Translation Memory Tools Explained

Transcription

1 Translation Memory Tools Explained TRANSLATE SOFTWARE AND APPS ONLINE CONTENT MULTIMEDIA TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION $AVE RE-USE PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENTATION MARKETING MATERIAL

2 Introduction Translation Memory Tools (sometimes also referred to as Computer-Assisted Translation or CAT tools) gained popularity towards the end of the 1990s and are still widely considered to be the best way of improving the productivity and quality of human translation. There are many TM Tools available on the market today; however at a basic level they all have more or less the same function: 1. Split the source content into segments or translation units, and store each one with its corresponding translation in a database. 2. Check new content against the existing translation units available in the database. 3. Propose or populate any similar and/or identical segments during the translation process. Note: TM Tools are not to be confused with MT (Machine Translation). Pease refer to the FAQ section towards the end of the e-book for more information. Contents Page 2 Introduction Page 3 What is a Translation Memory Tool Page 4 The Benefits Page 5 File Formats Page 6 Standard Translation Process Page 7 The Translation Segment Page 8 The TM Analysis No Matches = New segments Fuzzy Matches = Similar Segments Full Matches = Identical segments Context Matches = Perfect Segments Page 13 Log Example Page 14 The TM Quote Page 15 The Translation Environment Page 17 Translation Memory FAQ Why should a 100% Match be revised How to manage and maintain your translation memories What is the best way to use TM tools with multiple suppliers What is the difference between Translation Memory (TM) and Machine Translation (MT) Who is the owner of teh Translation Memory Page 2

3 What is a Translation Memory Tool? A Translation Memory tool is a software that processes content and splits it into sentencelong (and sometimes even smaller) pieces of text called segments. These segments are then translated one at a time. Once the translation has been approved, each segment and its relative translation are stored in the software s database, so that they can be reused or referenced in the future. In a nutshell A Translation Memory is a repository that stores your multilingual content and promotes content reuse. This way, when the same sentence or a very similar one needs to be translated again, the software suggests the already existing translation. Page 3

4 The Benefits LOWER COSTS Through the re-use of previous translations SHORTER DEADLINES Due to increased productivity from linguists HIGHER QUALITY Thanks to the consistency of style and terminology Page 4

5 File Formats TM tools have filters for processing the translatable content in multiple file formats, including graphic design tools such as Adobe InDesign or Illustrator and markup languages such as XML and HTML. It is always advisable to send the original files to your translation provider, so they can handle them in a more efficient way. In this way, you will avoid having to copy and paste your content into another format to get it translated! Page 5

6 Standard Translation Process ENGLISH SOURCE FILE TM ANALYSIS BILINGUAL FILE TRANSLATOR PROOFREADER VALIDATOR DTP / ENGINEERING ITALIAN TM UPDATE TRANSLATED FILE Page 6

7 The Translation Segment When text is imported into a TM Tool, it is split into segments. Generally speaking, a segment corresponds to a sentence. However, a segment may also be a single word. For example: a heading, a table entry or a catalogue item. It is important to make sure that the translated segment carries exactly the same meaning as the original segment. Page 7

8 The TM Analysis During the analysis, the TM tool checks for similarities between the segments of the files to be translated and the segments available in the TM. The result is a log that shows the number of segments contained in the new file and the extent to which they resemble any existing segments. This log includes different categories which are generally grouped into: No Match Fuzzy Match Full Match Context Match Page 8

9 No Matches = New segments Segments that are found to be 0% - 74% match in the analysis log are generally considered to be No Matches. These are segments for which the TM tool has found no matches in the translation memory and hence they need to be translated "ex novo". The words in these segments are counted and specified in quotations and invoices as No matches. Page 9

10 Fuzzy Matches = Similar segments Segments that are considered to be 75% to 99% matches in the analysis log are generally considered to be Fuzzy Matches. These are segments for which the TM tool has found a similar segment in the Translation Memory, but since the source segment in the new file does not completely correspond to the source segment in the Translation Memory, the translator must check and adapt the corresponding target segment. The words in these segments are counted and specified in quotations and invoices as fuzzy matches. Page 10

11 Full Matches = Identical segments The words in these segments are considered in quotations and invoices as full matches. They usually include: Repetitions: segments that are repeated within the new text. 100% Matches: segments translated in the past, that are identical (including formatting) and are available in the Translation Memory. Page 11

