Theo Bernards wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
...
Here's a question for you: if you do this (run the text through GT) and correct only grammar errors (without reference to the source text or to the general cohesion of the text), would a client with a quality control system (e.g. back-translation, double-translation, etc) be able to pick it up?
Samuel, in two words: most probably, but I am not sure if back- or double-translation would spot it. The easiest way to spot such behavior is probably by running the same text through two or three well-known machines such as Google Translate and Bing Translate. and compare the output statistically with the translation handed in as genuine. I dare say, that if the statistical deviations are within a narrow bandwidth, you can imho safely assume that the translator is not what he or she claims to be. I am by no means an expert on such things, but a bandwidth of 5% brought me once to suspect such practices and when pushing for explanations, my suspicions hit a raw nerve (and as many of us would know, when being confronted about his/her dishonesty, playing the integrity card is often the first response of such fraudsters: "I can't believe you think I would do such things!").
Medical translations with Google Translate: it doesn't even border on criminal, it
is criminal! What's next: a nuclear power station user manual with MT?!?
The simplest solution to spotting a MT is to have the translation proofread by a native speaker, if the agency is really serious.
I was once asked to do a proofreading job of a Japanese translation a few years ago. The agency sent me the the translated text, and after reading the first few lines, I spotted that it was MT. I told the PM who sent me the document, and asked her who did the translation. She told me that it was done by a translator who is NOT a native speaker, but claims to be very fluent in Japanese. I honestly told my PM that the whole file was machine translated and is useless. I completed the proofing job, which turned out to be a translation from scratch where I charged the agency the full rate for a translation job where they agreed.
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