Translation Technology

We don’t believe in machine translations. We do believe in technology. We use a cloud-based translation memory (TM) tool to keep costs down and avoid clients having to pay for repetitions in any translation.

Using the latest TM tool, we create a translation memory specific to your documents. Your translation team uses this to keep track of terminology and content. Clients may save up to 70% on translation cost and we deliver faster.

When the best linguists have access to the best technology, quality happens

What is translation memory?

Translation memory is a library that contains all the translations ever created for a client. This library or database is an integral part of a computer-assisted translation  (CAT) system and allows the translator to re-use terms, phrases and in-house language. This means that your translator will never have to retranslate something that has been translated before.

A translation memory stores a client preferences and increases consistency whilst reducing turnaround times and costs. So it is a classic case of a ‘win win’. Translators don’t have to keep translating the same text and clients get their work done more quickly whilst saving money in the process.

Is this just a type of machine translation?

Machine translation is a hot topic in the industry but there is still a way to go before AI fundamentally changes the human translator’s role.

Translation memory and machine translation are very different. Instead of replacing the human, translation memory tools are controlled by a human translator. The human translator is making decisions about the translated content all of the time– the benefit is that once something has been translated, it never needs to be translated again. With machine translation, algorithms are making decisions about the translation and they tend to not understand context. This leads to glaring errors and omissions.

How does translation memory assist my business?

There are several benefits:

  • Cost: The technology maximises cost efficiency
  • Consistency: A consistent use of language is essential for a coherent brand message.
  • Faster turnaround: With improved translator productivity and fewer words to translate, translated content can be delivered sooner.

When can I start using translation memory tools?

Immediately. Translation memories can be developed for almost all translations. The tool we use can handle several file formats from Word to HMTL or InDesign. Clients with regular translation requirements soon appreciate both the timing and cost benefits from building their own translation memories. It’s particularly useful for documents that are regularly updated with similar content such as websites, company reports or contracts.

How are savings calculated?

Savings are calculated before translation as the source documents are analysed to show the number of matches/repetitions. Sometimes  these matches are exact, sometimes they’re partial (fuzzy matches).

A higher discount is applied to exact matches, as these only need to be checked in context and not retranslated. Partial/fuzzy matches get partial discounts, as the text needs greater linguist intervention.

The cost benefit of translation memory

This is an example of how translation memory  could save a client thousands of pounds.

In the example the source files contained a lot of repetitions. This means that the number of words requiring translation falls by 20,000 saving the client £3,200.

  • Total number of words = 100,000
  • Words that had no matches = 80,000
  • Total cost = £12,800 (a saving of £3200)