Translators are using computers and very powerful tools to increase productivity.
Some of those tools could be automatic translation software programs that do the translation on a swift and then a professional translator revises the text in the target language. One of the problems with this kind of software is that quite often the translation is such a mess that the revision and correction process is more time consuming than doing it from scratch.
We all know such programs: Sytram, PowerTranslator, etc. If you try to translate literature text or typical expressions that do not exist on the other language, chances are very high that you will experience the above mentioned frustration.
Then we have the Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) software programs. Some well known programs are Wordfast, Trados, Transit, Dejavu, etc. These programs save into their memory all the paragraphs and when the same sentence or a similar one comes up again, the professional translator has to validate or amend that translated text. This is very helpful when translating technical manuals and repetitive text, because it can save a lot of time and increase productivity during the translation process.
Some problems facing the CAT programs are that they are not very friendly to DTP programs like QuarkXpress, Freehand, Adobe InDesign, PageMaker, etc.
This CAT programs are also more efficient when the source language and the target language are somewhere related like Spanish or French or even Spanish and English. But when we come across languages that are using completely different syntax, completely different cultural background and scripts poles apart like in the Japanese Spanish combination case, then the CAT programs are not so efficient and sometimes can even become troublesome.
Therefore do not expect computers to replace the professional translator for quite a while, language is a complex and often non logical communication tool that is difficult to code. Language is not black or white, there is a lot of grey that needs to be clarified by linguists and translators. Competition is tough, but we are still very much needed.
A Japanese Spanish translator
www.goihata.com