Hybrid translation
You will have likely
used machine translation in recent years, and while it’s often a
useful tool for understanding text in a language you do not
understand, the result is rarely fit for publication. A
professional translation is obviously a far superior option, but
prices can be prohibitively expensive if you're on a limited
budget.
This is why we’ve come
up with the intermediate option of what we call Hybrid
Translation, because it combines machine translation with our
editing service to get publication-ready results without the
high price tag. This is, of course, not intended to replace an
experienced translator who is familiar with the native idioms,
so it may not be suitable for everybody’s needs, but it can give
good results in the right circumstances.
The process is a little
more time consuming than our usual editing service, so it comes
at a small additional premium, but it will still be far cheaper
than a conventional translation. Contact us with your needs for
a more precise quote.
So, what can you expect
from hybrid translation? Here’s a paragraph from Jules Verne’s
Around the World in Eighty Days in the original French:
Ce qui était certain toutefois, c'est que, depuis de longues années, Phileas Fogg n'avait pas quitté Londres. Ceux qui avaient l'honneur de le connaître un peu plus que les autres attestaient que—si ce n'est sur ce chemin direct qu'il parcourait chaque jour pour venir de sa maison au club—personne ne pouvait prétendre l'avoir jamais vu ailleurs. Son seul passe-temps était de lire les journaux et de jouer au whist. À ce jeu du silence, si bien approprié à sa nature, il gagnait souvent, mais ses gains n'entraient jamais dans sa bourse et figuraient pour une somme importante à son budget de charité. D'ailleurs, il faut le remarquer, Mr. Fogg jouait évidemment pour jouer, non pour gagner. Le jeu était pour lui un combat, une lutte contre une difficulté, mais une lutte sans mouvement, sans déplacement, sans fatigue, et cela allait à son caractère.
Now here is the same
text after machine translation followed by editing:
What was certain, however, was that Phileas Fogg had not left London for many years. Those who had the honour of knowing him a little better than most testified to this, and beside the direct route he used every day to get from his house to his club, no one could honestly claim to have ever seen him anywhere else. His only pastimes were reading newspapers and playing whist. He often won at this silent game that suited his nature so well, but his winnings would never enter his purse, being instead destined for charitable purposes. Besides, Mr. Fogg played for the sake of playing rather than to win. The game was a contest for him, a contest against a challenging foe, but this contest took place without movement or fatigue, and this suited his character.