Translation needs in the EU

Sanja Seljan
Assistant Professor Department of Information Sciences Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences-University of Zagreb e-mail: sanja.seljan@ffzg.hr http://www.ffzg.hr/~sseljan

INFuture 2007
The Future of Information Sciences
7-9 November 2007 Zagreb, Croatia

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Digital Information and Heritage

Overview
need for integration of Croatian into European surroundings
degrees of automation

EU: principles, number of languages, directions, need for education in the EU

Croatia: number translators, education, tools

short overview of MT/CAT development

INFuture 2007
The Future of Information Sciences
7-9 November 2007 Zagreb, Croatia

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Digital Information and Heritage

 Necessity for C(A)T: multinational companies, professional societies, government institutions, agencies, etc. amount of text is growing quick access to information

need for surpassing language barriers

Answer to needs of IS, business, education, science, culture, economy, etc . cultural identity vs. globalization + ICT
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

INFuture 2007
The Future of Information Sciences
7-9 November 2007 Zagreb, Croatia

Digital Information and Heritage

 Civilisation of information quick access to information

Civilisation of screen electronic transmission

Civilisation of nations accent on cultural identity, cultural heritage, native language

Civilisation of international market (s)

Civilisation of ecological planet preservation socio-political, scientific, commercial, philosophical reasons for C(A)T development
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Automation of translation?

Translation in EU
23 official languages = 506 directions

In 2005 = 1,3 million pages after the next enlargement ~ 2,5 million pages a year
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Karl-Johan Lnnroth, Director General

FAMT
(Fully Automatic Machine Translation) Human-Aided MT: pred/post urednik, interaktivno Machine-Aided HT (CAT Tools) Online dictionaries Terminology management Translation Memories (TMs)

HT
(Human Translation)
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Criteria for MT/CAT

Text

quality

Type

of text

Time

Information

limit
Document Type

or style
usage
Expenses

of users
Number of languages

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

A.M.Loffler-Laurian: Directeur de recherche de C.N.R.S. Universits: Nanterre, Paris VIII-Vincennes, Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelles Language, reprsentation, communication

Translation

Atristic product own criteria

Market product supply tehnology, software demand price, time limit,

investment, profit, market value The price of professional translation is the constante one or can rise, while the price of computer (assisted) translation can only decrease. (translation)
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Translation needs in EU in Croatia Electronic language resources

overview of MT/CAT tools used in EU (needs, costs, resources) situation in Croatia Tools and resources for Croatian Machine Translation (MT) Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT): translation memories terminology resources dictionaries Workshop, 6th November 2007. e-Language Learning (eLL)

EU principles:
o o o open access to documents multilingualism democracy

Acquis communautaire (80.000 pages) - EU legislation into language of the member country legislative documentation of the new member state - into EU working language Lack of:
o o o Translators (for all languages, esp. for new member states) Time Technological knowledge/ skills

Machine Translation (MT) Workshop, 6th November 2007.Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT)

Importance of

Computer-Assisted Translation
enabeling multlilingual communication Translation of regulations, decisions, law, reports, web-pages, etc. Speed up communication Partially solving number of translators for all EU languages Ensuring consistent terminology Institutions, laws, organizations, associations Sharing of common resources Electronic resources for Croatian

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Translation demands:
Lack of translators (90 full-time translators)

Time (short deadlines)

Document length (30 -> 15-17) Technical education (specialized training courses: 30% pass successfully) Data-sharing of common resources Terminology consistency Reducing costs Incresing speed
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

MT statistics
1990s (Europe & USA): 2,5 million pages/ 10 years 2004: 1.3 million pages/ year Next enlargement: 2.5 million pages/ year Increasing number of users (in EU, professional translators, public use) Translation costs

MT statistics (EC Systran):

1993. about 11.000 requests (2.000 pages/ month) today - about 45-50.000 pages/ month 2000. - about 550.000 pages translated (one third) by MT 2003. - 875.584 pages 23% among EU Workshop, 6th November 2007. institutions 77% for EC and

