You can find there plenty of step-by-step training videos that show you what you can do with Systran’s translation software. These videos are part of our exclusive bundle dedicated to anyone using our advanced translation software. Go ahead and watch them to see how fast you can do that with our software.

Systran is the number one recommended product by professional translators and that’s also because we provide the most advanced training there is – from articles to webinars, and everything else you need to get the most accurate translation possible.

You will also find step-by-step video training that will help you understand how you can translate documents using day to day tools such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, PDF and more.

Our new training center is exclusive to only Systran customers. Once you get our translation software, you get instant access to a huge library of useful videos to help you get the most out of our translation software. There is no other translation company out there that is providing this type of advanced training so don’t miss out.

For years, we have been consulting with large corporations such as Kantar Media, PPG, the U.S. Military, U.S. Intelligence Agencies as well as professional translators worldwide and our purpose is to teach them how to achieve the highest level of accuracy with their translations.

This type of video training is an invaluable resource to anyone looking to translate documents, whether beginner or expert. You will have access to online resources that are available 24/7, whenever you need them.

Go ahead and check our great Systran training video center right now! If you have any questions or need helps using our translation software, simply give us a call. We’re always happy to help.

Chances are that you almost never read the Terms of Service of every site you visit or use but if you’re using Google’s tools, you might be surprised to find out just how private your information is and how much control they have over the information you think is safe and secure for no one else to see.

Today’s post focuses on Google’s Terms of Service, more specifically their privacy terms. We thought we should bring this to your attention so you have all the facts and can be fully aware of how Google is using the content you’re copy and pasting into Google’s free translation.

The following are two excerpts from Google’s TOS that really shook us up.

“ …By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.”

“… You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.”

So, if you have been using Gmail, Docs or Google’s free online translation tool, you have actually entitled Google to use your content and have also accepted to give up all rights to the privacy of your entire information. This means that if you have been copy and pasting sensitive information into Google Translate’s little box, that content instantly becomes the property of Google.

If you are a translator and are using this product to translate confidential documents, this is something you should be aware of as Google uses the content you translate for future translation unit matches. In other words, when you use Google Translate you give Google the access to both the source as well as the target text in which you’re translating it. This helps them replicate the matches when another person is trying to translate similar text strings or phrases.

There have been cases where Google has not only returned a perfect match on a translation, but has also included client information, such as company names. This is scary as you can be translating sensitive documents and later discover it has become public somehow and have no possibility to delete it. This is particulary important to translators because they are dealing with confidential client information and a possible disclosure of this data can cost them not only the client, but also their entire reputation.

Also, do keep in mind that you’re taking a risk not only with Google Translate, but with any online translator out there. That’s why the best solution when translating confidential documents is to install software on your computer and run translations directly from your PC. This way you won’t have any unpleasant surprises and you can ensure the information stays with you and is not shared with the world.

When you are using a product such as Systran’s translation software, you have piece of mind because you know the information included in the document you’re translating is kept private and no one else has access to it but you.

What are your thoughts on Google’s privacy issues? Let us know in the comments below.

With so options available, it may be difficult to decide which one would work best for you. We would say pick us right from the start because we have an award winning translation software that’s the no. 1 choice for most professional translator, but this is not what this post is about. It’s about choosing a translation software that would meet your requirements and expectations when it comes to translating text to or from different  foreign languages.

So, here are 10 important things to consider when choosing a translation software.

1. Do you homework

Find out everything you can about the company and its products. This is actually what we all do before purchasing a product. We read reviews and opinions so determine if it’s the best product money can buy. However, be careful with online reviews because so many of them are fake just to convince you to buy that product. Read the reviews carefully and make sure the site where you found them is a respectable site that can be trusted.

Here is just an example of how fake reviews work:

Tip: Be aware when choosing a translation software because there is a very popular one on the market that can cause problems on your computer. So, make sure the software you are planning to use does not contain something that can harm your computer. A quick tip to determine if the software is legit and safe is to just type in your search box the product name and the words “malware” or “trojan” next to it to see what results show up.

