What Is Translation Memory? Understanding Its Role and Benefits

Ever wondered how translators have some kind of superpower? Their ability to produce fast, accurate and consistent translations has always left me baffled. But the secret’s out and it’s called Translation Memory.

Translation Memory is a super feature that can help translators and content creators produce high quality translations fast and easy. It’s a database of previously translated text snippets that can be reused in future translations. Saves time and effort and ensures consistency and accuracy.

Pro tip: Get the most out of your localization with Centus’ translation memory. Create, edit and manage your translation memory entries from one dashboard. Lean more.

What is translation memory?

Translation Memory (TM) is a database that stores previously translated segments of text so you can reuse those translations in future projects. Segments can be sentences, paragraphs or even phrases.

Each segment in the source language is paired with its translation in the target language to create a translation unit. As more segments are translated and added to the database the TM becomes a valuable resource for translators.

How translation memory works

When a new document is translated the TM system searches the text for known segments that match or are similar to those in the database. These matches can be exact (100% match) or fuzzy (partial match). The system then suggests those stored translations to the translator who can accept, edit or reject them based on context.

Translation memory components:

1. Source text: The text to be translated.
2. Target text: The translation of the source text.
3. Translation units: Pairs of source and target text in the TM database.

Translation Memory systems are often integrated with Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools. These tools provide a user interface that makes the translation process smoother by incorporating TM suggestions.

• CAT tools highlight exact and fuzzy matches in the text so translators can easily find and use suggested translations.
• Translators can edit the suggested segments, make changes and save new or updated segments to the TM database.
• Many CAT tools have integrated terminology databases that work alongside TM so terminology is used consistently.

What are the benefits of a translation memory?

Translation memory saves time and increases productivity by not having to re-translate phrases and sentences that have already been done. Imagine translating a software update – your TM will populates previously translated interface elements in an instant, so the translator can focus on new content.

TM also ensures consistency and quality by making sure the same terms and phrases are translated the same way throughout your content, and your brand voice is reinforced and errors are reduced. In a series of marketing brochures for example, your TM will keep your company slogan and product names consistent.

Cost savings are another big plus. Translators spend less time on repetitive tasks so you’ll pay less for the project. Many translation services offer discounts for “repetitions” or “matches” in your TM. For example if you translate legal documents regularly, your TM can reuse standard clauses and legal terms and save you money in the long run.

TM also speeds up the process. In a time-sensitive e-commerce launch for example, your TM can translate product descriptions based on existing translations and get your products online faster.

And finally, TM scales so you can manage big projects and consistency and quality across multiple documents and languages. For a global company website, your TM is a single source of truth for all translations.

Drawbacks of translation memory

Despite the benefits of translation memory systems there are some downsides.

• Dependence on previous translation. TM suggestions are only as good as the translations in the database.
• Limited application. While TM is great for repetitive or technical texts, it’s not so useful for creative, idiomatic or unique texts like literary works or marketing slogans.
• Time consuming database creation. Although TM saves time, creating and curating a TM database takes time.
• Over-reliance on suggested translation. Relying too much on TM suggestions can stifle creativity.

How to use translation memory efficiently

Choose a good TM tool

Choosing the right translation memory (TM) tool is the first step to get the most out of it. Don’t rush into a decision; research and compare the features of different tools to find the one that fits your workflow and content needs.

Think about essentials like cloud access for flexibility, file format support (.docx, .xml) and integrations with other tools in your tech stack, like your content management system. If you work with website content most of the time, Centus is one of the best options as it has seamless integrations with common CMS platforms.

Create your TM

Creating a good translation memory is an investment. It’s not just about storing past translations, it’s about creating a living resource that grows with your content. Start by populating it with high quality approved translations. This will be the base for future efficiency and consistency. Break down your content into smaller chunks (sentences or short paragraphs) for best matching and reuse. Think about the structure of your content when segmenting; for example when translating a user manual, create separate TM entries for each step or instruction. This will help the TM to find relevant matches and reduce translation effort.

The quality of your TM will impact the quality of your translations. Prioritize accuracy over speed when creating your TM. Don’t add low quality or inconsistent translations. Review and clean your TM regularly to keep it effective. Use TM management tools to automate tasks like cleaning, merging and exporting TM data.

Use metadata to enrich your TM. By adding metadata to your TM entries, like context, domain or style, you can improve matching and make better use of your TM. For example you can add metadata to differentiate between technical and marketing translations of the same term. This will help the TM system to understand the language usage and provide more relevant suggestions.

Use fuzzy matches

Beyond word-for-word matches, use fuzzy matches for potential time savings. These are similar but not identical phrases that can be adapted with minimal effort. Always review fuzzy matches carefully for accuracy and context. For example if your TM suggests "The product is available in red, blue and green" for a sentence that says "The product comes in three colors: red, blue and green" a simple adjustment will fix the issue.

Fuzzy matches are especially useful for longer text segments or when dealing with multiple dialects or regional variations of a language. By finding potential matches with high similarity you can save a lot of time. But you need to balance speed and quality. Fuzzy matches are a starting point but should not be blindly accepted. Always review and edit as needed to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Using context and machine translation

Another way to use your TM is to use context-aware translation memory. These advanced tools take into account the surrounding text when suggesting translations. For example if you’re translating a user manual, a context-aware TM will know that the term “voltage” in the context of electrical components means something different than “voltage” in the context of politics. This level of sophistication will improve the quality and efficiency of your translations.

To get the most out of your TM you can also use machine translation (MT) as a pre-translation tool. MT is not perfect but it can provide a draft that can be quickly reviewed and edited by human translators. This hybrid approach will speed up the translation process especially for large volumes of content. But make sure to choose a good MT engine trained on relevant data and review and edit the output carefully to ensure accuracy and consistency.