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Translator Column:

their experience with translation memory...

My encounter with one of those memory programs was unfortunate, to say the least. As I believe, the current versions should be far more advanced and user-friendly than in those days of some 10 years ago. And I should admit that they can be very useful tools especially for high-volume tasks with repetitive sentences.

I do not use them, however, because they simply get in the way that my brain works. Though translators do not create “original” works, as it were, my stance is that a translator should possess a firm ground as a writer. This belief is based on my own experience as one. When I write, and if sentences are already prepared and presented in front of me, what it does is baffle and frustrate my mind, preventing it from progressing from one sentence to another. In my case, the same applies to translation tasks. If there is anything I enjoy when confronted with translation work, it is those moments when I have to squeeze, kick and cajole my brain cells to find the appropriate words, phrases and sentences that reflect what the original means or is trying to say. Mechanical efficiency does not nourish my old-fashioned brain. In a sense, a terrible writer may be enjoying his life so much better than a terrific translator.

At the same time, part of me is waiting for some compelling reason that successfully convinces me why I should try those programs.

Koji, English/Japanese (Singapore).
16 years as a translator, since the day when I got any kind of money exclusively for my translation work.

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Currently, I'm using the translation memory (TM) together with the TagEditor (ttx) application most of the time, but all the steps prior to translation, such as text extraction into the ttx files, are done by the client, so what I need to do is to create a new TM (or open an existing one if it is available), connect it to the ttx file to be worked on, and start translating.

After translation is complete, I simply send back the ttx file as it is to the client together with the updated TM, and they will do the cleanup (probably after the final editing stage).

Some advantages/merits that I can think of concerning the TM and TagEditor are:

1) It helps me to achieve greater consistency, especially in the use of technical expressions and proper nouns (menu items, button names, etc.). This is particularly true in the case of major projects that involve a number of translators.

The "Concordance" function in the Translator's Workbench can also be used to search for the translation of a particular term/phrase within the TM.

2) TMs that have been created in the past for a similar job can be used for reference purposes. This helps to save a lot of time and trouble having to do the translation all over again, or having to refer to, overwrite, or cut/paste the previous translation when a translation software is not used. 

Of course, there are a lot of problems with the software as well, such as compatibility issues with other translation memory applications (e.g. Wordfast), and not-so-user-friendly features especially for beginners like me. I do not have enough confidence yet to use Trados for projects other than those that are required by the client. If the client uses Trados as well, I can consult them if I encounter any problem while using it.

CY, English/Japanese/Chinese (Japan)
15 years experience

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This year I finally purchased TRADOS and made a commitment to learn how to use it. A few years ago I had attended a one-day intensive, very expensive TRADOS workshop. I left with my head spinning – too much information in too short a time span. However, it did open my eyes to the benefits of TRADOS in terms of translation as well as building powerful glossaries. After that, I tried to find tutors who might be able to help me learn TRADOS, but to no avail. Still wanting to learn TRADOS, I not only bought the software in June of this year and even paid an extra approximate $300 to purchase a support agreement that is supposed to help me navigate my way through the learning stages and prevent me from getting totally frustrated (yet again). These purchases were made in June but remained un-downloaded because I was quite busy at the time. Nevertheless, I was still committed to getting the TRADOS project underway with the knowledge that a fellow translator and friend was to visit me in August and had agreed to tackle “the monster” together with me. Well, to make a long story short, August came and went. My friend did come for a few days’ visit but did not stay long enough to get the project underway. I was also snowed under with translation work after that. My TRADOS purchases are still waiting to be downloaded.

Other translators reading this may question what I call my “commitment” to TRADOS. Truly, I would love to learn it but I think I really need to sit next to another human being with TRADOS skills to get me going at least at the initial stage. I would love to hear about how other people got started and how they were able to master TRADOS.

I could say that much of the time I do not need or want anything like TRADOS. On the other hand, I would have to be fair in saying that I would benefit from TRADOS for at least 30% of my work. The mastery of TRADOS and the building of TRADOS glossaries also mean that translators can keep growing their professional assets and reflect that growth in their work outcomes.

I would have liked to have contributed something useful to this discussion about translation memory but at this stage I still have a lot to learn and would appreciate any advice.

Robin, Japanese/English (Australia)
15 years’ + experience