MTPE / Post-editing.

Machine translation with post-editing 

Post-editing refers to the editing by a language professional of a translation generated through machine translation. The aim is to correct errors, ensure that the text is understandable in the target language and – depending on requirements – improve its style.

Human translation refers to the process where the translation is produced from start to finish by a human being. Translating into their native language, our language professionals are fully engaged with the text right from the start, take the context into account, ask questions if any aspects of the source texts are unclear and, if in doubt, consult other professionals. Ensuring that content is correctly translated is only one aspect of the preparation of human translations, which, in the case of wordup translations, are always edited by a second language professional. Our human translations also reflect your company-specific terminology, maintain an excellent quality of language and elegance of style, and are tailored to the cultural context of the target group (localisation).

When is post-editing a good option?

Post-editing is best suited for texts for which cost-efficiency and speed are the primary considerations:

• internal communications or content with a short lifespan
• large volumes of text with standardised content
• technical documentation, operating instructions

Less well suited for post-editing are:

• marketing and advertising texts
• creative content or brand communication
• texts of a sensitive legal nature or texts intended for publication
• file formats that cannot be overwritten

What should you bear in mind?

There is a widespread misconception that post-editing involves only “a quick read-through”. In fact, depending on the quality requirements, the amount of work required can come close to that involved in a human translation. Key factors for the quality of a MTPE translation are listed below:

• Quality of the source text: clear, well-structured original texts that use terminology consistently result in significantly better MT results
• The right technology: not all “machines” are equally well suited for all areas of specialisation.
• Management of expectations: there are different levels of post-editing (light vs. full). Which is appropriate depends on quality requirements.
• Professional skill: high quality post-editing also requires experienced language professions.

Who generates the machine translation?

We offer a one-stop service. If machine-translated texts have already been produced (e.g. in a format with an already existing layout), we will need clear and complete information about the tool used and any predefined values or settings, to allow us to better estimate the amount of work required and assess the focus of the post-editing.

Bottom line

MTPE can be an efficient option – under the right conditions with respect to text type, the quality requirements and the other factors. However, when the aim is high-quality content intended for publication, human translation is still often the best choice. We would be happy to assess your text with a view to whether post-editing is appropriate or whether a human translation would be a better option.