Where Are We?

In this chapter, we looked at machine translation and how we can automate it. The result of a machine translation serves as a first-cut translation (to save the translators' time and, therefore, your money), but it is also a means of helping with user acceptance testing for your application. It can also be used as a temporary fix for maintenance releases when a timely turnaround from the translator is not possible. We created a translation engine with many translators based on Web services, websites, and Office 2003 Research Services. We also looked at performing pseudo translation to help with the user acceptance process. Finally, we looked at the Translator Evaluator, which compares translator support, performance, and accuracy. With the translation engine in place, we can use it in Chapter 10 to automatically translate resources, and in Chapter 12 to perform on-the-fly translation for applications with highly dynamic content.