When it comes to professional copyediting, the conventional wisdom is that professional translators and editors generally perform better than AI. However, we may find striking similarities between an AI’s output and the professionally edited version.

Recently, we experienced an intriguing situation: after copyediting and publishing a text on our website, we later asked an AI to edit the same raw text. Please see one example below.

Raw version: The video is aimed to relax people, not speed them up,

Professionally edited version: The video is aimed to relax rather than energize,

AI edited version: The video is intended to relax viewers, not energize them,

How does AI ‘write’?

Large language models (LLMs) have been trained on a massive collection of text from books, articles, websites, and other published materials. Over time, our blog could be among those texts included in the training materials.

Generative AI “writes” or “edits” texts by using statistically common phrasing and word combinations that frequently appear together.

However, as more AI writing is created and published on the web, more and more of the training data will be AI generated text.

This may result in degrading performance over time, as more low quality LLM-generated content enters the pool. In writing, this could look like an overrepresentation of certain phrasings that sound awkward to the human reader, “hallucinations,” and other distortions.

A professional, human editor can easily identify these issues. If you use AI as a writing aid, a professional editor can add value by introducing a human element that will make your content stand out.

Our experts can help you stay ahead of the curve. Below are some examples of our professional copyediting. Feel free to contact us for full copyediting services in all languages.

Examples of Professional Copy Editing

Conciseness

Raw version: Layla thought the English translation is poetic, so she read the English lyrics as a poem. She has a gentle and clear voice. Her tone is soothing, and the poem is relaxing. Shreya immediately suggested these all work perfectly for ASMR.
Human Edited version: Layla thought the English translation was poetic, so she performed a reading in her clear and gentle voice. Her soothing tone inspired Shreya to suggest creating an ASMR version.

• These sentences were reworked from 41 words to 29 words.
• Redundancies were removed and similar ideas were combined for a more fluid reading experience.
• The tense was also made consistent throughout the passage.
• Word choice and phrasing were adapted to a more formal register.

Word Choice

Raw version: The video is aimed to relax people, not speed them up, so instead, we slowed the animation down, reducing its speed to half its normal speed, and like magic, all of a sudden, everything became seamlessly in harmony.
Edited version: The video is aimed to relax rather than energize, so we decided to slow the animation down, reducing the speed by half. The effect was immediate and magical. The animation was seamlessly integrated into the rest of the video.

• “Speed [people] up” sounds a little unnatural and might have unwanted connotations. “Energize” is more appropriate in this context.
• “All of a sudden” was replaced with “immediate” to describe the change more clearly.
• “Seamlessly in harmony” was revised to “seamlessly integrated” to fix the grammar of the sentence.
• The long, run-on sentence was broken up into multiple sentences. Varying sentence lengths makes for a better reading experience, and a shorter sentence between longer ones helps add emphasis.

Style

Raw Version: Some words such as the “jiangnan” area were not possible to include. It is a word that can evoke so much imagery to a Chinese listener, but there was not anything appropriate that fit and could evoke the same imagery to an English speaker.
Edited Version: On the other hand, we omitted the reference to the Jiangnan region altogether. As Jiangnan’s literal meaning is “south of the river,” we gave up geographic specificity but kept its romantic associations by using the word “enchanted” in the same line.

• The copyedited version explains the meaning of Jiangnan and elaborates on the trade-offs in the translation. Instead of stating that nothing could evoke the same imagery as the Chinese words to the English language audience, the copyedited version clarifies that translation strove to preserve its romantic associations at the expense of geographic specificity.

Conclusion

Copyediting is especially important in today’s digital landscape, where AI-generated writing is becoming more common. Over time, if the training data pool becomes more saturated with AI-created content, there is concern that the current performance state of AI will be negatively affected.

Therefore, it is essential for the AI industry to utilize human experts to improve on AI generated text. We as language professionals can stay ahead with our unique and creative perspectives.

A professional copyeditor can polish your content to present your ideas in their best form. Having your work edited by a natural language expert will keep it sounding fresh.

