Why hire a professional translator?

A common question is: "Why pay for a more expensive translation, when we can easily have the internet or an employee do it, sometimes even for free?"

Take a look at a few examples of what this produces:

From a company that stated, "Bilingual employees help with translation and we use computer translation programs" (quoted in a national trade publication):

Original English:

Safety Mission 2000

To promote an environment that is safety focused, empowering employees with the knowledge and tools to make well informed choices regarding their safety, their coworkers’ safety, and the environment.

Spanish translation:

Misión de seguridad 2000

Para crear un lugar enfocado en la seguridad, preparando trabajadores con el conocimeinto y herramienta para hacer decisiones buenas en cuanto a su seguridad, compañeros, y lugar trabajo.

That might seem fine, but let's back translate (put the translation back into the original language to see what was really understood by your employees):

To create a place that is focused on safety, preparing workers with the knowledge and tool (sic) to make good decisions about their safety, companions, and the worksite.

Here are some other examples of web-based computer translations:

Original English:

Our state is an "at will" state, meaning that the employment relationship can be terminated by either party, at any time, without cause.

Spanish translation:

Nuestro estado es un "en" indicará significando que la relación del empleo puede ser terminada por cualquier partido, en tiempo, sin la causa.

Back translation:

Ours been is at "at will" indicate, signifying that the relationship of the employment can be finished, for any party in time, without the cause.

Here's another one:

Original English:

We welcome you to our company and look forward to a long and productive work relationship.

Spanish translation:

Le damos la bienvenida a nuestra compañía  y miramos adelante a una relación de funcionamiento largo y mutuamente productiva.

Back translation:

We give the welcome to him to our company at watched ahead a relation of long and mutually productive operation.

Yet another:

Original English:

All employees are required to use lockout/tagout procedures during all mechanical repairs.

Spanish translation:

Requirirán a todos los empleados utilizar la cerradura out/tag fuera procedimientos durantes todas las reparaciones mecánicas. (The use of “cerradura” in this translation is a noun meaning “lock”, and not the verb that the English version includes, which changes the meaning entirely)

Back translation:

They will require all the employees to use the lock out/tag outside procedures during all the mechanical repairs.

The problems are obvious. The same problems generally occur with the use of bilingual employees. Verbal abilities might convey the general message, but not the precise communication you need to say specifically what you want. Unless someone is trained in translation and proofreading, you will not get the quality product that meets your company’s standards. As one of the web-based translating programs stated, "This free translation is ideal for instant, draft-quality results. It is a 'gisted' translation, providing a basic understanding of the original text."

Intercom magazine stated:

Machine translation software is not to be used for publishing business documents in foreign languages. That’s a sure way to confuse and annoy international customers. A more serious difficulty with the software is that you can’t always trust the gist you seem to be getting. Even when it performs well, machine translations can easily convey the wrong idea about a document. They can help you to understand, but they are not to be used to communicate. If you want to see the process for yourself, do a simple ‘back translation’. That is, take the translated copy and retranslate it back into English.

Intercom Magazine, May 2000 as published in Far West magazine, August 2000. Used with permission.