Translating Memory into Global Success

By Liesl Leary, Senior Localization Strategist, ENLASO Corporation

ENLASO helps clients go global with faster time-to-market, reduced costs and improved quality through high quality language and technology solutions. A common practice that affords ENLASO the ability to share these real world solutions is the effective use of TRANSLATION MEMORY.

ENLASO's globalization newsletter, "The Multilingual Standard" provides globalization professionals with technological, cultural and business perspectives on successful communication in a global economy.

Translation memory databases (TM) are collections of multilingual entries used by language technologies to leverage previously translated text. Translation memories are used to retrieve existing translated text by searching for matches at the source level.

Basic Translation Memory Scenario

YZ, Inc. releases a product that has a user manual that requires translation and localization from a source language (Example: English) into a target language (Example: Spanish). During the translation, the translated phrases and sentences are entered into a translation memory database and used for leveraging. As a result, the more documentation that is translated for XYZ, Inc., the larger their translation memory database will be.

A year later, XYZ, Inc. releases an updated product version with an updated user manual (version 2) and must again translate and localize the large document into Spanish. Many terms and phrases from the manual’s first version will be repeated in the second and a translation memory will be very valuable.

At this point, a localization engineer will analyze the new manual (version 2) to identify all the previously translated terms and phrases from version 1. The Engineer will generate matches based on a scoring system that expresses a percentage of similarity.

If the terminology used in a new document is very similar to the terminology used in previous documents, an exact match may occur. An exact match (100% match) is a match where there is no difference between the source text in the document and the source text in the TM.

Remember...

All 100% matches should be reviewed by an editor to ensure that the translation is correct in the new context.

If the terminology used in a new document is similar but not exact to the terminology used in previous documents, a fuzzy match may occur. A fuzzy match (less than 100%) is a match where the source text in the document is very similar, but not exactly the same, as the source text in the TM.

Fact...

A translation memory is the property of the client, not the language service provider.

Translation Memory Benefits

Global time-to-market and translation associated costs can be improved by 30% to 50%.

• Increased consistency of terminology in all translated documentation improves translation quality.

Translation Memory Challenges

• Terminology and/or format changes to the source content between projects may result in a reduction of exact and fuzzy matches.
• The translation memory must be maintained along with the source content

Liesl Leary, Senior Localization Strategist, ENLASO

Liesl Leary is a Senior Localization Strategist at ENLASO. She consults with organizations, like Satmetrix Systems, who require localization systems and process analysis to deploy efficient and cost-effective localization programs. In addition to her experience working with localization, Liesl has also worked as a Business Systems Analyst where she administered corporate best practice research that led to significant improvements in sales order entry processes. Educated both in the United States and in Europe, Liesl has a degree in International East Asian studies with course work completed in Beijing, China and 5 years of working in the localization industry.

ENLASO's Localization Solutions

For more information on how ENLASO can assist you with all of your localization needs, please contact Chris Raulf at craulf@translate.com, call 303 516 0857 x103, or complete the quote request form.