This time, we would like to introduce the content of the
"English Writing Seminar Suitable for Translation and Machine Translation" that was held for domestic companies in December 2015.

This company has already implemented machine translation for some languages in their online support content,
and at Human Science, we continuously provide consulting services such as quality verification of the original English text and the creation of guidelines for English writing in relation to the implementation of machine translation.

In 2016, there are plans to expand the user manuals into 29 languages
and seriously implement machine translation.

However, there are the following issues with the current English text,
which have hindered the improvement of machine translation quality.

・Sentences are long
・Contains unnecessary phrases and is redundant
・Syntax is complex and difficult to read
・Ambiguous and hard to understand
・Writing style and terminology are not consistent

Therefore, in order to solve issues with English text and improve the quality of machine translation,
"Concise and easy-to-understand English suitable for translation and machine translation"
we will be conducting a seminar to establish the writing style.

The participants include directors involved in the production of internal manuals and
primarily49 people who are English writers from production companies that have been requested for English writing and translation.

During the seminar, we explained about
17 specific techniques for writing English that is easy to translate and machine translate,
while also engaging in workshops.

Here are some of the comments we received in the survey after the seminar.

 

●Positive aspects, points that I found useful in practice

 

・The key points for writing easily translatable English can be directly used in everyday writing
(such as emails and document creation)

・We are considering actually using machine translation from Simple English to
 take into account,it was very good to understand the points to note and the accuracy

・The perspective of "English text that considers translation into other languages" was refreshing and educational.

・Points to keep in mind when creating English sentences
such as "Using XX about YY times in a sentence"
  It was good to have specific examples.
NowI thought I would be more conscious of this and pay attention while writing.

・Even with machine translation, it has been shown through specific numerical examples that a certain level of improvement can be expected by refining the English text.

・The skill to rewrite long and confusing sentences into concise and easy-to-understand sentences
I thought was always a challenge as a writer, so
I want to consciously practice it in my work.

 

●Points that were unsatisfactory, points I wanted to know more about

 

・Information about machine translation (such as the use of corpora),
I wanted to know more

・I wanted to know how to check incorrect English sentences (not suitable for machine translation)
and prevent leaks.

・I wanted to know more about the points of English suitable for machine translation

・I wanted to know the priority of the techniques introduced

It would have been better to have more examples after the rewrite.

 

I'm glad that you had the opportunity to review the English sentences you create on a daily basis!

 

The quality of the original text is a very important factor that affectsthe quality of machine translation.
By consciously creating English sentences that consider translation and machine translation on a daily basis,
you can significantly improve the quality of machine translation.
Furthermore, not only the quality of the translation but also the English text itself will become concise and easy to understand,
leading to an improvement in the quality of the content itself.

Everyone, please take a moment to review the quality of the current English content when it comes to translation and machine translation.

At Human Science, we create guidelines for English composition suitable for translation and machine translation,
and conduct seminars customized for companies.

We also provide quality assessment of the current English text and advice for improvement, so please feel free to contact us.