2. Choose an established company

A company that has been around for years has experience and there’s a reason it’s still selling products. That’s because they are knowledgeable, they provide professional products and do their best to keep their customers happy. For instance, Systran has been around for 40 years providing professional translation software with the highest level of accuracy. That’s also why so many translators worldwide choose it before any other software.

3. Easy to use

It seems there is a trend to say that a translation software is easy to use, but then you spend money on a software and discover you have no idea where to start and how to use it. With Systran, you get what we say, and that’s an easy to use translation software that requires absolutely no technical skills. This means that anyone can use to translate documents with just a click.

4. Retains formatting

If you’re looking to translate documents that have a lot of formatting, check to see if the translation software includes this feature. There are few that allow you to translate text to another language and still hold the formatting of your document. When you use Systran’s language converter, you’ll be surprised of how advanced this feature is that it even translated the text around the images, without messing up the formatting.

5. Build your own custom dictionaries

The ideal translation software should allow you to build your own personalized dictionaries and add specific terms and phrases to it anytime you need to. If you have a specific terminology that you don’t want to translate, your dictionary should allow you to skip the translation for those terms. Systran also includes this features, as well as a translation memory, which is the no. 1 tool used by professional translators, and an  alternate meanings feature that is displayed along side every translation.

6. Access to large dictionaries

When you’re looking for a translation software, pay attention to the dictionaries they have available, especially how many word they include. The larger the dictionary, the more accurate the translation. Systran is the top of the list when it comes to dictionaries, as we have the largest dictionaries from all translation tools available. Our dictionaries include millions of words and phrases, including 21 terminology-specific dictionaries for context-sensitive translations.

7. Additional dialects

There aren’t a lot of translation converter that allow translation of dialects. Systran does provide additional dialects for languages such as Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

8. Contextual translation, not word-for-word

With a professional translation software, you need to be able to translate texts accurately and understand their meaning. Nowadays, statistical translation is becoming more fluid. For instance, Systran provides the latest and most innovative Hybrid translation engine that considers the context in which a word has been used in order to translate it accordingly.

9. Advanced training

Translation software may be use to use, but there are so many things you can do with the right one. That’s why it’s important to have access to professional training so you can get high quality translations. We have just launched the Systran Training video center with training videos and we also provide a learning center where you can find out more about the languages you want to translate.

10. Support before and after purchase

Make sure that the company where you are purchasing translation software from is reliable and respects its customers. One of the main reasons our customers stick with us is the support we provide not just before but also after they purchase our software. We don’t just disappear once you have bought from us. We’re happy to help if you have difficulties using Systran’s translation software (although you won’t because it’s so easy to use) or need some advanced training so you can translate documents at a professional level.

This is our check list for when you’re looking to purchase translation software. Is there anything we’ve missed? The comments are open to anyone so feel free to share your thoughts and opinions with us.

*Image source

Word Order

The single biggest difference between Spanish and English is word order.  For instance, in English adjectives come before nouns:

A pretty woman

In Spanish, the opposite is generally true:

Una mujer bonita (literally, a woman pretty)

Sometimes the sentence structure of Spanish can be drastically different from English, with verbs coming before nouns and more.  A good translator or translation program will take this into account when doing both English to Spanish and Spanish to English translation.

Gender

When translating from English to Spanish, it must be kept in mind that every single Spanish noun is considered to be masculine or feminine.  There are some vestiges left of this in English (referring to a ship as “she,” for example), but for the most part genders have disappeared from English.  In Spanish, the gender of a noun affects several of the words around it, which must match the noun in gender and number.  Usually, nouns ending in “o” are masculine and nouns ending in “a” are feminine.  There are exceptions to this general rule, and there are many nouns that end in other letters.

Noun-Adjective Agreement

Nouns in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.  The basic forms of adjectives end in o, e, or a consonant.  If the adjective normally ends in o, it must be changed to a if the noun is feminine.  Similarly, s or es must be added to the adjective when the noun is plural.  This is primarily an issue for English to Spanish translation.

