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In the world of today’s advanced technologies and their constant improvement, it seems nothing is impossible. For a modern person without a philological or linguistic education, translation may seem like a simple thing.
This conclusion is often made because they know about the existence of Google Translate. It is considered to be a tool that can quickly provide interpretation from any language. In principle, this is partly true. The speed is guaranteed.
However, will quality be the same as speed? Along with speed, quality is the most important thing in interpretation. After all, texts are very diverse.
It’s not always just a fiction or journalistic text. It can be a legal, economic, technical, financial, medical, or business topic. In this case, a mistake can play a decisive role in the project ‘s failure and even the reputation of the interpreter.
The Importance of Avoiding Plagiarism
When choosing the interpreting method, students should also keep in mind the risk of plagiarism. Studying in college involves a busy schedule, lots of assignments, and a lot of information.
Therefore, it is important to remember to use an online plagiarism check to protect yourself from the trap of cross-language plagiarism. Sometimes a certain percentage of plagiarism is allowed.
But if you want to make your paper worthy of the highest grades, you must realize that even a small percentage of plagiarism is bad thing. And even more so is direct plagiarism.
Google Translate Pros and Cons
Let’s go back to the issue of quality and accuracy. Of course, Google Translate has obvious advantages. It allows for cross-language translation from more than 100 languages.
It is free, works 24/7 in a web browser and through applications. The interpretation is generated from already existed texts on the Internet. However, one of the major drawbacks is the lack of confidentiality.
Everything you translate is stored and analysed by Google. Google Translate is often still quite generalised and does not offer any adaptation of the text to specific jargon or a specialized field.
What About Other Online Alternatives?
Therefore, there is still a risk your interpretation may be inaccurate or even incorrect.
There are other free alternatives that will be much more accurate and provide a narrow focus and different variants of the same phrase. This way, you can choose the most accurate version for a specific topic.
One of them is DeepL. It is considered the best alternative to Google Translate for people who value accuracy in understanding both context and local idioms.
In a blind test between Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, Amazon Translate, and DeepL, most translators preferred DeepL. But there is a major drawback: the limited selection of languages. Currently, the list reaches up to 31.
Another machine interpretation service is Amazon Translate. Unlike other tools that focus on both the consumer and APIs, Amazon Translate is almost entirely focused on the latter. It supports more languages than the previous tool, but fewer than Google Translate.
Microsoft also offers a service. Microsoft Translator provides a large number of user-oriented applications. For example, start an international meeting and allow everyone to participate in their native language. It supports more than 70 languages.
There are many other interpretation systems and applications. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it would be a thankless task to guarantee 100% accuracy of at least one of them or the above.
Therefore, to ensure safe translation services, you can conduct an independent test. Namely, to insert a piece of the same specialized material using different interpretation tools.
Professional Translators Help
If you are good at time management and don’t put off important things until the last minute, you can use the translation services of the agencies.
This is because you need to arrange for interpretation at least a little bit in advance. Though there are also options for urgency. Of course, the services of such agencies are paid for.
You can also pay extra for urgency if your text is not a general topic, but a specialized one. However, the obvious advantage is accuracy.
After all, agencies employ professional translators who work with different language pairs. You can also order a notarized document, which will also increase your confidence that the translation is safe.
We Can Draw the Following Conclusions
Today’s opportunities allow us to feel like translators instantly. All you need is access to the Internet and choose one of the online interpreters.
But each of them has its obvious advantages and disadvantages. We should always keep this in mind when translating highly specialized topics.
We also have the alternative of using professional agencies, where translators use various special programs, but meticulously proofread the translated texts to eliminate any inaccuracies. This requires a fee. So the choice is yours.
The main thing to remember is that by making this choice and approaching this issue carefully, you determine the success of the final result.
Ihsan Sharif is a talented writer known for his engaging articles on linguistic topics. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for language, Ihsan brings complex linguistic concepts to life, making them accessible and interesting to a wide audience.