Electronic translation and dictionary software

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................2
Business related to neighboring country ..........................................................................................................................................................................................3
Finnish / Russian speaking employees ..........................................................................................................................................................................................4
Interpreters and translators ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................5
Where have interpreters and translators been used? ..................................................................................................................................................................6
Money used on interpreters and translators ................................................................................................................................................................................7
Satisfaction with interpreters and translators ..............................................................................................................................................................................8
Deficiencies in interpretations and translations ...........................................................................................................................................................................9
Translation software and electronic dictionaries............................................................................................................................................................................10
Where have translation software and electronic dictionaries been used? ................................................................................................................................11
Languages used ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................12
Satisfaction with translation software and electronic dictionaries............................................................................................................................................. 13
Deficiencies in translation software and electronic dictionaries ................................................................................................................................................14
A high-quality Finnish – Russian electronic translator and dictionary on the Internet ..................................................................................................................15
Where would you use the high-quality Finnish – Russian electronic translator and dictionary? ...............................................................................................16
Price for mobile Finnish – Russian translator and dictionary ......................................................................................................................................................17
Voice recognition.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................18
Free availability on the Internet during trips ..............................................................................................................................................................................19
Features .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................20
The most appropriate device for use ..........................................................................................................................................................................................21
1
SUMMARY
INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS
Almost half of the interviewed Finnish companies and about every sixth of the Russian companies have used external interpreters or translators when having business with the neighboring
country during the last twelve months. Finnish companies use interpreters and translators mainly in business meetings and in writing of all kinds of documents and emails. Russian companies
use them for writing contracts and manuals / service guides and in business meetings.
Of companies, which have used interpreters or translators during the last twelve months, on average, Finnish companies have used about 3 100 € / 120 000 rub on interpreters and about
3 200 € / 130 000 rub on translators and Russian companies have used about 2 400 € / 100 000 rub on interpreters and about 1 000 € / 40 000 rub on translators annually. Satisfaction with
interpreters and translators is extremely high among Russian companies and high among Finnish companies. Overall satisfaction with interpreters is a little higher than overall satisfaction with
translators. Lack of satisfaction with interpretations and translations has been mainly because of quality.
TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES
Over half of Finnish respondents and over two thirds of Russian respondents have used Google translate for their work. Also Yandex Perevod, Translate.ru and ABBYY are used quite a lot by
Russians. A third of Finnish and a sixth of Russian haven’t used any translation software or electronic dictionaries for their work. Translation software and electronic dictionaries are mainly
used for emails. Russians use translation software or electronic dictionaries mainly for English translations. Finnish use them for Russian translations as well. A third of Finnish respondents,
who have used translation software or electronic dictionaries for their work, are unsatisfied or extremely unsatisfied with them. Russians are mainly satisfied. Main reason why translation
software and electronic dictionaries are not extremely satisfying is that the quality of the translations is not satisfying.
A HIGH-QUALITY FINNISH – RUSSIAN ELECTRONIC TRANSLATOR AND DICTIONARY ON THE INTERNET
More than four fifths of Finnish respondent’s and about a quarter of Russian respondents would quite probably use a high-quality Finnish – Russian electronic translator and dictionary, if it
was available on the Internet. The electronic translator and dictionary on the internet would be mainly used at work or while traveling for business. One third of the respondents, who would
surely or probably use it, would use it at home.
If the price was 10 euros / 400 rubles, about half of Finnish respondents and every tenth Russian respondent would surely buy. At 50 euros / 2 000 rubles, about half of the Finns would surely
or quite probably buy. Not many Russians would buy anymore at this or higher price level. Rising the price to 90 euros / 3 600 rubles would decrease the share of Finns, who would surely buy,
to ten percent. Raising the price from this point on wouldn’t affect much the buying behavior. At any price level roughly four fifths of the Russians wouldn’t buy.
