product Users
Engage (Crowd of) Loyal Customers
TRANSLATION OBJECTIVE
Fast, Instantaneous Communication
Understandable, actionable Translations

5. Interest in ‘Light Post-Editing’ Solutions is
Growing
To Provide Faster Access to Legal Draft Documentation
Across a Global Organization
To Provide Access to Large Databases of
Internal eLearning Collaterals
Generally, to Provide Lower-Cost Translations for
Low-Impact Content
To Enable Other Solutions Such as Sentiment Analysis (*Ensuring
Sentiment is Captured Accurately in the Translation)

6. TRANSLATION PURPOSE
Enable Other Technologies
Provide Draft Copies/Proposals to Decision-Makers Throughout the Organization
Provide Access to Company Collaterals to the Global Organization
TRANSLATION OBJECTIVE
(Short Turnaround Times)
Accurate, Understandable and Actionable
Translations

7. PARAMETERS
RAW MT REQUESTS
LIGHT PE
REQUESTS
User-Generated
Source Input
One to Many (Rare)
Language Pairs
Generic/Customized
MT
Output Via User-Friendly
UI
Typically Authored
One to Several (Rare)
Language Pairs
Typically Customized
MT
Output Matches input
Format (PPT, Doc…)

8. REQUESTED SOLUTION
RAW MT
LIGHT POST-
EDITING
FREE
INSTANTANEOUS
UNDERSTANDABLE /
ACTIONABLE
CHEAP
FAST
ACCURATE /
ACTIONABLE

9. ACTUAL EXPECTATIONS
RAW MT
LIGHT POST-
EDITING
FREE
INSTANTANEOUS
UNDERSTANDABLE
CHEAP
FAST
ACCURATE
ACCURATE,
FLUENT,
IDIOMATIC,
ENGAGING,
NATURAL
Customer-side
Reviewers

10. The Verbatim Feedback
on MT is Always
Negative. That’s a
Given, Nobody Likes a
Bad Translation.
Very Few People Even
Like Good
Translations.

11. Set Clear Expectations Around “Raw MT” & “Light PE” and What They Can Realistically Achieve
Ensure Reviewers Consider the Full Context/Product, Not the Translation Alone
Ensure the Purpose is Clear & Shared With Any Quality Assessors and Stakeholders in the Organization:
What Were the Key Motivators for this Approach?
Factor in Measurable Feedback Mechanisms:
“Was this Article Useful?”, “Were You Able to Complete the Task?” & Compare Against the Feedback
Tracked on the Original Source
Build in a Process for Feeding Back Concepts and Patterns to Improve the MT System
For Authored Source, Consider Optimizing the Source for Translation
For UGC, Consider Source Normalization Prior to MT
How to Implement Raw MT /
Light PE

12. CONTEXT:
Facebook, User-Generated Entry
Date: Beginning of Spring
World Knowledge “Hanami Season in Japan Soon”
Photo of Plum Tree
Disclaimer “Translation from Japanese”
Is the Translation Entirely Accurate and
Understandable?
NO
Does it Fulfill the Purpose for the User?
YES: There is a Plum festival around Hanami season,
my friend went and took pictures, did lots of walks and
had various food / drink stops and generally had a
fantastic day out.
= I can join the conversation

13. Thank You