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Computer-Assisted Translation Tools
The Translator’s Tool Box - © International Writers’ Group, LLC 261
Translation Memory Handling
While the core concept of translation memory functionality is simple—store
previous translations on a per-segment basis in a database that will propose
perfect or fuzzy matches during new translation—there are surprisingly many
variations in how it is implemented and a number of relatively new
developments.
Most tools use an external database to store the translation memory. This can
happen in various formats, starting from text-based (such as in Wordfast
Classic) to Microsoft Access (as in the case of Déjà Vu) or to a large variety of
more high-powered databases that are often based on existing technologies
(such as the open-source SQLite in the case of Trados Studio or Microsoft SQL
Server in the case of Across).
Other ways of dealing with translation memory-like features include that of
Star Transit with its "virtual" translation memory (see page 222) and the
corpus-approach of tools like MultiTrans (see page 214) or also memoQ (here
in addition to a more traditional TM—see page 225).
But before continuing with other differentiators in the handling of translation
memories . . .
. . . . A Word of Caution About Alignment
In the context of most TEnTs, alignment refers to the process of selecting file
pairs in the source and target language that were translated outside of a
translation memory environment, matching all the segments (sentences,
headings, etc.), and creating a translation memory database from those
matches. The resulting translation memory can then be applied to translate
similar or identical texts. Virtually all tools contain alignment modules in some
or all configurations. At first glance, alignment seems like a great process that
anyone starting to use a translation environment tool should do to build up a
nice translation memory database.
And while it’s true that alignment is indeed a helpful process, it’s often
misused. I’ve encountered many situations where new users (both freelance
and corporate) became enamored with the idea of using alignment to
"magically" turn their existing translation materials into one large translation
memory. They spent days or weeks devoting their time to this task, and in the
