Belinda Maia
Universidade do Porto
6 June 2013
1

Perspective: what to do when you have limited
access to MT
Teaching revision of MT

Related technology


◦ General introduction to MT
◦ Rule based MT (RBMT) - language study – an experiment
◦ Revision of Statistical MT (SMT) – e.g. Google Translate
and Bing
◦ Revision of ‘mixed’ systems - http://itranslate4.eu/en/
◦ Corpora – OPUS, Statistical ‘dictionaries’ –
Lingueehttp://www.linguee.com/
Making your own SBMT system – using parallel
corpora and translation memories – Moses for
Mere Mortals
2

European Norm 15038
◦ General linguistic revision
◦ Special domain revision

Revising and Editing for Translators (Mossop,
2007) draws attention to
◦ Different levels of revision of Human Translation
(HT)
◦ Different demands / needs for revision of HT
3




Different levels / needs /demands
Remember this when revising MT
Accept that revising MT may require balance
between acceptable <> good (<> excellent?)
according to needs
Accept use of MT for rough or gist as a
commercial possibility
4


A short history of MT
The main attempts to create MT
◦ RBMT – Rule Based Machine Translation
◦ SBMT – Statistically Based Machine Translation





MT has opened up the mere possibility of
translation to millions
= Multilingualism rather than ‘lingua franca’
= Need for a positive attitude to MT
MT as a tool for translators
The interest of MT as an object of research
5





2003-5 Linguateca project –
http://www.linguateca.pt
METRA – Systran, Babelfish, Altavista,
Amikai…
BOOMERANG EN>PT>EN>PT…….
TrAva – analysis of EN>PT MT
Objectives
◦ Raise awareness of grammar rules and HT v. MT >
similar problems to HT into 2nd language
◦ Test EN<>PT MT
6






Free online - Google Translate, Bing
Warn students of copyright and security problems
…. Also detection of plagiarism!
HOWEVER…
It appears the majority of users want it as a dictionary
or for terminology (Hutchins – 2010)
But revising the results tells us a lot about MT
7

A polícia checa confirmou nesta segundafeira a morte de cinco pessoas devido ao
efeito das chuvas. Um homem e uma mulher
morreram domingo no desmoronamento de
uma casa em Trebenice, 30 quilómetros a Sul
de Praga. Dois outros corpos sem vida foram
encontrados no Norte do país e um homem
morreu em Benesov, 40 quilómetros a Sul de
Praga.
8

The Czech police confirmed in this Monday
the death of five people due to the effect of
rains. A man and a woman had died Sunday
in the collapse of a house in Trebenice, 30
kilometers south of Praga. Dois other bodies
without life were found in the North of the
country and a man died in Benesov, 40
kilometers south of Plague.
9

Fair
10

The Czech police confirmed on Monday the
death of five people due to the effect of
rainfall. A man and a woman died Sunday in a
house collapse in Trebenice, 30 kilometers
south of Prague. Two other dead bodies were
found in the north and a man died in
Benesov, 40 kilometers south of Prague.
11


Very good
Possible plagiarism?!
12

Descendente, pelo lado de seu pai, de uma
família de raízes rurais de Entre Douro e Minho,
desde muito nova que se interessou por livros,
começando por ler alguns da biblioteca do avô
materno. Foi através destas primeiras leituras
que tomou contacto com alguns dos melhores
escritores franceses e ingleses, os quais lhe
despertaram a arte narrativa. Em 1932 vai para o
Porto estudar, onde passa parte da adolescência,
mudando-se para Coimbra em 1945, e, a partir
de 1950 fixa definitivamente a sua residência no
Porto..
13

Descendant, for the side of its father, of a family
of agricultural roots of Between Douro and
Minho, since very new that were interested for
books, starting reading some of the library of the
maternal grandfather. Foi through these first
readings that took I contact with some of the
best French and English writers, which it
despertaram the narrative art. In 1932 Porto goes
to study it, where it passes part of the
adolescence, changing itself for Coimbra in
1945, and, from 1950 itdefinitively sets its
residence in Porto.
14


