如今，各種計算機輔助翻譯工具、翻譯耳機、翻譯應用程序大行其道，讓不懂外語的旅行者和商務工作者感受到了方便快捷的翻譯服務。然而，計算機翻譯會完全取代人工翻譯嗎？看看英國廣播公司的報道怎么說。

Put crottin de chèvre into Google Translate, and you'll be told it means goat dung.

在谷歌翻譯中輸入crottin de chevre，它會告訴你這個表達的意思是羊糞。

So if it appeared on a menu, you might pass. Alas, you would be ruling out a delicious cheese made of goat's milk that is often served as a starter in France.

所以如果這個詞出現(xiàn)在菜單上，你可能會直接忽略?？上У氖牵阋苍S會因此錯過一道美食。在法國，這個詞指的是用山羊奶做的美味奶酪，經常被當作開胃菜。

starter [?stɑ?t?(r)]：n.第一道菜

Such misunderstandings are why Google admits that its free tool, used by about 500 million people, is not intended to replace human translators.

正是由于有這樣的誤譯，谷歌承認這個大約有5億人使用的免費工具并不打算取代人工翻譯。

Tourists might accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is cheap and convenient. But when the stakes are higher, perhaps in business, law or medicine, these services often fall short.

游客可能會接受一些誤譯，因為這種技術廉價又便捷。但在商業(yè)、法律或醫(yī)學等領域，當風險加大時，這些翻譯服務往往達不到要求。

"Using Google Translate can lead to some serious errors, especially when words have multiple meanings, which is often the case in fields such as law or engineering," says Samantha Langley, a former lawyer who is now a court-approved French-to-English legal translator based in Meribel, France.

“使用谷歌翻譯可能會導致一些嚴重的錯誤，尤其是當單詞有多種含義時，法律或工程等領域常有這種情況，”在法國梅里貝爾工作的薩曼莎·蘭利說。她曾是一名律師，現(xiàn)在是法院認可的法語-英語法律翻譯。

That is not to say professional translators do not use computer assisted translation (CAT) tools. More sophisticated applications can help them take the donkey work out of repetitive translations.

這并不是說專業(yè)的翻譯人員不使用計算機輔助翻譯工具。一些更復雜的應用程序可以幫助他們從重復單調的翻譯工作中解脫出來。

donkey work：艱苦單調而又無趣的工作

CATs are even used as part of modern language degree courses these days. So how good are they?

如今，現(xiàn)代語言學位課程甚至也在教授計算機輔助翻譯工具的使用。那么它們的效果到底如何？

One of the most popular new tools is the so-called translation earpiece. Usually paired with a smartphone app, they pick up spoken foreign languages and translate them for the user.

其中一個最普遍使用的新工具就是是所謂的翻譯耳機，通常通過智能手機應用程序操作。耳機會將聽到的外語給用戶翻譯出來。

"It has taken decades of research to create a framework of algorithms designed to recognise patterns in the same way as the human brain - a neural network," says Andrew Ochoa, chief executive of US start-up Waverly Labs, which produces translation earpieces.

生產翻譯耳機的美國初創(chuàng)企業(yè)韋弗利實驗室的首席執(zhí)行官安德魯?奧喬亞說：“我們花了數(shù)十年的時間來研究，以創(chuàng)建一個算法框架，該框架旨在以與人類大腦（神經網絡）相同的方式來識別模式?！?/p>

"Combining that with speech recognition technology has allowed us to make a huge leap forward in terms of accuracy."

“我們將其與語音識別技術相結合，大幅提升了準確性?！?/p>

There's no doubt that CAT tools have taken some of the hard grind out of text translations like instruction manuals or questionnaires, says Milan-based Paola Grassi, a professional translator for Wordbank, a global marketing and translation agency.

在米蘭工作的保拉?格拉西是全球營銷和翻譯機構詞匯庫的專業(yè)翻譯。她說，毫無疑問，計算機輔助翻譯工具已經接手了一些文本翻譯的繁瑣工作，比如說明書或調查問卷的翻譯。

"Survey contents are among the most repetitive ones and a good CAT tool can hugely speed up the process," she says.

“調查內容是最重復的內容之一，好的計算機輔助翻譯工具可以極大地加快翻譯過程，”她說。

For meetings and conferences, wearable translators like Waverly's are undoubtedly popular. But even this new generation tech, which combines speech recognition neural networks and internet-based translation engines, has limitations.

