Fachhochschule Ansbach

Overview of Translation Tools - Benefits of Translation Memory Management Software for an International Company

Marina Carrillo

Table of Contents

1 Purpose and Course of Action ... 8

2 Analysis of the Translation Market ... 11

2.1 Impact of the Internet ... 11
2.2 Increase in Demand for Translations ... 12
2.3 Translation Market ... 13
    2.3.1 Definition of Language Translation ... 14
    2.3.2 Development of the Translation Market ... 14
        2.3.2.1 The Market of Machine Translation ... 14
        2.3.2.2 Human Translation ... 16

3 Translation and Translation Management Tools ... 17

3.1 Machine Translation ... 17
    3.1.1 Brief History of the Machine Translation ... 17
    3.1.2 Basic Features and Terminology ... 20
        3.1.2.1 Direct Translation Systems ... 20
        3.1.2.2 Rule-based Translation ... 21
            3.1.2.2.1 Interlingual Systems ... 21
            3.1.2.2.2 Transfer Systems ... 22
        3.1.2.3 Corpus-based Methods ... 25
            3.1.2.3.1 Statistical Machine Translation ... 27
            3.1.2.3.2 Example-based Machine Translation ... 27
        3.1.2.4 Hybrid Approaches ... 30
        3.1.2.5 Controlled Language, Domain-specific and User-specific Systems ... 31
    3.1.3 Evaluation of Machine Translation ... 32
        3.1.3.1 IR-style Techniques ... 32
            3.1.3.1.1 BLEU ... 33
            3.1.3.1.2 NIST ... 33
            3.1.3.1.3 F-measure ... 33
            3.1.3.1.4 METEOR ... 34
        3.1.3.2 String Matching Techniques ... 34
    3.1.4 Reasons to use Machine Translation ... 34
        3.1.4.1 Open Source and Commercial Software ... 35
    3.1.5 Return on Investment ... 39
    3.1.6 Summary ... 40
3.2 Translation Memory ... 41
    3.2.1 The Concept of Translation Memory ... 41
    3.2.2 Translation Process, and Effects of TM on Translation Process ... 43
        3.2.2.1 Internal Attributes ... 45
        3.2.2.2 Terminology Databases ... 45
        3.2.2.3 Analysis ... 47
    3.2.3 Common Standards and Products ... 49
    3.2.4 Adequate Texts for TM Usage ... 51
        3.2.4.1 Consideration of the documents ... 51
            3.2.4.1.1 Updates. ... 52
            3.2.4.1.2 Revisions. ... 52
    3.2.5 Advantages and Drawbacks of TM ... 52
    3.2.6 Overview of currently available TM Products ... 54
        3.2.6.1 Classical TM Tools ... 54
        3.2.6.2 TM/MT Hybrids ... 55
        3.2.6.3 Localization Software with TM ... 55
    3.2.7 Cost-effectiveness of TM ... 55
    3.2.8 Summary ... 56
3.3 Globalization and Localization Software ... 58
    3.3.1 Introduction to Globalization and Localization ... 58
    3.3.2 Differentiation of Terminology ... 59
    3.3.3 Organizations for the Globalization, Internationalization, and Localization ... 60
        3.3.3.1 LISA ... 61
        3.3.3.2 W3C ... 61
        3.3.3.3 ISO ... 61
    3.3.4 Benefits of Internationalized Software Application ... 62
    3.3.5 Conclusion ... 63

4 Proposal for XY Company for Use of Translation Memory Tool ... 65

4.1 Company Profile ... 65
4.2 Operating Manuals (OPM) ... 65
4.3 Current Translation Process of Operating Manuals ... 65
    4.3.1 Disadvantages of a Conventional Translation Process ... 66
4.4 How Translation Memory Tool Can Benefit the Company ... 67
    4.4.1 How Documentation from the Company is Suitable for TM ... 67
    4.4.2 Benefits from TM ... 67
4.5 Proposal to Purchase Transit TM from STAR AG ... 68
    4.5.1 STAR AG Brief Company Description ... 68
    4.5.2 STAR AG Transit® Translation Memory ... 68
    4.5.3 Key Benefits for XY of Transit TM ... 69
    4.5.4 System Requirements ... 70
    4.5.5 Installation or Transit TM ... 70
    4.5.6 Additional Software Required to Work with Transit TM ... 71
    4.5.7 Cost Transit TM ... 71
4.6 Conclusion ... 72

