Computer-Aided Translation Revolutionized the Translation Industry
Language services, image processing, and document management solutions have always been challenging for businesses. Translation contributors face a never-ending task of meeting deadlines, cultural nuances, and regional linguistics. Traditionally, the translation industry has relied on human-only translation, which can be time-consuming and prone to mistakes. Today, though, computer-aided translation (CAT) has revolutionized the translation industry. This innovative technology combines machine translation-enhanced tools to have a faster, easier, and more accurate translation process.
The CAT tool.
The CAT tool is a software application that performs manual and partially automated translation activities. The tool was developed initially to allow a human translator to review the automated translation output of machine translation software. However, over the years, the CAT tool has developed beyond its initial scope. It now allows the translator to view the automated output translation while simultaneously editing, adjusting, and refining the translation.
The translation memory.
The core of CAT technology is the translation memory (TM). The translation memory contains a database of previously translated sentences and phrases in different languages. These translations are stored in a database for future use.
The TM comes in handy when the translator is faced with translating texts that have been translated before, such as legal documents and medical translations. By using this tool, the translator can easily retrieve the translation of a particular sentence or phrase, thereby saving time and effort while ensuring consistency in the translation.
Machine translation Vs. CAT technology.
Machine translation is a language automation tool that uses algorithms to translate text automatically. Unlike human translation, machine translation does not consider regional dialects, cultural nuances, or idiomatic expressions that a human translator could use to improve the translation quality.
Although machine translation may be perceived as faster and more cost-efficient, it could translate text to a degree that is difficult to understand for humans or may not capture the nuances of the language completely.
CAT technology, on the other hand, combines the strengths of both human and machine translations. By using machine translation algorithms, the CAT tool enhances the human translation process, resulting in a high-quality final translation.
Benefits of CAT technology.
CAT technology offers several benefits that have revolutionized the translation industry:
• Faster turnaround times.
Due to its automated process, CAT technology delivers translations faster than human-only translation.
• Cost-efficient.
The use of CAT technology can reduce translation costs. The translation memory tool ensures that previously translated texts are not translated again, thus reducing translation costs.
• Consistency in translation.
The CAT tool uses translation memory for each project. Therefore, the translator uses previous translations to ensure consistency in the translation style and vocabulary.
• Quality assurance.
CAT technology offers quality assurance features such as glossary and style guide creation and management. This ensures that the translator adheres to the client’s specific terminology and style.
Conclusion.
CAT technology has revolutionized the translation industry, making translation faster, easier, more accurate, and cost-efficient. Its benefits are undeniable, and businesses that do not utilize this technology will lag behind their competitors. Using the CAT tool and translation memory has been invaluable for the translation industry and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
In conclusion, leveraging the capability of CAT technology in the translation process is essential. The combined force of human and machine translations provides high-quality translations in a cost-efficient and time-effective manner. Businesses that have adopted this technology have seen a vast improvement in their translation process and saved valuable resources. It is now up to businesses that are yet to incorporate this technology to do so for heightened productivity.