Professional copyediting may be even more valuable if performed by an editor who can provide a fresh perspective. Consider hiring an editor outside of your team!

It may be easy to overlook the importance of having your content professionally copyedited prior to publication. Below are some reminders for today’s fast-paced digital world.

• Copyediting tightens up the message of your content and improves readability.
• Expert advice can help your work attain its maximum potential.
• A creative human touch can take your content beyond AI’s limitations.

The series consists of three engaging parts:

1. Educational Video: An introduction to the key terms and concepts in the song, providing valuable insight into its cultural and historical references.
2. English Translation: A clear and thoughtful translation of the lyrics, making the poetic beauty of the song accessible to a broader audience.
3. ASMR Lyrics Reading: A soothing experience featuring an ASMR reading of the lyrics, allowing you to enjoy the lyrics in a unique and calming way.

Click to watch all three parts combined in one video on YouTube.

Feedback Received

It is delightful to be able to engage our clients in a dialogue about culture, poetry and translation!

A client of Monterey Language Services shared a wonderful interpretation of Blue and White Porcelain of her own with us after reading our translation. She thought the song described the beloved landscape scenery of China as captured in blue and white porcelain pottery.

How did this story happen? Let us share how Monterey Language Services turned this beautiful piece into a fascinating project!

Spreading the Joy of Translation

The song “Blue and White Porcelain” by Taiwanese artist Jay Chou was released in 2007, so why did we choose it for our 2024 summer project? The idea didn’t come after a lot of planning or brainstorming, but as a sudden enlightenment.

At the start of the summer, Mei-Ling kept hearing “Blue and White Porcelain” in different places, so she decided to learn it. The more she sang the song, the more the beauty of the Chinese culture embedded in the lyrics resonated with her. Appreciating the poetry of the lyrics, Monterey Language Services decided to share the song with a broader audience by translating the Chinese lyrics into English.

Even non-Chinese speakers were able to join in this effort. In this video, Layla, a Spanish interpreter whose native language is English, read the translation as a poem. We then developed the reading further using ASMR techniques.

This story is an inspiring example of the power of translation to facilitate communication between people of different languages and cultures.

Collaborative Teamwork

This project is the product of collaboration between many colleagues and professionals. The end result surpasses what one person is capable of doing alone.

We started the project with Christoph, whose Chinese-to-English translation follows the syllable-count and meter of the original song and provided the foundation for what was to come. See our previous blog post for more information.

After the English translation video was complete, Shreya joined in. She suggested adding an educational video with eye-catching images to explain the key terms in the lyrics.

Layla thought the English translation was poetic, so she performed a reading in her clear and gentle voice. Her soothing tone inspired Shreya to suggest creating an ASMR version.

Finally, we wanted to create a complete sensory experience. Gary edited the background music and added sound effects such as rain falling on leaves, fire crackling, and pottery wheel clicking. These effects enhanced the video and made it atmospheric.

We are proud to mention that the younger generation also played a part. The background image of the ASMR video was drawn by De-Yi Lee, a junior high school student.

For this project, we have many people to thank, including the song’s original composer and singer Jay Chou and lyricist Vincent Fang. The song inspired a lot of creativity, which has made this project very enjoyable.

Through the collaborative efforts of many talented individuals, we were able to produce a video with a clear vision.

Video Editing

The combined video has three parts, and we created it in three different phases. As the videos consist of many different elements, video editing was required to combine and synchronize them. Smoothing the audio and creating seamless transitions between different segments were also fun to handle.

In the introduction to Parts One and Two, we used a stunning animated image of falling flower petals, while a blue and white bowl rotates in the background. On its own, the animation is beautiful, but when put it into our video, we felt that the speed was a little too fast.

The video is aimed to relax rather than energize, so we decided to slow the animation down, reducing the speed by half. The effect was immediate and magical. The animation was seamlessly integrated into the rest of the video.

From start to finish, we made sure that there are smooth transitions throughout the video. Our aim was to find a balance between joy and serenity as well as between majesty and simplicity, while maintaining a relaxing mood on the whole.

