Social Media: Google’s Global Listening Machine
Pairing Sentences
When we learn to speak, it starts by listening. Google has started a global listening machine.
Google has announced it’s building a Translation Center to connect people who need text and documents translated with people who can do that. Such a central location for language conversation has fabulous implications for the Internet and the translation industry.
Amir Helzer, of I Can Localize a translation service that combines human and technological solutions, and I spoke about the Google Translation Center on Friday. Amir suggested that, looking at Google’s core business, it’s likely that this new center will function similar to Google AdWords — connecting buyers to seller without intervention. He and I discussed the nuances of accurate cultural translations. Amir pointed out that, “Now that Google has made this move, people are talking about the translation industry. It opens the door to a discussion of quality and standards and the value of providing a local feel to a global web business.”
Google will be collecting words in context to build what Brian McConnell has called a free global translation memory.
Google has been investing significant resources in a multi-year effort to develop its statistical machine translation technology. Statistical MT works by comparing large numbers of parallel texts that have been translated between languages and from these learns which words and phrases usually map to others — similar to the way humans acquire language. The problem with statistical MT is that it requires a large number of directly translated sentences.
Before we speak, we listen. Are you ready to start speaking and listening?
Global is the new local. Communication is relationship.
Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.
Hi Liz
A translation center is fine, automagic translation never is. I strongly remember the ‘babel’ translation of some UK websites into Dutch when a MLM company ventured out to the ‘low-lands’. Neighbourhood watch was relentlessly translated in buurt (neighbourhood) horloge (watch, but then the ‘time-piece’ you wrap around your wrist to ‘watch time go by’ ;-))
Plus, as a ‘foreigner’ living and working in a country with a different language than our ‘native tongue’ slowly shows you the nuances this ‘new’ language has - even though we’ve been taught English since secondary school, living and breathing a language is quite different. (And we’ve learned a lot, but still speak ‘double Dutch English’ sometimes)
A communication network focused on highlighting, capturing the nuance of languages would be great: making sure the nuance of the original intent and meaning of the text gets captured with the nuance of the targeted language.
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Comment by Karin H. — August 11, 2008 @ 8:56 am
Thanks Liz for introducing this.
For Google, this isn’t a huge investment, but they stand to gain a lot. I think that the major benefit for them would be if the number of quality non English pages raised dramatically.
Google makes their money selling ad space. The better the contents, the more expensive the ads. So, by facilitating the creation of human written contents, Google just creates more advertising real-estate.
Whenever they give out free stuff, some vendors need to be alert. People who sell Translation Memory might this new competition difficult to manage. Especially since Google clearly decided to make it a commodity.
Professional translators in proz are discussing this too:
http://www.proz.com/forum/business_issues/111803-google_translation_center_a_new_online_market_for_translators.html
Comment by Amir Helzer — August 11, 2008 @ 10:54 am
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