Bibliography ... 73

List Electronic References ... 75

Glossary ... 79

Appendices ... 81

1 Purpose and Course of Action

“TRANSLATION is very much like copying paintings.” These are the words of Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), a Russian Poet, Novelist and Translator. The key to translation is not only understanding and being fluent in more than one language and having an understanding of language and culture, but also being able to convey the meaning of the text in one language into the other. However, just the knowledge of different languages is not enough to succeed in the competing world scene of translation. Through the immense development of the Internet, information technology, and ongoing globalization, “translation complexity takes a quantum leap”¹ and forces today’s translators to use computer technology, advanced software applications, and computer-aided translation tools to meet enhanced translation requirements in a timely manner. In order to be successful translator in today’s fast turn around times, the knowledge of and skills in different translation facilitating programs are essential. Translation is a difficult process, which requires computer and software skills in addition to proficiency. The translation business is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing markets in the world, and as a result, translators must develop efficiencies in their processes to meet the increasing demand and to be able to offer competitively priced services.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the major translation tools available in the marketplace and to illustrate how they benefit the translator in multiple ways. This thesis will combine the essential knowledge of these different software tools and provide the important criteria required to choose the appropriate foreign language translation software.

Organization of the Thesis

Chapter 1, Purpose and Course of Action, describes the purpose of this thesis, and provides an overview.

Chapter 2, Analysis of the Translation Market, explains the meaning of translation, and presents an outline description of the actual state of the translation market. This chapter demonstrates how strongly the Internet has influenced the demand for instantaneous translation services and has it’s bearing on the translation market.

Chapter 3: Translation and Translation Management Tools, emphasizes the importance of the competency in the software application and how to determine whether the software is appropriate for a particular translator or company. This chapter introduces the main translation facilitating tools. Chapter 3 is divided into three main sections: Machine Translation, Translation Memory Management Tools, and Localization Software. The first two sections give a definition of a particular tool, its purpose, advantages and disadvantages, as well as its costs and return on investment. Furthermore, the two sections describe the evaluation process for each type of tool and give a brief overview of the most used tools on the market. The third section describes briefly the Localization Software. The most important part here is the Translation Memory because it is a subject of the proposal for an international company to purchase this tool.

Chapter 4, Proposal for MM to Use Translation Memory Tool, represents the main purpose of this work: a proposal for an international organization to purchase a Translation Memory. The proposal must persuade the company that a translation memory tool will increase the efficiency of the translation process, bring better consistency in the translated documentation and by doing so, lower the cost of the production of operating manuals in different languages. An introduction of the appropriate translation memory tool for this particular company is present in this chapter.

Moreover, this thesis highlights the importance of proper research and the evaluation of translation tools prior to purchasing and implementing the software in the company, similar to any other clever investment.

2 Analysis of the Translation Market

The progress in integration of advanced technology and communication is bringing largescale changes to the economy. Companies use their computer networks, applications, and the Internet to identify potential customers, markets around the world, evaluate services, and compare prices beyond the geographical and economical borders. Today’s business world without the Internet is unthinkable. The Internet and World Wide Web transcend national and geographical barriers and empower companies and individuals to share knowledge and draw resources across geographical and linguistic boundaries. They steer the economy towards multinational participation and international transaction.

2.1 Impact of the Internet

The global Internet infrastructure is developing very rapidly, and approximately 1.1 billion users will have access to the Web by 2007². With the expansion of the Internet, the online population in non-English speaking regions of the world is growing at increasing rates. For various reasons, such as competitive advantages and increased market requirements, companies are forced to translate now into multiple languages.
Statistics in table 1 clearly show that the English-only world has given ground to a multilingual world.
Now business partners need to communicate even more in different languages and to deal with different cultures. Effective and precise communication clearly lies in the core of any successful business. This is exceptionally difficult if the involved parties do not speak the same language. For this reason, translations tip the scale in today’s global electronic business and furthermore show a strong upward trend.

Table 1: Number of People Online in Each Language Zone (Native Speakers)³(only available in download-version)

2.2 Increase in Demand for Translations

With the development of information technology, the volume of information is vast. Companies are now putting structured implementations in order to deal with this load of information. Translators must keep up, not only with the basics and with nuances of languages and cultures, but also with business and technical terminology. In order to be a successful translator and to be able to offer competitively priced services, translation must be performed fast and accurately. To achieve these goals, various companies offer different translation and translation management tools. There is a wide range of software available to help translators increase their productivity and handle multilingual information, starting from document and content management systems, machine translations, translation memory management tools, to globalization and localization software. According to the Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, volume of multilingual web sites were growing during 2003 by a factor of ten and human web content translation was growing at 50% a year. The language translation market has been projected to reach $22.7US billion by the end of 2005 according to a report by Allied Business Intelligence. Table 2 shows Internet growth by languages in March 2006. It is clear that increased volume of information implicates and stimulates the growing demand for translations, and the World Wide Web is becoming truly global.

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1 Poul Andersen, Translation Service & MLIS Programme, 1997.
2 http://www.sdl.com/files/pdfs/idc/IDC416_web.pdf (August 2005).
3 http://global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3 (March 2004)