Translation Journey

Before translating the lyrics, we took the time to decide on our approach. We weren’t merely trying to produce a mechanical, one-to-one translation of the words. Instead, we aimed to create a singable English version that mirrored the rhythm and flow of the original song.

At the same time, we also wanted to faithfully convey the story told by the original lyrics. Therefore, every word went through a great deal of consideration and scrutiny.

To keep the translation accessible and easy for a non-Chinese audience to understand, some proper nouns had to be dropped. These included references to a Song dynasty style potter’s mark on a vase, and a town in Jiangnan, a region in China known for its romantic river scenery.

Both terms are richly evocative to a Chinese listener, but their dense cultural meanings could not be explained within the limitations of the syllable count.

For the Song dynasty reference, we simplified the phrase to “old potter’s mark”. Although “antique” may have been better at capturing the intended meaning, “old” was a better fit for the syllable count.

On the other hand, we omitted the reference to the Jiangnan region altogether. As Jiangnan’s literal meaning is “south of the river,” we gave up geographic specificity but kept its romantic associations by using the word “enchanted” in the same line.

After a process of painstaking deliberation, we are happy with the translation. It is both faithful to the original lyrics and singable to the original meter.

Interpretations of the Song

Song lyrics can be considered a form of poetry and can have many different interpretations. During the translation of the song, we had a debate about whether the speaker in the lyrics is addressing a blue and white porcelain vase or a human love interest.

One interpretation was that the speaker is an art lover recalling his encounter with a beautiful blue and white porcelain vase in Jiangnan. The art lover’s treasure hunt led him to discover the porcelain vase hidden behind a splashed-ink landscape painting among other works of Chinese art.

The other interpretation is that this is a love song that uses metaphors from Chinese art to describe his longing and the beauty of his lover.

Creative translation, also known as transcreation, of works such as “Blue and White Porcelain” can spark lively discussion, as there can be many different interpretations of the same text.

Joy of Translation

Monterey Language Services worked to translate an excerpt of a very famous Mandarin pop song, 青花瓷 (Blue and White Porcelain).

We present an English translation that recreates the story of the original song in comfortable, singable English.

Even if you don’t speak Chinese, you can truly enjoy and sing the song! That is precisely the intention of this project – to show how much joy a great piece of translation can bring to people.

Be on the lookout for our YouTube videos, which will have both individuals and groups singing the song!

For reference: https://youtu.be/EWIOdhz4oQQ

Interpretation of the Lyrics

Our translation is based on our unique interpretation of the lyrics as a dialogue between an art connoisseur and an antique blue and white porcelain vase from the Song dynasty.

The art connoisseur stumbles upon the vase in a town south of the Yangtze river, in the Jiangnan (“south of the river”) region, an area known for its drizzly weather, for the beauty and soft-spoken nature of its residents, and for being the birthplace of many beautiful works of pottery.

Banana trees, rain, and door-rings rusting green portray not only the humid climate of Jiangnan, but also the perfect weather for bringing out the best color in making porcelain.

The song recalls this fateful encounter and the art connoisseur’s feelings of longing for this immortal work of art.

As listeners, we are invited to share in the connoisseur’s feelings of awe towards the secrets of ancient pottery that have been forgotten for thousands of years.

This art connoisseur could even be imagined as a non-Chinese person fascinated with Chinese culture.

In the second verse, the art connoisseur sees a bowl with leaping carp and is reminded of an antique blue and white porcelain vase, or “you.” The verse describes his discovery of the vase behind a splashed ink painting among other old works of art.

The lyrics reference many different traditional Chinese arts and crafts, such as calligraphy, seal-carving (such as for the potter’s marks stamped on the underside of vases and bowls), embroidery, and landscape painting in the “splashed ink” style.

The song can be viewed as a love letter to Chinese culture.

