What exactly should you look for in a translation software? How do you know that you’ve made the right choice and that the tool you paid for will get the job done?
With so many options available, it may be difficult to decide which one would work best for you. We would say pick us right from the start because we have an award winning translation software that’s the no. 1 choice for most professional translators and large corporations, but this is not what this post is about. It’s about choosing a translation software that would meet your requirements and expectations when it comes to translating text to or from different foreign languages.
So, here are 10 important things to consider when choosing a translation software.
1. Do you homework
Find out everything you can about the company and its products. This is actually what we all do before purchasing a product. We read reviews and opinions so determine if it’s the best product money can buy. However, be careful with online reviews because so many of them are fake just to convince you to buy that product. Read the reviews carefully and make sure the site where you found them is a respectable site that can be trusted.
Here is just an example of how fake reviews work:
Tip: Be aware when choosing a translation software because there is a very popular one on the market that can cause problems on your computer. So, make sure the software you are planning to use does not contain something that can harm your computer. A quick tip to determine if the software is legit and safe is to just type in your search box the product name and the words “malware” or “trojan” next to it to see what results show up.
2. Choose an established company
A company that has been around for years has experience and there’s a reason it’s still selling products. That’s because they are knowledgeable, they provide professional products and do their best to keep their customers happy. For instance, Systran has been around for 40 years providing professional translation software with the highest level of accuracy. That’s also why so many translators worldwide choose it before any other software.
3. Easy to use
It seems there is a trend to say that a translation software is easy to use, but then you spend money on a software and discover you have no idea where to start and how to use it. With Systran, you get what we say, and that’s an easy to use translation software that requires absolutely no technical skills. This means that anyone can use to translate documents with just a click.
4. Retains formatting
If you’re looking to translate documents that have a lot of formatting, check to see if the translation software includes this feature. There are few that allow you to translate text to another language and still hold the formatting of your document. When you use Systran’s language converter, you’ll be surprised of how advanced this feature is that it even translated the text around the images, without messing up the formatting.
5. Build your own custom dictionaries
The ideal translation software should allow you to build your own personalized dictionaries and add specific terms and phrases to it anytime you need to. If you have a specific terminology that you don’t want to translate, your dictionary should allow you to skip the translation for those terms. Systran also includes this features, as well as a translation memory, which is the no. 1 tool used by professional translators, and an alternate meanings feature that is displayed along side every translation.
6. Access to large dictionaries
When you’re looking for a translation software, pay attention to the dictionaries they have available, especially how many word they include. The larger the dictionary, the more accurate the translation. Systran is the top of the list when it comes to dictionaries, as we have the largest dictionaries from all translation tools available. Our dictionaries include millions of words and phrases, including 21 terminology-specific dictionaries for context-sensitive translations.
7. Additional dialects
There aren’t a lot of translation converter that allow translation of dialects. Systran does provide additional dialects for languages such as Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.
8. Contextual translation, not word-for-word
With a professional translation software, you need to be able to translate texts accurately and understand their meaning. Nowadays, statistical translation is becoming more fluid. For instance, Systran provides the latest and most innovative Hybrid translation engine that considers the context in which a word has been used in order to translate it accordingly.
9. Advanced training
Translation software may be use to use, but there are so many things you can do with the right one. That’s why it’s important to have access to professional training so you can get high quality translations. We have just launched the Systran Training video center with training videos and we also provide a learning center where you can find out more about the languages you want to translate.
10. Support before and after purchase
Make sure that the company where you are purchasing translation software from is reliable and respects its customers. One of the main reasons our customers stick with us is the support we provide not just before but also after they purchase our software. We don’t just disappear once you have bought from us. We’re happy to help if you have difficulties using Systran’s translation software (although you won’t because it’s so easy to use) or need some advanced training so you can translate documents at a professional level.
This is our check list for when you’re looking to purchase translation software. Is there anything we’ve missed? The comments are open to anyone so feel free to share your thoughts and opinions with us.
