Language barriers have always been a burden for businesses expanding globally – even for those trying to establish a market presence in a foreign region. That’s why many invest in human translation services to localize their marketing materials. On the other hand, others try to cut corners by using AI or Google Translate to “save” a few bucks on the “costly” human services, and the results only prove why human translation is essential.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- You can expect better accuracy from a professional human translation, as they have a better understanding of nuance and context than machines.
- AI solutions like Apple or Google Translate are very prone to translation mistakes and “transliteration.”
- The most advanced AI solutions don’t have strict quality control protocols. However, most human translation services, like Ditto, do.
Why Do You Need Accurate Translation?
“Do not sit to lie,” “The 8th floor has been temporarily relocated to the 10th floor,” and “Due to airport construction, we feel sorry for you” are signs I’ve seen at various businesses during my travels over the years. What I encountered is undoubtedly a result of using Google Translate or other “cheap” AI solutions.
However, while these translation failures looked funny at first glance, they could have had serious consequences in a modern business setting.
Non-Negotiable Advantages Of Human Translators
AI isn’t yet in a position to replace human translators, and it doesn’t look like it will change – at least for a while. Here’s some differences between human and machine translation tools and why you need Ditto.
| Aspect | Human Translators | AI Translators |
| Context & Intent | Easily understands uncommon phrases like “table this discussion.” | It struggles with ambiguities and is often transliterated. |
| Emotional Intelligence | Conveys subtle tones (humorous, formal, persuasive) to target audience. | Can hardly interpret emotional context. |
| Novel Content | They can handle new expressions, slang, niche terms, etc. | Only understands what it has been trained on. |
| Responsibility | Humans can make ethical decisions about sensitive content. | No accountability. No ethical judgment. |
| Trust | Needs to be trustworthy. So they maintain the integrity of the original material. | It doesn’t expect you to trust them. Don’t care about reputation. |
Importance of Human Translators Over Machine Translation
I could write a 10-page article on the importance of human translation, but I don’t have that luxury, so I’ll focus on the most critical points for now.
Higher Accuracy and Quality Due to Contextual Understanding
Critical content, such as medical instructions and safety manuals, have little to no room for translation mistakes.
Our medical translation team once reviewed an AI-translated consent from a patient stating that certain side effects from the treatment were “uncommon.” However, the word uncommon was translated as “never happen.” The difference is almost insignificant, but it’s crucial in a medical setting.
Had it been translated by someone who specialized in the field, such an elementary translation mistake would never have happened. Additionally, medical professionals are well-aware that some terms have precise equivalents that might not be the most obvious translation.
Human Translators Can Specialize in Specific Industries
I mentioned having a medical translation team (we also have one for legal, business, media, and more), that’s because professional translators are more reliable when they’re working in their areas of expertise. How can you expect a medical translator to translate law enforcement jargon accurately?
Google Translate and other AI solutions, on the other hand, are trained primarily on surface-level data from a specific field that is widely available online. You can try prompting AI to translate financial data as best as it can, then ask a professional financial translator to do the same thing. Which one do you think will provide more useful answers?
Cultural Matters That Only Human Translators Understand
The translation mistakes aren’t always due to the lack of cultural sensitivity.
Let me give you an example of another translation failure. The late Frank Perdue of today’s Perdue Farm had a marketing slogan, “it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken.” Again, the English-speaking folks accepted it as just another marketing slogan from a giant company.
However, when translated in Spanish – the slogan turned into “it takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused.” It’s both hilarious and embarrassing.
A specialized translator would’ve flagged this mistake immediately.
Human Translations Have Better Overall Quality Control
Our professional translators always ensure a rigorous quality control process, and I expect the same from other reliable translation service providers.
The point is that automated translation doesn’t have quality control during the process. They may be cheap or practically free, but you’ll have to spend time polishing the documents or hire a native speaker to make sure the translations fit. But hey, wouldn’t that only beat the purpose of using free or cheap solutions in the first place?
Now, let’s say you hired a professional translation service with multiple layers of quality assurance protocols. They’ll easily spot mistakes, maintain consistency, refine the translation until it’s natural to native speakers, and make sure it’s culturally sensitive – at least, that’s what we do here at Ditto Transcripts.
Why Entrust Your Translation Projects To Ditto Transcripts?
We have nearly 15 years of experience in the industry, and here’s what we can guarantee.
Straightforward Process: Ditto Transcripts makes ordering certified translations easy. Your dedicated project manager oversees the whole process, confirming details, assigning translators, managing all steps, and keeping you updated with clear communication. We coordinate everything from large enterprise orders to small personal requests, making translation easy.
Quick Turnaround Times: Ditto Transcripts works quickly, delivering accurate, high-quality transcriptions and translations on time, every time. We prioritize turnarounds for all clients, so you can trust us to get your projects back quickly without sacrificing quality.
Skilled Human Translators Only: We never use machine translation or artificial intelligence, as our professional human translators provide nuanced translations tailored to your content’s unique style, tone, and purpose. Our native linguists capture subtleties within each language, and we guarantee 99% accuracy across all target languages with meticulous quality checks.
Languages That Ditto Transcripts Can Help You With
Here are the languages that we can help you translate.
- German / Old High German
- Arabic
- French
- Spanish
- Italian
- And more
Need A Human Translation Services Provider?
Let’s discuss how our cost-effective, high-quality human translations can help expand your global reach. Starting at just $0.50 per page or $5.00 per minute of audio, you get 99% accuracy guaranteed from native speakers.
Considering the potential for expanded audience reach, it’s an investment that more than pays for itself. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.