TransTool: An Indonesian-made software solution for translation

Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, Jakarta

Translating documents into a foreign language can be a daunting and lengthy undertaking. You must not only be fluent in your own dialect but also that of a foreign tongue, in order for your converted manuscript to make any kind of sense. Dictionaries and thesauruses are currently the best friends for professional translators, but surely in this computer age there is something digital out there that can help.

Perhaps there is.

TransTool is a made-in-Indonesia software solution that can assist and ultimately speed up any English to Indonesian (and vice versa) translation. It claims to be able to translate multi- page documents in seconds as well as accurately provide the correct words, idioms and other phrases to ease the translation process.

There are many translation software programs on the market today. Unfortunately, like most computer software in Indonesia, only the pirated copies are on hand. Bootleg copies can sometimes contain viruses or bugs that can affect the overall system performance of your PC. For English-to-Indonesian translation programs, there are only a few dictionary-based applications that can only convert individual words, not whole sentences.

TransTool is the brainchild of Pius MS, who got the idea after watching his brother struggle though a translation project in 1986. He sought out to make a working computer program to help translators nationwide finish their tasks. After initially programming the application in COBOL (one of the oldest programming languages around), the programming team finally converted to the Corel Paradox database system.

The software itself comes in a CD box set, complete with manual. After the initial installation procedure, it then requires the user to contact the software company (via phone, e- mail or SMS) to not only register but also to obtain an authorizing password to activate the program.

Some people may feel uneasy about this process, since they lose their anonymity when purchasing software. However, these are the steps software developers are forced to take to ensure adequate compensation for their products. Piracy not only affects the large software companies but also the small startups that Pius and co. is a part of.

"The fear is always there," Pius notes. "I believe that someday someone might have succeeded in cracking the protection, but I am happy to see that 'bajakan' (bootleg copies) of TransTool are not sold in software shops."

Pius states that the development process is ongoing in order to make TransTools more effective and, hopefully, give value to the nation.

How good is it?

There are two ways in getting a result. One is by typing the text directly into a box; another is by entering a file name (a text file) as the input. The result is shown in the opposite box or written to a new file.

The results are amazing. Never has this writer seen whole sentences, paragraphs even, quickly translated and actually make sense.

As a litmus test, I plugged in a few stanzas from Aztec Camera's Somewhere in my heart song (a good 1980s tune). The translated sentences give a native Indonesian speaker a better meaning of what the singer is lamenting about.

However, before you buy multiple licenses and fire your entire translation staff, please remember that no hardware or software application on this planet (short of Artificial Intelligence) can adequately compensate for a skilled translator. Many terms and meanings within a document, especially within the legal, technical and medical fields, can only be provided by an experienced linguist

The manual itself states that the results may not be perfect and should never be given to others without editing. The software does allow users to add words into the dictionary so it continues to learn and grow. More importantly, the amount of time saved for professional translators is enormous as the translated results speed up the conversion process. It can also give them a new angle to approach a certain document.

The software retails for Rp 770,000 and is available in various software stores in nearly all the major cities in Indonesia, from Padang to Jayapura. Most of the stores already have the TransTool poster. This software is proof that the skill sets required to create software exist in Indonesia and should be allowed to grow.

It is vitally important for those who wish to use the software program to buy the original program and not a pirated copy. By purchasing authentic software, users will be able to help software developers continue their business and provide value to the local community. Buying a bootleg copy only gives money to the software pirates.

Pius has some advice to other Indonesian software programmers: "Make the software known to public (advertise, assign marketing agents, etc), listen to suggestions, and support them patiently." Hopefully, there will be others who will have the opportunity to take this advice in Indonesia's corrupted software economy.