We have been blogging a lot recently about how Translation Memory (TM) saves time, money and hassle, as well as streamlining the entire translation process. The progress this field has seen in recent years have made TM an invaluable tool for translation.
Put simply, Computer-Aided Translation software breaks a text down into small chunks, known as segments. A TM is a database of equivalent segments in different languages. TMs store all of the segments pertaining to a particular client, ensuring that we use consistent terminology in all translations for them. It also enables us to store industry-related terminology, guaranteeing a precise and accurate translation of technical vocabulary, regardless of which translator worked on a given project.
TMs allow greater flexibility in translation, adapting themselves to the needs of different clients and different contexts. In short, TM is an invaluable tool that gets better and better the more work we do with a particular client. But there is also a way to ‘retroactively’ build a TM for a customer we have never worked with before.
CAT implements a program-loading optimization, which allows you to ‘align’ translated documents. This involves inputting a text in both the source and translated versions (the two files should be as close to identical as possible). A translator can then go through ‘populating’ a TM with any segments that match.
This means that any new customer of QuickSilver Translate can immediately enjoy the savings enabled by TM.