Articles

In Spanish, the definite article (“the” in English) and indefinite article (“a,” “an,” or “some” in English) must also agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.  The definite article, for instance, can be el, la, los, or las, depending on the gender and number of the noun.  That means there are four ways to say “the” in Spanish!

Verbs

One of the most complicated parts of Spanish is the system of verbs.  In Spain, a verb can be spelled six different ways in each tense depending on who the subject of the sentence is.  Outside of Spain, five different verb forms are used in each tense.  This is an issue whether your translation is from Spanish to English or English to Spanish, as your translator or automatic translation software must be able to handle all these different spellings of the verbs.  English also changes the spellings of verbs, but there are usually only two or three forms of a verb for each tense: I run, he runs.

Accent Marks and More

Accent marks, tildes, and more are used in Spanish.  Sometimes they are used to clarify which syllable should be emphasized, but other times they change the meaning of the word entirely.  For instance, “sí” with an accent mark means “yes,” while “si” with no accent mark means “if.”  If you use automatic translation software, make sure that it accurately includes these marks so that you avoid embarrassing mistranslations.

Spanish Dialects 

Although Spanish is one of the most popular languages you will need to realize there are many dialects of Spanish. Usually when translating English to Spanish for a global audience you will want to use a Spanish that is considered to be neutral. If you are doing any type of advertising to a specific region you will want to localize your Spanish, meaning you will be targeting a local geographical area where Spanish is spoken.  When using Spanish Translation Software it will help to choose a package that allows you to build additional dictionaries to handle the different dialects.

Bottom Line

There are a number of important differences between Spanish and English which must be considered for any translation involving the two languages.  Any translator or translation software you use must be able to handle the above differences and more in order to be effective in getting your message across to your intended audience.

SYSTRAN translation software can translate large Microsoft Word documents with one click translation and keep the layout of the orginal even after the document is translated.

Steps to translate a Word Document with Systran

After Systran is installed the translation toolbar is automatically integrated into the ribbon at the top of Microsoft Word. Once you open the tab you will see the toolbar and be able to access all the options. There is no additional software to learn, just follow these steps to translate a document.

Step 1. Open a document in Microsoft Word.

Step 2. Click on the SYSTRAN Tab on the Ribbon at the top.

Step 3. Select the Language Pair

Step 4. Click Translate Document

Below is the original document in French that we have opened in MS Word.

Original Word Document in French (our source language)

After performing the steps above, here is our result. The Word document was converted to English.

Word document translated to English (target language)

You will notice that the formatting is retained, tables, bolding, bullets, paragraph indentions and colors are all the same. There will be some differences in the layout because the translated text will contract or expand depending upon the language. For example it takes less English words to say the same thing as it did in French. This is commonly referred to in the industry as the contraction or expansion factor.

Once you know how to translate Word documents using Systran, you will never want to cut and paste a translation again!

Visit our main site to learn which software is best to  translate WORD documents.

Yes, computer translation has its flaws and human translators are often required to revise the final content to make sure it’s relevant and accurate, but with the newest software there is less and less need for a human input. The latest translation programs have improved consistently, have enormous dictionaries of specialized words and phrased that can easily be customized, and the process is faster and more accurate, compared to previous versions.

Nowadays, businesses find it a lot easier to understand website content, reports and technical documents even if they’re not originally written in their native language. Translation software (also known as machine translation) has come a long way in helping companies do business and reach clients globally in whatever language, as well as communicate with their foreign employees.

“Machine translation just makes the process more efficient”
Ford Motor Co. is a successful example of a powerful company that uses translation software from Systran Software to translate vehicle-assembly instructions from English into Spanish, Portuguese, German and Dutch. It also uses human translators to ensure it’s completely accurate. Although translation software isn’t 100%, it has significantly improved and is becoming more reliable every year for communicating assembly instructions to foreign employees, says Nestor Rychtyckyj, one of the technical specialists in artificial intelligence at Ford.

“Machine translation just makes the process more efficient” compared to a human translator, says Rychtyckyj . “We’re saving a lot of time and effort.”

