Editors and Machine Translations into English

I posted this on LinkedIn on August 22, 2024, in three parts, and I have made some minor additions.
 
How best can editors work on text that has been machine translated into English? While some of my clients do use machine translations, some of my clients do not and advise against using machine translations.

When a client uses machine translations into English before hiring me as an editor for the English publication, I find that editing often goes beyond the usual scope for a copyedit (as defined by Editors Canada), and I need to understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of machine translations to do my edit well.

Here are 9 practices I recommend for editors facing the same situation:

1.   Check out what machine translation involves, possible applications, and risks. Here are some sources.
·     Government of Canada’s “Using new language technologies and machine translation,” subsection “To use or not to use machine translation, that is the question” <https://lnkd.in/eBjCuEtP>
·     Slate article “Death by Machine Translation?” https://lnkd.in/ecbcBm6k
·     “5 Risks of Machine Translation” < https://lnkd.in/eJqibMqg>

2.   Ask what post-machine translation process the text has gone through before it lands on your desk. For example, after the machine translation, was there a post-machine translation edit of the text by a human translator? Or did the multilingual authors and subject experts review the text to identify errors in the translation and address those errors before the text was sent to the English editor?

3.   Consider the client’s style guide, other references, and process. Does the client answer questions about many publications, refer to precedents, and refer other questions to the author team?

4.   Consider multiple Englishes. Likely the machine translation defaults to US or UK English, but what does the intended audience know and prefer? What does the client require? What national, regional, and local considerations are factors?

5.   Use high-value resources and use them well–e.g., a specialist glossary of terms in English for the subject, a wealth of online and hard copy dictionaries (Oxford, Merriam-Webster Collegiate 11th edition, Collins, the online Oxford English Dictionary, and the online Oxford Reference).

6.   Consider the process for the edit in English. Will the edit go through at least two rounds of edits: first, an edit with tracked changes and queries or comments to authors; then the authors’ careful review of the text to check the edit and answer all questions; and then at least a second edit round to resolve all text changes and clean up the text?

7.   Review for key words and phrases, concepts, and terms of art that are used and expected in the subject area. Are there areas of text that are vague or might lack nuance? Does the text use many different words or phrases for the same thing? Does the text seem to oversimplify a term of art because of a limited vocabulary in machine translation?

8.   Keep a style sheet and query the subject expert/author team about specific wordings and patterns of language. Does the text use words and phrases that will be familiar to the audience and explain those that are unfamiliar but necessary in the context? Does it use those words and phrases clearly, consistently, and with precision? Does the text vary language in a way that might be unhelpful for the target audience; does it look like the writers dug into a thesaurus too many times? This might result from machine translation translating each word and phrase separately and without regard for the context and consistency. For example, I have often queried early in a manuscript that three similar phrases are used repeatedly but in a way that is not clear and distinct to me, so what distinctions are being made and are the uses clear and appropriate in each case?

9.   Review for tone and style. What tone is wanted for the intended audience? Is the tone and style consistently formal and academic, consistently informal, or a combination? Is the language vague? What style is clear, correct, and precise for the intended audience?

Writers, editors, translators, publishers, and other organizations communicating in multiple languages, please share what you have learned in your work and about machine translations. Thanks!

© Laura Edlund 2010

Canadian Spelling: It’s Complicated!

May 2023

An editor colleague recently asked in an online editors’ group about how to direct a client to information about Canadian spelling. Like a good number of Canadian editors, I shake my head with frustration: It’s complicated.

Canadian English is sometimes presented as half British, half American, but inconveniently neither. However, the real issue is that Canadian English is a thing of its own, drawing on different traditions, and with its own unique words but without a core reference that is regularly updated.

Here are some sources and commentaries.

While the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and CP’s Caps and Spelling might not be available to clients, clients might appreciate an easy-to-access article about Canadian spelling by a Canadian editor (Virginia St-Denis) in the Language Portal of Canada and this page.

Some editors might turn to an online source such “Dave VE7CNV’s Truly Canadian Dictionary of Canadian Spelling,” but I question if it is current. I prefer to stick to CanOx2 and Caps and Spelling as authoritative sources and then keep a careful style sheet.