A fourth of the Finnish respondent’s would quite probably acquire the translator and dictionary if it had voice recognition. Most of the Russians wouldn’t still acquire it just because of the
additional voice recognition. Almost four fifths of the Finnish respondent’s and a fourth of the Russian respondent’s would surely or quite probably use the translator and dictionary on their
trips to the neighboring country, if it was available for free on the Internet. Most important features for both Finnish and Russian respondents are logical, easy to use, intuitive and simple user
interface and easy and fast navigation. Most of the Finnish respondents would like to use the software on a laptop or pc whereas most of the Russian respondents would like to use the
software on mobile device. About a fifth of Russian respondents would like to use it on a compact separate device.
2
INTRODUCTION
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
• A public electronic translation and dictionary software is under development. Possible main target users are Finnish and Russian companies and
organizations, which have customers or business partners in the neighboring country. The purpose of the research was to find out what kind of
interpretational or translational needs these companies and organizations have.
IMPLEMENTATION
• Finnish companies were interviewed on an Internet survey. Invitation letters were sent by email to FRCC (Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce)
members and other companies and organization, which are known to have Russian contacts.
• Russian companies were interviewed over telephone.
• Interviews were done in April and May 2013.
• A total of 204 Russian companies or organizations were interviewed. 242 Finnish companies or organizations started the survey, of which 181
finished answering. Companies and organizations that didn’t have any business with the neighboring country were abandoned.
• Rsoft implemented Russian research and Promaco implemented Finnish research. The results of these two researches were combined in this report.
RELIABILITY
• Sample error in percentage figures in this report is no more than 7 %.
STRUCTURE OF DATA
Location
South-Finland
West-Finland
East-Finland
North-Finland
Moscow and Moscow region
St. Petersburg and Leningrad region
elsewhere in Russia
Finland
62 %
22 %
8%
8%
Russia
29 %
57 %
14 %
Number of employees
1-5
6-50
51-200
over 200
Industry
products for consumers
services for consumers
services for business
production, real estates, transportation, other
Finland
20 %
34 %
16 %
30 %
Finland
17 %
14 %
31 %
62 %
Russia
6%
44 %
27 %
24 %
Russia
16 %
20 %
28 %
41 %
3
BUSINESS RELATED TO NEIGHBORING COUNTRY
Finnish
companies
Finnish companies: What kind of business related to Russia do you have?
Russian companies: What kind of business related to Finland do you have?
Russian
companies
100%
90%
OTHER:
- consulting
- subsidiaries
- collaboration
- investments
- production
80%
% of companies
70%
60%
59%
49%
50%
39%
38%
40%
32%
32%
30%
22%
20%
14%
17%
10%
2%
0%
export
import
subcontractors
customers
other
Of the surveyed companies, larger number of Finnish companies exports to Russia than Russian companies export to Finland. Relatively larger share of
Finnish companies have subcontractors and customers in the neighboring country. Companies, which didn’t have any business related to neighboring
country, were excluded from this survey. On the average, Finnish companies said that 28 % of their business is related to Russia whereas Russian companies
stated that 43 % their business is related to Finland.
4
FINNISH / RUSSIAN SPEAKING EMPLOYEES
Finnish
companies
Finnish companies: Does your company have Russian speaking empoyees, who have business with Russian?
Russian companies: Does your company have Finnish speaking empoyees, who have business with Finnish?
Russian
companies
100%
90%
83%
80%
74%
% of companies
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
26%
17%
10%
0%
no
yes
It is much more common for Finnish companies to have Russian speaking employees than Russian companies to have Finnish speaking employees. Finnish
companies have 16 such employees on the average, where Russian companies have three. Reasons why companies didn’t have this kind of employees
included: communication in English, translations are outsourced, ne need of them, too expensive.
5
INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS
Finnish
companies
Russian
companies
During the last twelve months, has your company used external interpreters or translators
when having business with Russians / Finnish?
100%
90%
84%
80%
% of companies
70%
60%
46%
50%
38%
40%
30%
20%
16%
15%
10%
0%
I can't say
no
yes
Almost half of the interviewed Finnish companies and about every sixth of the Russian companies have used external interpreters or translators when
having business with the neighboring country during the last twelve months. The reasons why external interpreters or translators have not been used are:
there has been no need, interpretations and translations are handled internally, communication and documentation are in English and conversations are in
English or Russian.