At Ford, a translation software is a must-have since they are not only writing assembly instructions for new models, but they are also modifying instructions for current models three to four times a year, every time a part or a tool for the building of a car changes. In most cases, the instructions are written in English and then Ford’s translation systems are in change of converting them into the other five languages. Ford’s assembly instructions can include up to 300,000 sentences that need to be translated and distributed to employees as fast as possible.

Customizing Dictionaries
Ford has made its life easier by customizing its dictionary from the translation program, which consists of about 5,000 specialized terms, and each term is programmed to be automatically translated in Spanish, Portuguese, German and Dutch. If a term or a phrase doesn’t match the terms included in the Ford dictionary, then the software is programmed to search for a match within a more general dictionary. The accuracy of the instructions is double-checked by Ford’s human translators.

The multilingual instructions are ready to be distributed to workers by the following day and foreign employees can use them right away. The translation software is fast and efficient, and the final content is not too far from being totally accurate. For instance, translations from English into German are 94% accurate, reveals Rychtyckyj. Furthermore, he says that the minor translation errors are often detected by employees, so these are usually not a problem in the process of building a car.

Communicating with Employees
Foreign employees that work at Ford but speak a different language other than the five included in Ford’s system can get oral or written assistance on the assembly instructions from other engineers. Ford plans to further remove language barriers among workers by adding other languages to its system. Rychtyckyj reveals that the sixth to join the list is Russian.

The need for Human Translator Input
Translation software is not only used to facilitate communication between employees. It is also very efficient when website content or product descriptions need to be translated for worldwide customers to understand it. Minor translation errors may be permitted when it comes to internal communication within a company, but when it comes to customers, these are unacceptable. Not only can the inaccuracy make a company look unreliable, but it can also cost them clients. To stop this from happening, industry experts strongly recommend using a human input to verify the accuracy of a translation.

“No one thinks you can depend solely upon a machine,” states Chris Boorman, chief marketing officer for SDL PLC, a British creator of a translation software. “I do not believe you can ever take the human out of language when it comes to publishable” content.

Although translation software doesn’t yet deliver 100% accurate results, when it comes to solving a large-scale translation problem, this is a cost, time and manpower saving solution. For Ford’s massive volume of assembly instructions, translation software has successfully risen up to the challenge, proving its efficiency and delivering an accuracy of over 90% for all Ford’s five language translations.

Software can translate documents faster than a human but the accuracy can vary depending on the type of documents and the subject.  The human cannot physically translate at the speed of translation software can but it will be more accurate.

Blended Translation

The best solution is to blend human translation with translation software.  The blended translation method is not new to the industry but recent advances in Systran technology are delivering higher accuracy that makes it easier for translators to work with the translated results.

With software a translator can create a rough draft of a document and then work with the software to train it to understand specific phrase and terminology control the output, and then do a final edit to create a publishable document.

Professional Translators

Translators are getting more and more requests to “blend” or mix their by-hand translations with translation software due to the increase in the accuracy with some of the latest developments. This way companies not only save money, but also time by having a lot of content translated faster.

Translation agencies are adopting the use of software at a much faster rate than in the past because it can save them time and increase productivity but also help them to gain clients.

In Summary

Companies that want to ensure their important documents are translated quickly and accurately can choose to blend software translation with human translations. The quality of the translation is higher than if only traditional translation software were to be used. In the same time, the cost is lower if the company were to pay exclusively for traditional human translation.

It is important to note that software is not perfect for every situation or type of document but the technology keeps improving and will require less human intervention.

Recently a professional translator stated in an article that he saw the industry changing, translators of the future would do more editing and proofing than actual translating from scratch.

From blogs to Facebook to Twitter, social media monitoring makes sense for business.  Since brand monitoring shouldn’t be limited to just one country, using translation in social media is not only helpful, but necessary.  By looking at the global picture when it comes to brand management and brand promotion, businesses are able to see how their brand fits into the marketplace and whether changes are necessary to promote future growth.