Computer Tools in DGT

DGT - main body responsible for translation and written communication

2200 professionals (1.650 translators, 550 secretaries)

I. Administration and document tools II. MAT Tools:

Terminology tools (Eurodicautom, Quest, Translation memories (local and central): Euramis, Translation Workbench

Machine Translation: EC Systran

III. Voice Recognition: Dragon Naturally Speking

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Changing balance of source language

1992 Number of translated pages Of which: freelance

914,649 12 % 35 % 47 % 6% 9%

2005
1,287,107 20 % 69 % 17 % 4% 11 %

English originals French originals

German originals
Other EU languages

Karl-Johan Lnnroth, Director General: From Global to Local: Multilingualism in Action

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Machine Translation number of pages

(875 584 pages in 2003)
900000 800000 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

(DGT, F. de Vicente, 2005)

Actual and projected DGT translation output 1993-2008

2 500 000
Actual and projected savings 2 000 000 2004 forecast 2006 forecast Actual translation output

Number of pages

1 500 000

1 000 000

500 000

0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

(Karl-Johan Lnnroth, Director General: From Global to Local: Multilingualism in Action)

http://www.eu-careers.com/workingfortheeu.htm (3.800-9.000) http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/workingwithus/recruitment/contract_ staff_en.htm

Plaa

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Experience from EU member states

same problems regarding EU integration process creation of translation infrastructure building of linguistic resources translation capacity language learning, communication at professional level CAT literacy efficiency of translation workflow terminology management organizational and educational changes
Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Preliminary questionnaire in Croatia

Unreliable data Comparison (ministries, institutes, companies, translation agencies, media, international organizations, courts, freelancers) Resarch: 50 translators / 1.500 Language pairs: Croatian English/ German/, Italian/ French Voordination
at service level between translators commercial sector government administration science Inside of target groups

Non-existing coordination between:

80% professional translators, 20% temporary Mostly individual translation Translation in team (terminology consistency) Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Preliminary questionnaire for Croatia

(Seljan, S.; Gapar, A. Primjena prevodilakih alata u EU i potreba za hrvatskim tehnologijama, HDPL, Split, 2006. )

Number of translated pages:

Standars: 5-6/ 4-5 p./ day, 30 week, 120 month, 1.440 pages/year EU standard: 5-10 p. /day + use of CAT tool

Types of documents: legal documents, health, technology Use of tools:

100% Word (at basic level) 20% (dictionaries: online, CD), Excel, proofing tools, 80% (paper dictionaries) Small number of CAT (Trados, Dj Vu, Wordfast)

Workshop, 6th November 2007. Attempt of organizations to implement CAT tool

Present state in Croatia

Organizational chanages Integration into translation workflow (several private and state companies): traditional tools + TMs MEI consistent terminology (Glossaries; Manual for EU Legal Acts; Euroterm glossary of acquis communautaire ; Eurovoc) Educational changes - University setting Graduate level: Dept. of Information Sciences, FF Zg: Machine Translation Cooperation with non-academic institutions Department of Linguistics: Translator and Computer Postgraduate level: Scientific - Dept. of Information Sciences: Machine-Assisted Translation Tools two postgraduate specialist studies Professional changes Specialized seminars/ workshops Demand from employers for MAT tools Market of TMs Workshop, 6th November 2007.

???
Considerable changes (educational, organisational, professional) Situation in Croatia (number of translators, tools, education, languages) Levels of language knowledge Experience of new member-states Education for CAT tools Terminology management Adoption of EU standards for language resources Building of translation memories Integration of Croatian modules Localization for Croatian products Multilingual contacts Preparation for future jobs

Workshop, 6th November 2007.

Necessary M(A)T from/into Croatian! Preparation activites integration in EU In Croatia

Time to develop One module: 10 man/research years Cro-Eng Eng-Cro

Interdisciplinary team
long-term, systematic, well-organized job Good strategy development!

Workshop, 6th November 2007.