6
WHERE HAVE INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS BEEN USED?
% of companies, which have used interpreters or translators
during the last 12 months
Finnish
companies
Russian
companies
100%
OTHER:
- conferences
- training
- marketing
- websites
- seminars
90%
80%
70%
60%
52%
51%
48%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
27%
26%
24%
20%
10%
27%
31%
14%
6%
3%
6%
8%
9%
0%
emails
contracts
other paper
manuals, service
documents (menus
guides
etc.)
request for offers telephone / video business meetings
negotiations
other
Finnish companies use interpreters and translators mainly in business meetings and in writing of all kinds of documents and emails. Russian companies use
them for writing contracts and manuals / service guides and in business meetings. For emails they are seldom used.
7
MONEY USED ON INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS
How much money does your company use annually for external interpreters and translators
when having business with the neighboring country (Finland / Russia)?
(companies, which have used interpreters or translators during the last twelve months)
5 000 €
4 500 €
max 20 000 €
/ 800 000 rub
max 20 000 €
/ 800 000 rub
maximum
4 000 €
percentile 75
3 500 €
3 000 €
mean
2 500 €
median
2 000 €
1 500 €
percentile 25
1 000 €
minimum
500 €
- €
Finnish companies
Russian companies
money used on interpreters
Finnish companies
Russian companies
money used on translators
Of companies, which have used interpreters or translators during the last twelve months, on average, Finnish companies have used about 3 100 € / 120 000
rubles on interpreters and about 3 200 € / 130 000 rubles on translators and Russian companies have used about 2 400 € / 100 000 rubles on interpreters
and about 1 000 € / 40 000 rubles on translators annually. Even though Finnish companies have used more on interpreters on average, minimum, median,
percentile 25 and percentile 75 for Russian companies are higher. This means that most of the Russian companies use more money on interpreters.
8
SATISFACTION WITH INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS
% of companies, which have used interpreters or translators
during the last 12 months
100 %
90 %
80 %
25%
35%
5 (extremely
satisfied)
70 %
4
60 %
95%
50 %
96%
51%
3
40 %
45%
30 %
2
20 %
19%
10 %
1 (extremely
unsatisfied)
19%
5%
0%
Finnish companies
Russian companies
interpreters
4%
1%
Finnish companies
4%
Russian companies
translators
Satisfaction with interpreters and translators is extremely high among Russian companies and high among Finnish companies. Overall satisfaction with
interpreters is a little higher than overall satisfaction with translators.
9
DEFICIENCIES IN INTERPRETATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS
Finnish
companies
Russian
companies
What kind of deficiencies have you had with interpretations and translations?
100%
100%
100%
% of companies, which have not been satisfied
with interpreters and translators
100%
OTHER:
- expertise
- special vocabulary
90%
80%
71%
70%
64%
60%
50%
40%
27%
30%
26%
19%
20%
12%
12%
7%
10%
0%
speed
price
quality
interpretations
other
speed
price
quality
other
translations
Lack of satisfaction with interpretations and translations has been mainly because of quality. Only two Russian companies answered this question, because
the number of unsatisfied Russian companies was so small. Therefore the only deficiencies interviewed Russian companies had experienced were quality
and speed.
10
TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES
Finnish
What translation softwares or electronic dictionaries
have you used for your work?
Russian
100%
OTHER:
- Bing
- Eurotranslator
- ilmainensanakirja.fi
- iPhone
- kaantaja.fi
- Lingua 5
- MOT
- multitran.ru
- Oxford dictionary
- Poliglos
- sanakirja.org
90%
80%
68%
% of respondents
70%
60%
55%
50%
43%
40%
31%
27%
30%
23%
21%
17%
20%
10%
3%
2%
6%
3%
0%
Google Translate
Yandex Perevod
Translate ru (PROMT)
ABBYY Lingvo
other
none
Over half of Finnish respondents and over two thirds of Russian respondents have used Google translate for their work. Also Yandex Perevod, Translate.ru
and ABBYY are used quite a lot by Russians. A third of Finnish and a sixth of Russian haven’t used any translation software or electronic dictionaries for their
work.