12 Context Matches = Perfect Segments 101% Context Matches do not need to be revised. Generally speaking, there are two types of context matches: Full matches that are preceded and followed by another full match, and can thus be considered as correct in the context. Full matches with a string ID (e.g. a resource identifier in software code) which is the same both in the document to be translated as in the translation memory. The words in these segments are counted and specified in quotation and invoices as context matches. Page 12

13 Log Example % of coincidence Segments Source Words Match Type 101% Context Match 100% Repetition Full Match 95% - 99% % - 94% 6 60 Fuzzy Match 75% - 84% % - 74% No Match No Match Total Page 13

14 The TM Quote Generally speaking, translation providers will apply discounts based on the TM analysis results. The greater the leverage from the translation memory, the greater the discount. There is not one standard way for calculating TM discounts, however an example could be the following: No Match = 100% of rate per word Fuzzy Match = 50% of rate per word Full Match = 20% of rate per word Context Match = 0% of rate per word (i.e. free of charge) Page 14

15 The Translation Environment When using a TM tool the translator works within a translation environment. The advantage for the translator is that all necessary information concerning previous translations and approved terminology is easily available. The user interface varies from tool to tool, allowing for different features like Concordance Searches (i.e. database searches) or QA checks. You can see an example in the next page. Page 15

16 The Translation Environment Translation Memory Results Terminology Database Results Document preview Source Text Concordance Search Target Text Page 16

17 Translation Memory FAQ Why should a 100% Match be revised? In the figure below, you can see that the sentence Turn it by half a turn occurs in two segments. However, in the first occurrence, the object of the sentence is la vite : a feminine noun that requires a feminine pronoun in the translation). Whereas in the second occurrence, the object of the sentence is il volantino : a masculine noun and hence requires a masculine pronoun in the translation. As a result, the 100% match needs to be modified in order for it to be grammatically correct. Page 17

18 Translation Memory FAQ How to manage and maintain your translation memories? You know the saying Garbage IN, Garbage OUT? This logic also applies to Translation Memories. If you don t have procedures in place for checking the quality of the content imported into your translation memories you may find that you quickly end up with a messy situation with inconsistent and/or incorrect translations being propogated in the future. This situtation can be futher aggravated if you are using many suppliers and many different kinds of content. For this reason, it is advisable to perform regular maintenance operations on your TM to identify and resolve any criticalities. Your translation provider will have the right know-how to provide you with support on this Page 18

19 Translation Memory FAQ What is the best way to use Translation Memory tools with multiple suppliers? If you need to localize different kinds of content into different languages and with different providers, managing and keeping up-to-date multiple translation memories can be challenging. In addition, if each translation provider is using their own translation memory you are losing out on potential savings and may well be compromising on translation quality. The language technology market offers a wide range of Translation Management System (TMS) solutions that allow you to manage your language resources from a centralized environment. By using a centralized Translation memory you are able to enjoy all the benefits of using a TM while maintaining a pool of suppliers. If you want to learn more about our technological solutions, contact us and we will be happy to introduce you to our proprietary tool AD Connex ACT. Page 19

20 Translation Memory FAQ What is the difference between Translation Memory (TM) and Machine Translation (MT)? Translation memories store signed-off translations in a database for re-use. On the other hand, Machine Translation is a fully automated procedure through which an engine based on statistical and grammatical rules provides a (rather literal) translation in virtually no time. It is important to note that these two technologies are not mutually exclusive. Both remain valid options and, increasingly, we are seeing solutions that include a combination of these two technologies to obtain the optimum output in terms of cost, time and quality. Page 20

21 Translation Memory FAQ Who is the owner of the Translation Memory? Over the years, the question of translation memory ownership has been the subject of some debate. Still, the general consensus is that, even though your TM may be hosted and managed by your translation provider, the intellectual property of the content is yours. Nevertheless, it is worth clarifying this aspect with your translation provider, to ensure that you don t risk losing all your translation assets if you should decide to change from one translation provider to another in the future. The TMX (Translation Memory exchange) specification was developed for this purpose and ensures that the content of your TM is exported into a compatible format so that it can be used with any other TM software. Page 21

22 About Arancho Doc Group References and further reading Your friendly translation provider