Translation memory systems – efficient quality assurance
A.C.T. Translations makes use of state-of-the-art technology to offer you the best quality at the best price: Our translation memory systems (TM systems) allow us to access previously translated text segments quickly and use them again in new translations. This helps us eliminate potential sources of errors, accelerate the translation process, and offer you very attractive rates.
How does a translation memory system work?
Over the course of the translation process, the TM system saves the text segments – small units of meaning – composed by the translator in a special database. For every future text to be translated, the existing data is compared to the new segments, and all possible matches are identified. Our TM system then offers the translator the previously used and approved phrasing. If something is repeated within one text or between multiple texts, the corresponding segment will not be re-translated manually.
The previously translated text segments are exclusively composed by the translators themselves: TM systems merely serve as a support for translators; they have nothing to do with machine translation programmes.
How do TM systems support localisation?
Translation memory systems support a wide variety of localisation processes, which we use to adapt your content to a foreign cultural environment – linguistically as well as technically. This applies to all sectors, ranging from software and websites to print media. It is up to the translator to decide whether a previously translated segment needs to be modified or whether it can be accepted unchanged. This is why such systems are also referred to as computer-aided translation, or CAT. CAT tools are primarily XML-based, which makes it easy to localise contents from a wide range of file formats, taking into account even the most minute differences between source and target language.
Data protection in translation memory systems
Any data bases created by our translation service on the basis of your texts are used exclusively for you. We adhere to stringent data protection requirements.
The advantage of our translation memory system
Our translation memory system works on a cumulative basis: the more translated text is added into the system, the more time and money is saved. Why? Because the volume of accessible previously translated content grows steadily. The more uniform your corporate language is, the more obvious this effect becomes.
The following types of text particularly benefit from processing with a translation memory system:
- Subsequent versions of existing documents:
only the changed parts of the documents will be translated anew. Existing, approved translations are not modified. This saves time and money and prevents errors.
- Documents that are composed in a clearly defined corporate language.
Set phrases and text blocks are saved in the system. This increases the consistency and comprehensibility of your texts and saves you money, as fewer varieties need to be translated.
- Technical documents such as user manuals:
consistency is frequently very important for such texts. The translation memory can, for instance, ensure that pre-set norm texts are translated in a specific manner.