Translating Data for Social Media Monitoring

Constant conversations around the world are changing the way that products are born and developed. Since people post on blogs and update their statuses and their profiles daily, these posts can be in foreign languages and require translating to English or another language to understand them.

Social media monitoring is essential for keeping up with the changes in customer tastes and preferences worldwide.  And even more important is finding complaints so as to make sure that crises are managed before they stain a business’ reputation.

Millions of Posts Translated Daily with Systran’s Translation API

The largest Social Media montoring companies use Systran for the searching and translation of the data they pull from social media sites.

With Systran Translation Solutions, companies utilize the API (Application Programing Interface) which allows data that has been mined from blogs, personal pages, forums, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site, to be searched and then translated into one language.  The language translation API can work with any social media monitoring software to translate information quickly and accurately.  By using translation software, social media becomes another tool for helping to ensure companies are up to date on the latest conversations among target customer and client groups.  Simply ignoring the voices which can not be easily translated on one’s own is not an option.

Translation and Social Media

Many larger companies are already using translation tools to:

• Track social media trends and topics in any language
• Provide brand monitoring reports while maintaining multilingual accuracy
• Reduce the translation costs as only certain passages will require human translation

Experienced in Helping Companes find the Right Solution

We specialize in setting up Social Media Monitoring solutions for companies. The demand for translation has grown dramatically over the past 12 months and seems to keep expanding as more people embrace social media sites.

Systran, the world leader in translation software had been planning to produce a Mac compatible translator but due to developing a new translation engine this last year, the only Mac translator they had time to release was the Systran Widget translator. Apple included the Systran Widget on every new computer, it was great but it only allowed small sections of text to be translated at a time.

One thing was learned from the launch of this new product, even Systran was not prepared for the over whelming response from Apple users, servers were overloaded with the demand. This proved Mac users wanted a translator for the mac.

Systran Translation Software on Mac Computers

Thanks to Apple building the latest Mac computers with the Intel chip, which allows Mac to run Windows applications, Systran can now be installed in a Windows enviroment.  No longer is there a need for a separate translator for the Mac OS X.  You can check to see if your computer has this capability but all computers shipped with Mac OS 10 Snow Leopard includes Boot Camp, a software that lets you dual boot into Microsoft Windows .

Instantly Convert Foreign Languages

Once you have the dual boot system on your computer, you can take full advantage of Systran translation software for Mac computers and laptops.  This will allow you to translate a variety of documents from Microsoft Office.

Translate

• MS Word Documents
• Excel Spreadsheets
• Powerpoint Presentations
• Outlook Emails
• PDF Files
• Web Pages

No longer hindered by the Mac vs. PC question, you can use Systran translation software to help you communicate with people all over the world.

Systran can quickly translate Excel documents to and from foreign languages. There are actually three ways to translate Excel files. The easiest and most popular way is to open the document in Excel, go to the SYSTRAN tab at the top of Excel, set your languages and hit translate. How you decide to translate really depends on the product you have and what you want to do with the document after translation.

Step 1: Open the document in Excel and go to the Systran tab (older versions will show it on the front of Excel)
Step 2: Choose the Language  (ours is Spanish to English)
Step 3: Click Arrow under the Systran Icon and Choose “Translate Document” from the menu

A new window will pop up with your document translated into the target language. The software will not overwrite your orignal document so you can easily proof and edit the new document.  Be sure to save your new translation. One feature I really like in Systran is the automatic naming of the files. Everytime you hit ‘save as’ the software prefills the name of the document and adds the language.  Example, if I translate a file named “budget.xls, it will automatically save it as “budget (translated English to Spanish).  This makes it much easier to find later.

Here is the translated result:

Document After Translation

You can see that each tab still shows the Spanish lable but each sheet in the Excel file was translated. You do not need to open each sheet, it does the complete file.  The software will retain your formatting. There are times formatting can be an issue and it usually goes back to the original Excel file having characters that are non standard.  I have found the more current the version of Microsoft Office and the most current Operating System , ie Windows 7, the less formatting is an issue.

Stay tuned, we will show you in an upcoming post how to improve the accuracy of your translations.