About the Original Song

With their 2007 song “Blue and White Porcelain”, musician Jay Chou and lyricist Vincent Fang ushered in a trend of “Chinese style” (中國風) songs in Mandopop music, fusing traditional Chinese cultural elements and instrumental stylings with contemporary and Western influences.

Vincent Fang’s lyrics are crafted in a hybrid of modern and classical Chinese, blending literary allusions to classical art forms with the intimacy of address in a modern love song.

Apparently, Fang initially wrote the song about a different kind of pottery called Ru ware (汝瓷), known for the beautiful sky-blue color of its glaze.

However, because a song titled “Ru ware” seemed too esoteric, the theme was eventually changed to blue and white porcelain.

This porcelain is more widely known and therefore easier for the audience to visualize, and Fang also thought it was better suited to convey love, the emotion at the song’s core.

Lyrics

色白花青的錦鯉 躍然於碗底
Carp leaping live in the bowl, painted white and blue

臨摹宋體落款時 卻惦記着你
tracing the old potter’s mark, I’m thinking of you

你隱藏在窯燒裏千年的秘密
You’re the secret kept in the kiln all these centuries

極細膩猶如 繡花針落地
fine as a sewing needle’s falling ‘clink’

簾外芭蕉惹驟雨 門環惹銅綠
Banana trees tempt the rain, doors rust to green

而我路過那江南小鎮惹了你
and when I passed through your town, you enchanted me

在潑墨山水畫裏
Splashed in the landscape painting

你從墨色深處被隱去
you were hidden in the depths of ink

Credit and Disclaimer

The original Chinese song is credited here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf8HHCcbpFc&list=PLZMNI72DYSfavFSLH-o0WfWQ2C-1dbj_e&index=13

This English translation is a collaboration between Mei-Ling Chen and Christoph Zhang.

The English translation shown in this video is property of Monterey Language Services for purely educational purposes.

Monterey Language Services has no intention to use it for commercial profit.

First, there is Statistical Machine Translation, or SMT. The best example of statistical translation is Google Translate. SMTs such as Google Translate use statistical models that draw on a large amount of bilingual text that is provided to them. Through this, they try to find statistical matches for how many times something has been translated as something. For example, if the word “apple” has been translated as “manzana” in Spanish enough times, then that becomes the SMT’s pick for the word apple. It does this for every word in the source and target language before it finally outputs a translation. SMTs can be useful for translating basic words and phrases. However, for more complex sentences, SMTs are not a good pick because they do not factor in context. This means that you can end up with some very strange sentences that do not properly reflect what is being said in the source sentence.

Next, there is the Rule-Based Machine Translation, or RBMT. As the name implies, with RBMT, the machine is translating based on the rules of grammar that it is given. It goes over the source language to analyze its grammar and then looks through the target language to see what kind of grammar rules need to be followed when translating the sentence. After it is done, it translates the sentence according to the rules that it looked up. While this might sound as if there might be fewer problems than SMTs, RBMT translations still need a great deal of proofreading to ensure that there are no problems with the text.

Third, there is the Hybrid Machine Translation, or HMT. The HMT takes elements of RBMTs and SMTs and then uses a translation memory. The addition of a translation memory makes the overall quality of the translation higher than that of SMTs and RBMTs, but there are still problems with using a HMT. For one, it still needs extensive editing, meaning that human translators will be needed to review all the translations.

The fourth, and final type of translation is Neural Machine Translation, or NMT. This type of machine translation uses neural network models that are based on the human brain to make statistical models for translation. When they work, NMTs can provide some of the most accurate translations that would need little to no editing potentially. One of NMT examples is DeepL.

Overall machine translation can be used as a tool to expedite translation, but whether it can produce clear and accurate translation for high level discussions, complex concepts, nuances and context that is still in question and requires time to advance it. This once again proves that the value of professional human translators is not replaceable just yet!

