Machine translation is the automatic translation of human language by computers. It is both a quick and cost-effective method of translation. It gives you gist translations of 70% accuracy. However, you can take steps to make your machine translations as accurate as possible, therefore reaping the benefits of this valuable technology.

Message translation varies in accordance with the original text. By following these tips, you will adopt writing techniques that produce consistent and intelligible results.

Be Concise

• Remember that machine translation is a computer process that prefers common words and phrases
• Start with simple, clear and formal sentences and phrases
• Keep sentences short, limiting them to 15-20 words for best results
• If a sentence contains multiple ideas/thoughts, break them into one sentence per idea/thought
• Avoid unnecessarily complex words and sentences

Write clearly and formally

• Word your documents in such a way as to avoid idioms, clichés, colloquial expressions and slang
• Consider the literal meaning of words and try to express this instead

Avoid Ambiguity

• Try not to use words that have more than one meaning for example:
  - Use "movie" instead of "film"
  - Use "painting" instead of "picture"
• Words ending in "ing" can sometimes be ambiguous, such as "rowing", which can be a noun or a verb. Where possible, choose an alternative

Always check spelling and grammar

• Incorrect spelling or grammar leads to translation errors, for example, if a word is spelt incorrectly, the translator may not be able to identify the word in the dictionary

Include appropriate accents

• Always use the correct accent marks in your text. If a word is looked up in a machine translation dictionary and it does not contain the correct accent, it will not be found

Be aware of Punctuation Pitfalls

• Avoid the use of complicated punctuation marks such as parentheses and hyphens
• Avoid abbreviations or if you need to use them, keep them consistent
• Use articles in front of listed items, for example:
  - Instead of: the judge and jury
  - Use: the judge and the jury

Do not leave out words

• Some words can be implied in everyday use, such as "that, which, who," etc. and are often omitted when writing text - try not to do this as they may be required in other languages