How to pick up the right translation memory tool?
How to pick up the right translation memory tool
The translation industry is getting competitive by the day. On top of that, the advent of the internet also gave people an option to access translation agencies around the world that offer competitive prices with some of the best quality outputs. You don’t need to be physically in India in order to obtain top quality outputs for half the price and turnaround time compared to that offer in New York. As such, there are a number of agencies that resort to cost cutting. The main issue here is that by cutting around the corner in order to reduce the total cost of producing an output, sometimes quality suffers quite a bit of a dip.
There are some companies that cut around the corner in order to reduce operating cost. One of the most common strategy is to cut down on quality check. By dismissing quality check altogether, a company can not only reduce operation cost but also cut on the turnaround time of a specific project. However, the downside here is quite noticeable. By cutting quality checkers, you are essentially dismissing an important part of an industry that relies heavily on accuracy and quality. Some translators, especially experienced ones, are capable of outputting impeccable pieces of output with perfect accuracy. However, regardless of how perfect they are, they can sometimes miss a number of translations. While this is totally normal, employing a quality assurance checker is one of the most effective strategy to curb this.
Another popular option is picking a translation memory tools. It is true that this strategy is not exactly cheap, since most memory tools cost quite a fortune. However, many translation companies stand by their decision of purchasing one as the long-term effects of it are quite impressive.
What is a translation memory tool?
A translation memory tool is essentially a database that stores all your previously completed translations. Every time you pick up a new project, you can simply fire up this tool and it will allow you to compare your new project to previous completed ones. The memory tool goes over your new project and compares it to segments of previously completed ones. Once it finds a match, what the tool does is use this existing translation and you will never have to translate it again for the project.
This translation memory tool is extremely useful and has proved time and again that it will become more indispensable in the years to come. However, there are a number of things to consider when using it. First, and foremost, it is important to remember that it is just a tool. It is not meant to completely takeover your job. Instead, it is design in order to help you with your project. The reason behind this is quite simple, it is not perfect and it relies on previously completed projects. This means that if a pervious project of yours mistranslated a word, changes are the translation memory tool will also pick up this previously mistranslated word.
There are also cases the memory tool does not pick up the context upon which the word is used. This is one of the many quirks of this tools, which is why you always need to double check its results. Words can mean different things, and that is why understanding the context of a particular sentence is vital when it comes to translation.
How to pick the right translation memory tool?
There are a number of translation memory tools that are currently out in the market. These tools come in different types and forms, as well as prices. Each of these price ranges offer unique features that are not available in some variants.
As with almost any type of software, it is best to look for the one that fits your needs. There is no need to pay extra money just because that piece of software was recommended by someone. That software might have fit their needs, and there is a chance that it might not fit yours. So, it is important to remember that when picking a translation memory tool, make sure that it fits your needs.
There are a number of companies that offer a trial period. This is a great arrangement as it will give you the chance to try out the features of their software completely for free. Most of these trial period comes for at least a month. So if you are interested about a particular translation memory tool, it would be wise to try it out first as a trial before purchasing it.
It is also important to note that most trial period software do not come with the whole suite of tools and features. This is a strategy used by many software developers in order to entice users to purchase their product. Nevertheless, a trial piece of software, most of the time, offers a general perspective of its features. It is a good place to start when looking for the right translation memory tool.
As much as possible, try to use at least a couple of these software for you to be able to make a reasonable comparison and build experience in picking the best for your taste. As previously mentioned, these software comes in different forms and each one of it has a different set of strengths and weaknesses. So it would be wise to try as many as you can in order to find the best one for you.