對于會議來說，像韋弗利實驗室產品這樣的可穿戴式翻譯器無疑是很受歡迎的。但是，即使是這種結合了語音識別神經網絡和基于互聯(lián)網的翻譯引擎的新一代技術，也有局限性。

Users must wait at least a few seconds for a phrase to be translated, or more if the internet connection is poor.

用戶必須等待至少幾秒鐘才能翻譯出一個短語，如果網絡連接不好，時間會更久。

And computers still lack the subtlety of human communication.

此外，計算機仍然難以翻譯出人類交流的微妙之處。

"Translation technology is undoubtedly a useful tool for certain content such as manuals," says Zoey Cooper, brand and content director at Wordbank.

詞匯庫的品牌和內容主管佐伊?庫珀說：“翻譯技術無疑是處理說明書等內容的有用工具?！?/p>

"But if you want to create a relationship with the reader, you need a human translator to make it sound natural and capture the sentiment, which often involves restructuring a sentence completely."

“但是，如果你想和讀者建立聯(lián)系，你需要人工翻譯，讓譯文聽起來更自然，引起共鳴，這通常涉及到重新組織語句?！?/p>

"I believe CAT tools hinder creativity," says Antonio Navarro Gosálvez, an English-to-Spanish translator based in Alicante, Spain.

“我認為計算機輔助翻譯工具會阻礙創(chuàng)造力，”安東尼奧·納瓦羅·戈薩韋茲說，他是西班牙阿利坎特的一名英語-西語翻譯。

"If the tool shows you a partial translation match, I find it's actually harder to discard part of the sentence and rebuild it than to just create something from scratch."

“如果這個工具譯出了一部分語句，我發(fā)現(xiàn)舍棄部分語句并重新組織語言實際上比從頭開始翻譯要困難得多?！?/p>

from scratch：從頭開始

Mr Ochoa thinks this problem could be resolved within the next 10 years.

奧喬亞認為，這個問題可以在未來10年內得到解決。

"When it comes to expressing emotion and intonation, we need sentiment analysis, which is not there yet but may well be in ten years time," he says.

他說：“在表達情感和語調時，我們需要情感分析，雖然目前還無法做到，但十年內很可能會實現(xiàn)。”

Foreign language skills are still in demand in the labour market.

勞動力市場仍然需要外語技能。

In the UK about 15% of the jobs posted on recruitment website Reed ask for a foreign language.

在英國，招聘網站Reed上約15%的職位要求懂一門外語。

New research from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages shows 75% of manufacturing companies need employees with diverse language skills.

美國外語教學委員會的最新研究顯示，75%的制造企業(yè)需要懂得多種語言的員工。

Yet languages have fallen out of favour in UK schools.

然而，語言在英國學校已失寵。

Recent BBC analysis revealed drops of up to 50% in foreign language learning in secondary schools since 2013.

英國廣播公司的最新分析顯示，自2013年以來，中學的外語學習課程減少了50%。

The UK's Department for Education is taking measures to halt the decline.

英國教育部正在采取措施遏制這一趨勢。

"We are committed to ensuring more pupils are studying languages, which is why it is now compulsory in the national curriculum for all children between Years 3 and 9," it said.

英國教育部稱：“我們致力于確保更多的學生學習語言，因此按照課程要求，現(xiàn)在三年級至九年級的學生都必須學習語言?！?/p>

For Ms Cooper at least, speaking a foreign tongue remains a precious skill.

至少對庫珀來說，懂一門外語仍然是一項寶貴的技能。

"There are still lots of opportunities for language graduates, both in specialist translation and global marketing," she said.

她說:“語言專業(yè)的畢業(yè)生仍有很多機會，無論是在專業(yè)翻譯還是全球營銷方面?！?/p>

And even if you don't use your language professionally, it has other benefits.

即使你在專業(yè)工作中用不到，也有其他好處。

"How can you get to know a country and embrace the culture if you don't speak the language?" says Ms Cooper.

庫伯說：“如果你不會說一個國家的語言，你怎么能了解這個國家、接受這個國家的文化呢？”

"Even with the voice-activated apps available, you will still miss out."

“即使有聲控的應用程序，你還是無法做到?！?/p>

英文來源：BBC

翻譯&編輯：yaning