For the best results when translating, it is important to always think about the context in which the source text was written and how it might be perceived if brought to the target culture. What this means is that language and culture are always very tightly intertwined with one another, so what one language might find normal, another language might find abnormal or outright offensive. For example, in the Hopi Indian language, there is no word for time, so their understanding of time is very different from most of the world where there is a defined word and definition for time. Similarly, divorce does not have its own native word in most Indian languages, and they instead use the English word “divorce,” if they ever want to get a divorce. However, divorce rates are much lower than they might be in other places in the world, due to their culture seeing marriage as a lifetime commitment. These kinds of cultural differences is why you have to do a little research when you are translating.

Similarly, in Japan, they have adapted a lot of English words into their own language and use them on a daily basis, but if an English speaking person heard these words, they might have a different idea of what they mean. For example the word “lamp” might mean a kind of light that you might find on your desk or in the room, but in Japanese, it is used almost exclusively for indicator lights. So when you translate languages that use words that appear in the target language as well, be sure to make sure that they have the same meaning in both languages.

Another thing you should be careful of is avoiding idioms altogether if you can help it. Idioms are commonplace in any language, but there will not always be an equivalent idiom in the target language. Unless the idiom is very essential to the translation, you should try to figure out a different way of phrasing it. For example, the phrase “two birds, one stone.” There may be equivalents to this in some languages, but if the target language does not have an equivalent, then you could instead say “accomplish two things with one action” or something of the sort.

While translation can be a fairly straightforward process of just taking the source words and then convert it into the target language, it can often be much more complex than that. While fields such as technical and patent translation might encourage a more one to one translation, there are some styles, phrases, and references that just won’t translate if you adapt a one to one style. That is where some creative liberties come into play where the translator tries to find replacement words or phrases that won’t always have the exact meaning of the original, but will be able to give the same nuance or elicit the same kind of reaction as the original did in the source language.

Detour translation
Because of the differences between two languages, a direct word-for-word translation is not always possible, and translators may have to find another way around – make a translation “detour.” For example, the source language may prefer affirmative statements (like “Staff Only” in English) while in the target language it is much more natural to use a negative statement for the same idea (like闲人免进 or “Non-staff not allowed” in Chinese). This sign could of course be translated literally, but the result would be something that is not idiomatic, natural Chinese. In situations like this, translators would use the detour strategy.

Repetition
To avoid misunderstanding and make the meaning clear, translators frequently use repetition as a technique. In English, pronouns such as “he,” “she,” “it,” etc., avoid repetition by referring to things that have already been mentioned. Chinese, however, does the opposite and usually repeats the original words rather than replace them with pronouns. For example, in translating a sentence like “George put his bag on the table, which is in the middle of the room,” a translator working into Chinese would repeat the word “table” where English replaces it with “which.” Repetition can also be crucial to preserve the style of a source text in which the author repeats specific words to create a certain effect.

Addition
To make a translation acceptable in the target language, translators may need to add more information. For example, when translating “ease the tension between the two countries” into Chinese, translators need to add the word “situation” (i.e. tense situation) to make the translation complete. A proper translation is “缓解两国之间的紧张局势.” Addition is important when translating culture-specific words or expressions because additional explanation is needed to help readers who aren’t familiar with the source culture. In a case like this, a translator may even need to provide a footnote to provide additional information without cluttering up the main text.

The ultimate goal for a translator is to translate the source text’s meaning simply and clearly. The above strategies and techniques can help produce more idiomatic translations, and are a required part of every translator’s toolkit.

Whatever the reason your business has for holding a conference in Silicon Valley, Monterey Languages Services is here to help.  We come from a conference interpretation background with an amazing network of alumni, graduates from the Graduate School of Translation and Interpetation of the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), speaking many different languages, and equipped with the most advanced listening and presentation technologies.  We hold ourselves to the industry’s highest standard, and have contributed to the success of many international conferences for our Silicon Valley clients.

Before every conference interpretation event starts, we make preparations in advance. From selecting a team of conference interpreters, putting together interpretation equipment & the audio and video system, setting up interpreter rooms or interpreter booths, to studying the conference materials in advance, there is a design and a goal in mind in order to achieve the best result in an event we are entrusted to provide conference interpretation.

