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Details of the Translation Process
The MSHA web site is being translated through "machine translation" which means that it is translated dynamically (on-the-fly) through a third party service.
Benefits:
- This method allows for translation of the entire web site (html, active server pages and other html based pages) which would otherwise be impossible due to limited resources. It does not, however, allow for the translation of PDF files, powerpoint presentations and the like.
- Updates to content are processed when posted rather than delayed awaiting a human translation.
- Translations are handled uniformly -- rather than allowing for human interpretation -- one translator's choice may not be the same as another's. Many different Spanish dialects exist and a perfect translation is almost impossible -- this allows us to begin at the same point and improve as we can.
- We do have the ability to create supplemental dictionaries -- such as proper names, mining terms, job titles and idiomatic expressions. These dictionaries are applied in addition to the ones used by the translation site.
- The software can also be told when a word or phrase should NOT be translated -- leaving it as English if that is the most appropriate solution.
Issues:
- Machine translation is not perfect and may create some poor translations (which can be corrected).
- We are limited in what we can affect on the entire site -- we can enter individual words or phrases -- but not entire paragraphs or pages. We can decide to translate an entire page and simply have the software ignore a page as well if necessary -- but this would require human translation and review.
Corrections/Suggestions (Of the Constructive Variety):
- If you see a term or phrase that you think may be incorrect -- and you have a suggested translation, you may send an e-mail to
MSHA's Spanish Web Site effort.
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