Very weak
But absent subject > ‘it’
15

Descending the side of his father, a family of
rural roots of Entre Douro e Minho, from very
young to get interested in books, starting with
reading some of the library's maternal
grandfather. It was through these early readings
that [?] came into contact with some of the best
writers in French and English, which hearoused
the narrative art. In 1932 [?] goes to Porto study,
where he spends part of [?] adolescence, moving
to Coimbra in 1945, and in 1950 finally fixed his
residence in Porto.
16



Marginally better?
At least with certain phrases
But sexist! The article was about
AgustinaBessa-Luis, a well known Portuguese
writer – but a woman!
17


MT works for some texts better than others
Practice with MT will show:
◦ When it will (not) help the translator
◦ Why it does (not) translate reasonably well
◦ How far it can be useful – e.g.
 With specific text types
 For terminology
 For ‘set phrases’ etc

Knowledge of its strengths and limitations
will allow revision of MT as a marketable skill
18




Statistical ‘dictionaries’ – e.g. Linguee http://www.linguee.com/
Corpora – e.g. OPUS corpora http://opus.lingfil.uu.se/
Making your own SBMT system – using
parallel corpora and translation memories
See Moses for Mere Mortals http://code.google.com/p/moses-for-meremortals/
19




You need:
Linux – Ubuntu 10.4-11.2 on your computer
At least 4 GB RAM and enough ‘storage’
Corpora
◦ Either - the bigger the better - e.g. download OPUS
& EC corpora
◦ Or – smaller – your own TMs

Training
◦ Your computer
◦ Yourself
◦ Your private MT system!
20


Course (14 hours) given by HilárioFontes
(DGT- Luxembourg) – Portuguese section
(pioneers in MMM!)
Problems with
◦ Linux
◦ Actual use of MMM


But.. we survived
Students tended to find it easier than the
teachers!
21

Master’s students.
◦ Motivated to learn more
◦ Understood implications for their future

PhD students plan research in this area
◦ Testing the system
◦ Adapting results between Portuguese and Brazilian

Professional translators
◦ Plan to train their TMs with MMM

Several marketable skills
22





We hope to
Encourage a more positive attitude to MT
Develop understanding of MT
Extend this knowledge to a larger group
Make use of material supplied
23









Hutchins, John, 2010 ‘A short history of Machine
Translation’ & several more articles - see
http://www.hutchinsweb.me.uk/
Koehn, Philip. 2010. Statistical Machine Translation.
Cambridge: CUP.
Mossop, Brian. 2007. Revising and Editing for Translators.
Manchester: St. Jerome Pub.
Bing Translator - http://www.bing.com/translator
Free Online Translations Online Language Translator
http://itranslate4.eu/en/
Google Translate - http://translate.google.com/
Linguee - http://www.linguee.com/
Moses for Mere Mortals http://code.google.com/p/moses-for-mere-mortals/
OPUS corpora - http://opus.lingfil.uu.se/
24

Google Translate is learning….
25


Ksidz kradl wódke w Biedronce
Ksiadz Pawel z Kesowa nie ma watpliwosci.
To reka boska sprawila, ze zoztal przylapany
na kradziezy wodki w Biedronce. Bóg zeslal
na niego wieczny wstyd i ponizenie, bo
duchowny ulegl grzesznej pokusie i chcial w
Wielkim Poscie napic sie gorzalki.
26


Chaplain, Fr Peter steals vodka in Biedronka
Rev. Pawel bites there is no doubt. It is a
divine hand has made zoztal caught stealing
vodka in Biedronka. God sent down upon him
eternal shame and humiliation, he has met
the priest wanted to temptation and sin in
Lent drink some vodka.
27


Chaplain steal vodka in Biedronka
Paul Priest of billets there is no doubt. It's
God's hand made ​the zoztal caught stealing
vodka in Biedronka. God sent down to the
eternal shame and humiliation, because the
minister succumbed to temptation and
wanted to sin during Lent drink some vodka.
28