When the audience gets there, each member is provided a headset connected to a radio-like device that receives the channels of interpretation in different languages (English, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, etc.). Use push to talk microphones to ask questions.  With all of these high-tech equipments, we come on site to provide technical support and make sure customers are enjoying using modern technology to help them break the language barriers.

At the end of the event, every audience member has clearly understood the conference. They were enthusiastic about it, and good business deals are about to come out of this.

The Monterey Language Services team feels—hey, Silicon Valley–mission accomplished.

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

A Passion for Languages

Born and raised in California, David showed a great interest in language learning since young age.  While studying Spanish literature and culture in San Jose State, he has spent time abroad in Madrid, Spain. In his junior year in college, he picked up Mandarin as a minor and went to Beijing University to sharpen his Chinese. These life experiences have given him different perspectives on international issues, which eventually led him to study policy with the focus in trade between the United States and China. David mentioned that “being able to speak another language not only introduces me to a new culture, but also teaches me how people think and behave in that specific culture.” He also joked about how being able to speak both Spanish and Mandarin allowed to “survive” in Spain, Mexico, and China during many unexpected situations.

David feels very fortunate to possess multiple language skills in both academic and professional fields. His academic specialty in trade inevitably requires him to gather both countries’ situations and argument in order to draft a strong analysis. As a result, his ability to read research journals and articles in Chinese has benefited him greatly. David mentioned that a paper can never be “well-rounded” unless both sides of the arguments have been touched upon. In the professional area, David’s academic experience and language skills have helped him land an internship with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Shanghai, and he will continue the internship in San Jose this coming semester.

Benefits of Leaning a Foreign Language

There are many benefits to learning a foreign language. Potential career paths not only include translation and interpretation, but countless others in business and in policy, like David’s. In addition, learning a foreign language can lead to a magnificent journey in a foreign country, the ability to watch foreign movies without the aid of subtitles, and the opportunity to make friends all over the world.

Fact: Based on the 2010 data, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics also project 58,400 translation and interpretation jobs available to translators and interpreters.

Question: How many professional translators and interpreters are out there to take the translation and interpretation jobs? Is being bilingual or multilingual enough to warrant a successful translation and interpretation project?

The story below is brought to you by Ringo Li, a conference interpretation student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

I would like to share some insights based on my personal experience. I grew up speaking Mandarin and started learning English since elementary school. Later, I attended high school and college in the United States. I am a proficient bilingual, which opens up many doors for me. Yet, I can tell you that I am far from a qualified translator or interpreter.

Becoming a professional translator and interpreter often requires years of education and training. Experience is also a key element. Moreover, the language specialists’ expertise in specific fields such as medicine, business, technology, law or international relations can also increase success. These are some useful criteria for seeking quality language services. After all, quality work is what matters the most — a highly skilled translator or interpreter can always explain things clearly and accurately in another language.

Today’s world is filled with an overflow of information. When it comes to language services, there are numerous choices — but there are only a few reputable, quality providers. For best results, always look beyond mere bilingualism and multilingualism!

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Picture source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VZDVtyDFUtI/T2bRBkvu8YI/AAAAAAAABY8/wdBYOqxADIY/s1600/18GRAY-articleLarge-v2.jpg

The Indo-European language family includes languages such as German, French, Spanish, Russian, and of course, English. Although there are slight similarities between certain cognates (words with common origin) such as the English ‘mother,’ the German ‘mutter,’ and the Spanish ‘Madre,’ these researchers went above and beyond by modeling how hundreds of words evolved through time. After following the “migration” of the languages back to the source, the scientists discovered all of these languages descend from Anatolia, the westernmost part of Asia and the western two-thirds of arguably one of the most historical and cultural countries in the world; Turkey.

Although the research is still underway, this discovery is a big one in terms of what scientists can undertake next. This opens up new doors and opportunities to dive even deeper into the history of modern day languages.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2192729/English-language-descended-ancient-Turkey-experts-claim.html?ito=feeds-newsxml