Concluding remarks

This OER has emphasized the “garbage in, garbage out” principle in relation to translation. Translation is not about translating individual words but about transferring the meaning or message of a text from one language to another. If that message is not clear in the original text, then it’s not likely to be clear in the translated text either. In fact, translation could end up making the situation worse! To maximize the chance of getting a good translation, you can start by preparing your original text in a translation friendly way. This is especially important if your text will be translated using an automatic translation tool such as Google Translate, DeepL Translator or Microsoft Translator. A professional translator can use their knowledge of language and of how the world works, or they can research additional information, in order to try to make sense of and compensate for an unclear text. But computers do not have any real-world knowledge, and they cannot understand the message—they only attempt to process what they receive using techniques such as pattern matching. If they receive problematic input, such as a confusing original text, they will most likely generate problematic output, such as a poor quality translation.

Even seemingly small issues, such as missing punctuation, sentences that are very short, or headings that are in all capital letters, can lead to big problems for an automatic translation tool. This OER has provided tips to help you write in a way that is more translation friendly so that your texts can be translated more easily by others. The list of tips is not comprehensive or foolproof, but it will get you started. Overall, the most important thing that you can do is to focus on writing clearly and expressing your message unambiguously. Your readers will thank you… in many languages!