Translation Memory Tools

by Beshar Bahjat

The objective of this article is to introduce you to some of the different types of tools available to assist in translation and to provide some useful tips on when to use them.

Translation is the process of rendering text from one language into another and is usually accomplished by a person (translator) who understands the source language and who is a native speaker of the target language.

Although the basic process of translation has not gone through significant changes in and of itself, it has always been adaptive to new technologies and has embraced them quite readily. With the onset of the Information Age, translation is playing a big part in connecting the world and turning it into one true global village. Translation is riding the wave of progress and is, wherever possible, taking advantage of tools designed specifically with language conversion in mind.

There are primarily two main types of translation tool available: Machine Translation (MT) tools, and Translation Memory (TM) tools.

Machine Translation tools work without a human translator and automatically translate text from one language to another, with varying degrees of success. They can be useful in gaining an understanding of foreign content or a foreign website. But none can automatically translate documents or web content sufficiently well to eliminate the need for a human translator. Any type of content which is to be translated for public consumption should be translated by a human translator. Indeed, it may be advisable not to translate the content at all rather than risk potentially insulting foreign audiences with an inappropriate automatic translation.

At Interpro, we do not use MT tools in the course of executing client projects, partially because we find it requires more effort to correct the automatic rough translations generated than it does to translate with a translation memory tool. Building the MT dictionaries in order to refine the automatic translations is frequently not an option given the short lead times provided by many clients, coupled with the urgency of delivering final product to them.

Translation Memory tools are software applications used by human translators that store source segments and their corresponding translations in a database, commonly known as a translation memory. (A segment is typically a sentence whose boundary is marked by a period, exclamation mark, question mark, colon, tab character and end of paragraph mark followed by a space.)

Once a segment is translated, it becomes part of the database, and if the translator needs to translate the same segment again, the translation will be pulled automatically from the translation memory.

Translation memories also allow for what is known as "fuzzy matching" which presents the translation of a similar segment if it cannot find the exact match. That fuzzy translation is then modified by the translator to precisely match the source segment.

Translation Memory tools are not just limited to the translation of content in text format. Most have built-in filters that let you translate different file formats (such as web HTML pages, spreadsheets, or even Powerpoint files). These filters present only the translatable text, and "hide" all of the underlying code from the translator. This is an extremely beneficial feature since it allows the translator to seamlessly work with different types of files without having to worry about deciding what should and should not be translated. The hidden code is also "protected", meaning that it cannot be altered or deleted during the translation process, maintaining the integrity of the source programming.

Generally speaking, there are two types of Translation Memory tools:

Text-based tools usually work with files that contain text as their main component (i.e., an MS-Word document, or an HTML file, etc.). As long as the translatable text within the file can be isolated and placed in a format that the tool is able to process, it can be translated using the tool. The process of isolating the translatable text, and converting the file into a format that can be processed by the tool is usually done by a localization engineer.
Binary-based tools are designed to assist in the localization of software user interfaces. They usually work with binary files (the most common types being EXE and DLL program files). The binary-based tool allows for the translation of text that will be displayed within the application's dialogs, as well as its embedded error messages. The translation memories of these tools allow you to store more than just the source and target language segments - they also save additional information such as the location and size of the different dialog controls. Dialog resizing is an integral part of localizing any user interface since, for many languages, the length of the translated control text can exceed the length of the source language text. Binary-based tools store the dialog modifications made during the localization process, and can automatically apply them to subsequent updates of the software. This greatly reduces the dialog resizing effort for software updates, and helps to make the entire process much more efficient: time-to-market of the translated product is reduced significantly, the localized product remains consistent from release to release, and the cost to the client is as streamlined as possible.

The two types of tools (Text and Binary) are designed for different types of files, and even though it is possible translate certain types of files using either tool, it is usually more efficient to use the tool that is most appropriate for the types of files that it was designed to work with.

Translation is a fine art, and translation tools are not a substitute for a professional translator. However, professional translators have come to depend on translation tools to assist them in working more efficiently, in remaining competitive, and in providing consistent, high quality translations. Clients now expect translators to use these available tools for the same reasons.

We hope that this article gives you a brief insight into the translation tools that are available. Future articles will explore the capabilities and use of tools in more detail.

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