Translation Memory
As part of our quality management system, we offer each of our clients the option of having us prepare a personal translation memory using all translations they have commissioned through us. A translation memory saves time and money, while also improving quality. Read on for an overview of how translation memories work and their benefits.
What Exactly Is a Translation Memory?
A translation memory (TM for short) is a database that we can create and maintain for new clients at no additional cost. The database is empty at first, but it grows with each translation you order from us. The database stores each source text and its corresponding translation. This means that the more texts we translate for you, the larger the TM becomes—and the greater your time savings and cost savings.
Why Store These Texts?
As soon as we receive a new translation inquiry from you, we compare the new source text with your personal TM and can immediately determine if any passages from the existing database can be used in the new text. These similar passages, or segments of text, are referred to as matches. If a match is identified, our linguists can use the corresponding segment without having to translate it anew. The larger the database, the greater the chance of finding a number of matches.
How Does a TM Benefit Our Clients?
Three Major Benefits of a TM:
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Time
More matches in the TM means fewer segments needing to be translated anew. This makes it possible to produce a final translation much faster. -
Lower costs
With a 70% discount on the individual word price, 100% identical matches can really add up. For partial matches (e.g., when only part of the sentence is the same), a more moderate discount of up to 30% can be applied, as the new text will still need to be adjusted even if some of the words are the same. Matches can prove especially advantageous when translating survey questionnaires, since these often contain questions from a master sheet or from different survey waves, where only small changes are made from the previous version. Depending on the type of text, even an individual document can include multiple repetitions or very similar blocks of text—sometimes due to the topic or the structure of the document. The TM is also able to take these types of similarities within a text into account. -
Quality
The use of our TM ensures that identical texts or segments of texts are always translated the same way. Reference materials and glossaries can also be accessed in the translation memory system, serving as an additional support for our linguists. This way, our clients can count on consistent translation quality, whether in recurrent orders or new orders.
About Our Team of Linguists
- Degree or comparable qualification in the field of linguistics
- At least three years of professional experience (most have over ten years of experience)
- We care about assigning projects to the right translator (native speaker). This way, our translators always work with topics that suit them and that they enjoy. And this is evident in the quality of the translations they produce.
- Our linguists are located around the world and have direct ties to the countries where they are based. This is a great advantage when providing translations geared toward a specific country.
