Can Computer Translators Ever Beat Speaking a Foreign Tongue? 計算機翻譯會取代人工翻譯嗎？

Put “crottin de chèvre” into Google Translate， and youll be told it means goat dung.

So if it appeared on a menu， you might pass. Alas， you would be ruling out a delicious cheese made of goats milk that is often served as a starter in France.

Such misunderstandings are why Google admits that its free tool， used by about 500 million people， is not intended to replace human translators.

Tourists might accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is convenient. But when the stakes are higher， perhaps in business， law or medicine， these services often fall short.

“Using Google Translate can lead to some serious errors， especially when words have multiple meanings， which is often the case in fields such as law or engineering，” says Samantha Langley， a former lawyer who is now a legal translator based in Meribel， France.

That is not to say professional translators do not use computer-assisted translation （CAT） tools. Some sophisticated applications can help them take the donkey work out of repetitive translations.

CAT tools are even used as part of modern language degree courses these days. So how good are they？

在谷歌翻譯中輸入crottin de chèvre，它會告訴你其意思是“山羊糞”。

所以如果這個詞出現在菜單上，你可能不會點它。可惜的是，你會因此錯過一道美食。在法國，這個詞指的是用山羊奶制成的美味奶酪，經常被當作開胃菜。

正是由于有這樣的誤譯，谷歌承認，這款已經擁有大約5億用戶的免費工具不會替代翻譯人員。

考慮到工具本身的易用性，游客可能會接受少許誤譯。但在商業、法律或醫療等專業領域，這類服務往往達不到要求。

“使用谷歌翻譯可能會導致一些嚴重的錯誤，尤其是在法律或工程等領域，許多單詞常常會有多種含義。”在法國梅里貝爾工作的薩曼莎·蘭利說。她曾是一名律師，現在是一名法律翻譯。

這并不意味著專業的翻譯人員不使用計算機輔助翻譯工具。一些先進的應用程序能夠幫助他們減少很多重復度高、單調乏味的工作。

如今，現代語言學位課程甚至涉及計算機輔助翻譯工具的使用。那么，它們的效果到底如何？

One of the most popular new tools is the so-called “translation earpiece”. Usually paired with a smartphone app， they pick up spoken foreign languages and translate them for the user.

“It has taken decades of research to create a framework of algorithms designed to recognize patterns in the same way as the human brain—a neural network，” says Andrew Ochoa， chief executive of US startup Waverly Labs， which produces translation earpieces. “Combining that with speech recognition technology has allowed us to make a huge leap forward in terms of accuracy.”

Theres no doubt that CAT tools have taken some of the hard grind out of text translations like instruction manuals or questionnaires， says Milan-based Paola Grassi， a professional translator for Wordbank， a global marketing and translation agency.

“Survey contents are among the most repetitive ones and a good CAT tool can hugely speed up the process，” she says.

For meetings and conferences， wearable translators like Waverlys are undoubtedly popular. But even this new generation tech， which combines speech recognition neural networks and Internet-based translation engines， has limitations.

Users must wait at least a few seconds for a phrase to be translated， or more if the Internet connection is poor.

And computers still lack the subtlety of human communication.

“Translation technology is undoubtedly a useful tool for certain content such as manuals，” says Zoey Cooper， brand? director at Wordbank. “But if you want to create a relationship with the reader， you need a human translator to make it sound natural and capture the sentiment.”