And for those wondering why there is no updated dictionary of Canadian English, well, it’s a big question and one that is being worked on. This CBC article from 2022 gets into some of the details.

© Laura Edlund 2010

Advice for Editors: Starting Out or Upping Your Game

Editors have a long tradition of mentoring and sharing advice among colleagues, including those starting out (a.k.a. “newbies”). I suggest the following for editors who are starting out or those wanting to improve their skills or business. (For other advice by subject, such as for editing visuals, please see my other blogs.)

Once you gather all your resources, get ready for ongoing professional development. I mean lifelong learning. Formal training (whether in a certificate or degree program, such as at Simon Fraser University or Centennial College) and formal workshops and seminars along the way (for example, from Editors Canada, ACES, or CIEP) are grand, but learning on the job from experienced colleagues and mentors, from precedents, and using industrial standards and best practices will help an editor become professional, knowledgeable, confident, and flexible. Everyone benefits from such editors—readers, authors, clients, employers, coworkers, colleagues, and the editors themselves. And these editors thrive.

© Laura Edlund 2010

Plain Language & Clear Communications Resources—Updated 2021

In 2015, I wrote about re-energizing my interest in and focus on plain language & clear communications. This is still true: I love this work.

For fellow writers and editors, here are some of the resources I find useful. I will add to this list and tweak it regularly. And if you have any suggestions, please contact me with them. Thanks!

© Laura Edlund 2010

Editing Tables: How-To Steps, Troubleshooting, and Tips

A well-edited table can add a lot to many publications, but editing tabular materials can be labour-intensive and frustrating. What I’ve learned is to look at the big picture, drill down into the details, then review against the context, and finally review against like elements. Here are some steps, trouble spots to watch for, and tips—for fellow editors and for authors (because authors sometimes wonder what the heck is happening and why):

  1. First skim the content to get an overview. What does the table present? Does the title of the table match the content of the table? Is any heading ambiguous? Does any content raise questions? Is the content of any cell incongruous? (For example, do all columns have numbers 0 to 99 except the third last, which has text?)
  2. What style for tables is to be applied? Whether you are working with the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition), another established style, or creating your own, see how table titles, any table numbers, column heads (headings over each column), stub entries (in the stub or lefthand column, the entries for each row), columns, and rows are to be styled. Are there any spanner heads (headings that span 2 or more columns—also called decked heads)? Should the headings be sentence style (initial capital, as though for a sentence)? Within columns, should the cell contents be flush left, centred, or aligned on the decimal? If there is a unit of measurement (e.g., $ or %), is it given for each cell or given in the column head?
  3. Drill down into the details. Does the table add up? If there’s math involved, do the math. Check it again. If there are percentages, should the columns or rows add up to 100%? Do they? If there are totals, are they correct? If numbers are rounded, has that been noted? If the tabular material is not numerical, does the content make sense within the table? Is the meaning clear? Is it consistently presented?
  4. Are explanatory notes required below the table? Will the readership understand all the terms given? What style for notes is required—for example, superscript a, b, c, or asterisk, dagger, etc.?
  5. Is there a source given for the content and if not, should there be? Note also, if a source is given whether permission has been gained, if the material is adapted, and so on.
  6. Is the material focused and organized in a logical fashion? Does the table show only the subject described in the title or does it add extra information from a larger source table? For example, a table title is “Life expectancy for selected countries.” Does the table give this data only or did the author inadvertently add infant mortality rates as well? Are the selected countries organized by highest expectancy to lowest, alphabetical by country name, or grouped by continent? What organization does the author intend? What serves the reader?
  7. Review the content against the context. How does it relate to the text content nearby? Should the table appear where it does? Is it summarized or referred to in the text nearby and should it be? If it is summarized, does the summary match the table? Are the references to this table correct? For example, the data was updated recently, but does the text give the new year for the data and reflect the changed data?
  8. How does this table compare with others in the publication? In one additional pass, check the style and content of all like elements. It’s the easiest way to catch inconsistencies and overlap. For example, do the titles in Chapter 1 tables give as much information as those in Chapter 2? If there are two or more authors, have they unknowingly inserted the same (or similar) data in two different chapters?
© Laura Edlund 2010