Focus Translation Memory Tools

Explained
TRANSLATE

SOFTWARE ONLINE
AND APPS CONTENT

MULTIMEDIA TECHNICAL
$AVE RE-USE
DOCUMENTATION

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

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 2
What is a Translation Memory Tool?

A Translation Memory tool is a software that

processes content and splits it into sentence-
long (and sometimes even smaller) pieces of
text called segments. These segments are In a nutshell
then translated one at a time.
A Translation Memory is a
Once the translation has been approved, repository that stores
each segment and its relative your multilingual content
translation are stored in the software’s and promotes content
database, so that they can be reused or reuse.
referenced in the future.

This way, when the same sentence or a very

similar one needs to be translated again, the
software suggests the already existing
translation.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 3
The Benefits

LOWER COSTS SHORTER DEADLINES HIGHER QUALITY

Through the re-use of Due to increased productivity Thanks to the consistency of
previous translations from linguists style and terminology

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 4
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!

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 5
Standard Translation Process

ENGLISH

SOURCE FILE TM ANALYSIS BILINGUAL FILE

TRANSLATOR PROOFREADER VALIDATOR DTP / ENGINEERING

ITALIAN

TM UPDATE TRANSLATED FILE

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 6
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 7
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

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 8
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”.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 9
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”.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 10
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 11
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”.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 12
Log Example

Source
% of coincidence Segments Match Type
Words
101% 62 187 Context Match
100% 29 289
Full Match
Repetition 294 410

95% - 99% 130 379

85% - 94% 6 60 Fuzzy Match

75% - 84% 57 484

50% - 74% 286 1755

No Match
No Match 381 4398

Total 1245 7951

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 13
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)

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 14
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 15
The Translation Environment

Translation
Memory Results

Terminology
Database
Results

Document Concordance
Source Text Target Text
preview Search

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 16
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 17
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

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 18
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 19
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 20
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.

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com
Focus
Page 21
About Arancho Doc Group References and
further reading

Your friendly translation provider

Arancho Doc Copyright © 2017

www.aranchodoc.com