“翻譯耳機”是最流行的新翻譯工具之一。它通常與一款智能手機應用程序配合使用，將聽到的外語給用戶翻譯出來。

“經過幾十年的研究，我們創建了一種算法框架，目的是以與人腦（神經網絡）相同的方式來識別語言模式。”美國初創公司、翻譯耳機生產商Waverly Labs的首席執行官安德魯·奧喬亞說，“通過將它與語音識別技術相結合，我們大幅提高了翻譯的準確性。”

在米蘭工作的保拉·格拉西是全球營銷和翻譯機構Wordbank的一名專業翻譯。她認為，毫無疑問，計算機輔助翻譯工具已經接手一些文本翻譯的煩瑣工作，例如產品說明書或調查問卷的翻譯。

“調查問卷是內容重復度最高的文本之一，好的計算機輔助翻譯工具能夠極大地加快翻譯進程。”她說。

在各種會議中，Waverly Labs等公司制作的可穿戴式翻譯器確實很受歡迎。但是，即使是這種結合了語音識別神經網絡和基于互聯網翻譯引擎的新一代技術，也有局限性。

用戶至少要等待幾秒鐘才能聽到一條短語的翻譯版本。如果網絡條件不太好，等待的時間會更長。

另外，計算機翻譯仍然難以表達人際交流的微妙之處。

“毫無疑問，對說明書等特定內容來說，翻譯技術是一種有用的工具。”Wordbank品牌總監佐伊·庫珀說，“但如果你希望與讀者建立聯系，那么你就需要一名翻譯人員。翻譯人員會讓你表達的內容聽上去更自然，更容易引發共鳴。”

“I believe CAT tools hinder creativity，” says Antonio Navarro Gosálvez， a translator based in Alicante， Spain. “If the tool shows you a partial translation match， I find its actually harder to discard part of the sentence and rebuild it than to just create something from scratch.”

Ochoa thinks this problem could be resolved within the next 10 years.

“When it comes to expressing emotion and intonation， we need sentiment analysis， which is not there yet but may well be in 10 years time，” he says.

Foreign language skills are still in demand in the labor market.

In the UK about 15 percent of the jobs posted on recruitment website Reed ask for a foreign language.

New research from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages shows 75 percent of manufacturing companies need employees with diverse language skills.

For Cooper， speaking a foreign tongue remains a precious skill.

“There are lots of opportunities for language graduates， both in specialist translation and global marketing，” she said.

And even if you dont use your language professionally， it has other benefits.

“How can you get to know a country and embrace the culture if you dont speak the language？” says Cooper. “Even with the voice-activated apps available， you will still miss out.”

“我認為計算機輔助翻譯工具會阻礙翻譯人員發揮創造力。”在西班牙阿利坎特工作的翻譯人員安東尼奧·納瓦羅·戈薩韋茲說，“如果計算機輔助翻譯工具已經譯出部分詞句，我發現舍棄部分詞句并重新組織語言甚至比從頭開始翻譯更困難。”

奧喬亞認為，這個問題有望在10年內得到解決。

“談到表達情感和語氣，我們需要情感分析。雖然目前還無法做到，但在未來10年內也許能夠實現。”他說。

在勞務市場，外語技能仍然重要。

在英國招聘網站Reed上，大約15%的職位要求應聘者懂一門外語。

根據美國外語教學委員會的最新研究，75%的制造企業需要掌握多種語言的員工。

庫珀認為，掌握一門外語是一項非常寶貴的技能。

“在專業翻譯和全球營銷領域，語言專業的畢業生有很多機會。”

就算你在工作中不使用外語，它也會給你帶來很多好處。

“如果你不會說某個國家的語言，你怎樣去了解那個國家及其文化呢？”庫珀說，“就算能使用語音翻譯軟件，你還是會錯過很多東西。”

Word Study

rule out 把……排除在外

The proposed solution was ruled out as too expensive.

starter /'stɑ?t?（r）/ n.（主菜之前的）開胃小吃，開胃品

sophisticated /s?'f?st?ke?t?d/ adj. 復雜巧妙的;先進的

algorithm /'?lɡ?r???m/ n. 算法;計算程序

grind /ɡra?nd/ n. 令人疲勞（或厭倦）的工作;苦差事

subtlety /'s?tlti/ n. 精妙之處;微妙差異

sentiment /'sent?m?nt/ n. 情緒

discard /d?s'kɑ?d/ v. 丟棄;拋棄

intonation /'?nt?'ne??n/ n. 語調