11
WHERE HAVE TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND ELECTRONIC
DICTIONARIES BEEN USED?
Finnish
Russian
% of respondents, who have used translation software or
electronic dictionaries for their work
100%
90%
OTHER:
- websites
- in busy situations
- short texts
- spelling checks
- meetings
- finding single words
80%
72%
70%
68%
60%
50%
40%
31%
29%
27%
30%
24%
29%
21%
20%
15%
9%
10%
0%
emails
contracts
manuals, service guides
Translation software and electronic dictionaries are mainly used for emails.
request for offers
other
12
LANGUAGES USED
Finnish
What languages have you used translation software or electronic dictionaries for?
Russian
% of respondents, who have used translation software or
electronic dictionaries for their work
OTHER:
- Swedish
- Dutch
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Chinese
- Norwegian
- Polish
- French
- Arabic
- Portugues
- Estonian
97%
100%
90%
81%
80%
70%
66%
60%
50%
40%
34%
30%
20%
16%
10%
3%
0%
Finnish / Russian – English
Finnish – Russian
other
Russians use translation software or electronic dictionaries mainly for English translations. Finnish use them for Russian translations as well.
13
SATISFACTION WITH TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND
ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES
% of respondents, who have used translation software or
electronic dictionaries for their work
100 %
90 %
2%
21%
5 (extremely
satisfied)
80 %
70 %
64%
4
60 %
44%
50 %
3
40 %
30 %
20 %
2
30%
28%
10 %
0%
5%
1%
1%
Russian companies
4%
Finnish companies
1 (extremely
unsatisfied)
translation software and electronic dictionaries
A third of Finnish respondents, who have used translation software or electronic dictionaries for their work, are unsatisfied or extremely unsatisfied with
them. Russians are mainly satisfied.
14
DEFICIENCIES IN TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND
ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES
Finnish
Russian
97%
100%
% of respondents, who have used translation software or
electronic dictionaries for their work
What kind of deficiencies have you had with translation software or electronic dictionaries?
90%
80%
78%
OTHER:
- lack of vocabulary
- wrong wording
- unreliability
- too slow
70%
60%
50%
WHY?
- bad connection
- too slow
- too expensive
40%
30%
WHY?
- time lapse
- bad connection
28%
20%
7%
10%
10%
6%
0%
quality is not satisfying
using them abroad is too difficult
when needed, using them is too
complicated
other
Main reason why translation software and electronic dictionaries are not extremely satisfying is that the quality of the translations is not satisfying.
15
A HIGH-QUALITY FINNISH – RUSSIAN ELECTRONIC TRANSLATOR AND
DICTIONARY ON THE INTERNET
Finnish
Russian
If there was a high-quality Finnish – Russian electronic translator and dictionary on the Internet,
how likely would you use it?
100%
90%
80%
74%
% of respondents
70%
60%
47%
50%
40%
36%
30%
20%
16%
12%
10%
7%
5%
3%
0%
I would surely use
I would quite probably use
I don't think that I would use
I don't know
More than four fifths of Finnish respondent’s and about a quarter of Russian respondents would quite probably use a high-quality Finnish – Russian
electronic translator and dictionary, if it was available on the Internet.
16
WHERE WOULD YOU USE THE HIGH-QUALITY FINNISH – RUSSIAN
ELECTRONIC TRANSLATOR AND DICTIONARY?
Finnish
% of respondents, who would surely or probably use it
100%
Russian
97%
90%
85%
80%
70%
60%
47%
50%
50%
37%
40%
33%
30%
OTHER:
- everywhere
- when needed
- on mobile phone
- during personal travel
20%
10%
10%
3%
0%
at work
while traveling for business
at home
other
The electronic translator and dictionary on the internet would be mainly used at work or while traveling for business. One third of the respondents, who
would surely or probably use it, would use it at home.
