translation management system - effection contribution from a writer

Translation Management System (TMS)- Contribution of a Writer

Abirami Premkumar

Agenda

Introduction

Methods of TMS

Contribution of a writer in TMS process

Processes involved in TMS

Best Practices

Questions

Introduction Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text

by means of an equivalent target-language text.

Technical translation is a type of specialized translation involving the

translation of documents produced by technical writers (owner's manuals,

user guides, etc.), or more specifically, texts which relate to technological

subject areas or texts which deal with the practical application of scientific

and technological information.

Classification of TMS

Computer Aided Translation (CAT)

Machine Translation

Manual Translation

Computer Aided Translation (CAT)

Computer-assisted translation, computer-aided translation or CAT is a form

of language translation in which a human translator uses computer software

to support and facilitate the translation process.

Computer-assisted translation is sometimes called machine-assisted, or

machine-aided, translation (not to be confused with machine translation).

Translation Memory System

Translation memory programs store previously translated source texts and

their equivalent target texts in a database and retrieve related segments

during the translation of new texts.

The basic concept of TMS is that it helps the translator during translation by

comparing the text to be translated with the available translated segment

pairs as part of TMS.

Translation Memory System

TMS are particularly useful for types of documentation that are repetitive

and regularly updated such as user manuals, websites and product

catalogs.

The Translation process will start with the import of a document into the

TMS.

How writing for translation leads to greater translation efficiency

The Five factors that lead to a higher reusability of the segments, and thus

more efficiency and consistency in translation of source texts.

No Sentence Variants

Variants of a sentence with identical information content. The difference

may be a comma, a filler word, or a group of words with little information

content.

Example:

Consistent Terminologies

Usage of standardized corporate terminology in which authorized terms and

forbidden synonyms are defined.

Example:

Site Plan

Siteplan, SitePlan, siteplan, site plan

Consistent Spelling

Certain words or expressions may have different spellings. Hyphen, upper

case or lower case may vary and lead to slight differences in the document

and thus to a fuzzy match. Standard spelling and writing rules help produce

more uniform texts.

Example:

1. Drop-down list

Dropdown list

2. Pop-up menu

Popup menu

Consistent Phrase Structure

The reuse of existing translations can be increased for certain types of

information, such as instructions, if they are written in a standardized way.

Example

Press the F1 to get helpPress the F2 key to print your document.

If you wish to print your document, press F2

Adequate Segmentation

Some characters such as a hard return, colon, or tab lead to the segmentation of a sentence into segments if they have been defined as separators in the TMS settings. If these separators occur with a sentence this can lead to mismatches in the translation memory, because each language has a different syntax and the sentence chunks do not follow the same order

Example:

Process involved in TMS

Process involved in TMS - Import

Import

The source file(s) has to be shared by the Technical Writer

The translator starts the TMS and imports the source file(s) into the system.

The import filter separates text and format and presents the text to the translator in a uniform manner independent of the format of the source document.

TMS divides the document into segments

Process involved in TMS - Analysis

Analysis

Translation Management in Siemens

ST4 has TMS interface as standard. This is used to export and import

content for translation. This interface provides filters which allows only the

contents of specific nodes to be exported. For example, you can export only

the content of the nodes which have changed since the last translation

export

Documentation Workflow

TR = Terminology representativeTW = Tecnical writerTG = Terminology group (to be determined)

TW TWTW

Collection1

1

Excel listTerminology list

Terminology list

Terminology list

Research3

3

Definition4

4

TG

6

6Deployment

7Import

7

CLAT (Controlled

Language Authoring Technology)

CLAT (Controlled

Language Authoring Technology)

5

5Release

MultiTermMultiTerm

2Choice

2

ca. 15 Terms

TR

Terminology Management Workflow

TMS Statistics

All TMSs can generate statistics about the volume of text to be

translated. Depending on the TMS used, the statistics are expressed in

words or in characters, or can be configured according to the preferences of

the user

Statistics are important for estimating the cost and time needed for a

project

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Translation Management Translation Tools

Analysis and translation are very easy

Some Available Translation Tools

SDL MultiTerm

Best Practices

Some practical steps to create translation friendly texts:

Shorten your sentences. Try to limit the sentence length to a maximum

of 15 words. Include only one action or instruction per sentence. If a

sentence is too long, break it up into two or more statements.

Use the active voice.

Make sure that the sentence is not divided by hard returns because this

causes problems with the translation memory tools.

Best Practices

Avoid pronoun references (it, this) for the same reason

Write out technical words entirely (not ‘device’ but ‘measuring device’)

Eliminate superfluous words.

Best Practices

Replacement of text with illustrations, images, and charts also promotes

reduction of costs. A picture is worth a 1000 words.

When working with table cells in, for example, Excel or similar computer

tools, short, specific definitions and notations are crucial

It is desirable that files are presented in an editable format, which

eliminates the necessity of additional file conversions

Attributes of a Translator

a very good knowledge of the language, written and spoken, from which he is translating (the source language);an excellent command of the language into which he is translating (the target language);familiarity with the subject matter of the text being translated;a profound understanding of the etymological and idiomatic correlates between the two languages; anda finely tuned sense of when to metaphrase ("translate literally") and when to paraphrase, so as to assure true rather than spurious equivalents between the source- and target-language texts.

Question

Thank you for your Attention!!!