I frequently receive proofreading requests from my clients, but sometimes Proofreading and Machine Translation Post-Editing get confused. This is my answer explaining the differences between the two practices.
Dear Client,
Thank you for your email.
As you can see from the screenshot attached, the text you sent me is not a translation. It is a Google machine translation.
Therefore, it does not require proofreading, but a different process named Machine Translation Post-Editing or MTPE.
MTPE has a different price from proofreading, and different outcomes too. MTPE final quality is obviously much lower than the qualify of a proofread text.
Proofreading means refining human translation, which per se has taste and style.
MTPE means correcting machine errors. Machines can be mechanically corrected, but they lack in taste and style.
As for my ability to provide services to you, I can offer you the following services:
- Translation from scratch.
- Proofreading, if you pay someone else for translating as a human being.
- MTPE, if it is OK for you to have just major errors corrected.
Let me know if you confirm that you want me to provide you with an MTPE sample instead of a proofreading sample. In case you need a proofreading sample from me, please provide me with a human-translated text.
Best regards,
Silvia Cicciomessere