17
PRICE FOR MOBILE FINNISH – RUSSIAN TRANSLATOR AND DICTIONARY
If you had a chance to buy a mobile good-quality Finnish – Russian translator and dictionary,
would you buy it if the price was...
100%
90%
80%
% of respondents
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
10 € / 400 rub
50 € / 2 000 rub
90 € / 3 600 rub
130 € / 5 200 rub
I would surely buy (Finnish)
I would probably buy (Finnish)
I don't think I would buy (Finnish)
I would surely buy (Russian)
I would probably buy (Russian)
I don't think I would buy (Russian)
If the price was 10 euros / 400 rubles, about half of Finnish respondents and every tenth Russian respondent would surely buy. At 50 euros / 2 000 rubles,
about half of the Finns would surely or quite probably buy. Not many Russians would buy anymore at this or higher price level. Rising the price to 90 euros /
3 600 rubles would decrease the share of Finns, who would surely buy, to ten percent. Raising the price from this point on wouldn’t affect much the buying
behavior. At any price level roughly four fifths of the Russians wouldn’t buy. About one sixth of the respondents answered I don’t know.
18
VOICE RECOGNITION
Finnish
Would you acquire the translator and dictionary if it had voice recognition?
Russian
100%
90%
77%
80%
% of respondents
70%
60%
50%
41%
40%
28%
30%
23%
20%
11%
10%
8%
6%
5%
0%
surely
quite probably
I don't think so
I don't know
A fourth of the Finnish respondent’s would quite probably acquire the translator and dictionary if it had voice recognition. Most of the Russians wouldn’t
still acquire it just because of the additional voice recognition.
19
FREE AVAILABILITY ON THE INTERNET DURING TRIPS
Finnish
If the translator and dictionary was available for free on the Internet,
would you use it on your trips to neighboring country (Finland / Russia)?
Russian
100%
90%
80%
68%
% of respondents
70%
60%
50%
40%
38%
38%
30%
18%
20%
15%
10%
10%
8%
6%
0%
surely
quite probably
I don't think so
I don't know
Almost four fifths of the Finnish respondent’s and a fourth of the Russian respondent’s would surely or quite probably use the translator and dictionary on
their trips to the neighboring country, if it was available for free on the Internet.
20
FEATURES
less
important
100%
quite
important
1%
How important following features are?
most
important
2%
5%
1%
2%
6%
5%
5%
19%
90%
80%
25%
26%
39%
33%
45%
40%
70%
% of respondents
22%
52%
18%
31%
60%
62%
50%
93%
82%
95%
92%
50%
54%
40%
37%
40%
30%
58%
59%
56%
50%
42%
20%
29%
24%
10%
19%
14%
0%
Finnish
Russian
logical, easy to use
and intuitive interface
Finnish
Russian
easy and fast
navigation
Finnish
Russian
simple interface
Finnish
Russian
scalable text size
1%
Finnish
Russian
Finnish
Russian
11%
2%
Finnish
14%
Russian
grayscale interface user support included multicolor interface
(for easier reading)
Most important features for both Finnish and Russian respondents are logical, easy to use, intuitive and simple user interface and easy and fast navigation.
Other features that respondents mentioned were special vocabulary, easy copy-paste function, easy updating, 24/7 helpdesk, support for all formats, offline
mode, fast, clear graphics, translation by hovering cursor over words, speech recognition, pronunciation of words, show suggestions for unrecognized words,
phrases, translation history, spell check, include own words, word classes, lexical categories, hyphenation, idioms, pronunciation keys, examples how to use
the word, recognition of dialects.
21
THE MOST APPROPRIATE DEVICE FOR USE
Finnish
Which one is the most appropriate device for use?
Russian
100%
90%
77%
80%
% of respondents
70%
60%
50%
45%
38%
40%
30%
22%
18%
20%
10%
1%
0%
software for mobile device
(phone, communicator, palmtop)
software for laptop or pc
separate compact device
(size of a mobile phone)
Most of the Finnish respondents would like to use the software on a laptop or pc whereas most of the Russian respondents would like to use the software
on mobile device. About a fifth of Russian respondents would like to use it on a compact separate device.