| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How large are most of your Translation Memories (TMs)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How large are most of your Translation Memories (TMs)?".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
| | | | Simon Cole 
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Member (2008)
French to English
Surely this depends on your working methods.
If you go for the "big mother" approach, you only have one TM but it could be huge.
If you have "topic related" TMs, they'll get pretty big, depending on how specialised you are.
If you have "client specific" TMs, depends on amount of work for that client.
My biggest TM is 21052 TUs, my smallest may be less than 100.
What methods to people use to decide their TM policy:
"client specific" vs "topic specific" ... See more Surely this depends on your working methods.
If you go for the "big mother" approach, you only have one TM but it could be huge.
If you have "topic related" TMs, they'll get pretty big, depending on how specialised you are.
If you have "client specific" TMs, depends on amount of work for that client.
My biggest TM is 21052 TUs, my smallest may be less than 100.
What methods to people use to decide their TM policy:
"client specific" vs "topic specific" vs "big mother"? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | <10,000 units | Jun 17, 2009 |
Less than 10K units is the standard, although I just finished creating a big momma TM of just over 20K units (which is comprised of many smallish TMs for the same agency, the same end client and more or less the same subject matter).
I have many TMs and most of them are relatively small (a few thousand units for the most part). This is because I like to keep them separated so I don't inadvertedly use Client A's terms in Client B's translation projects, and because most of my TMs ove... See more Less than 10K units is the standard, although I just finished creating a big momma TM of just over 20K units (which is comprised of many smallish TMs for the same agency, the same end client and more or less the same subject matter).
I have many TMs and most of them are relatively small (a few thousand units for the most part). This is because I like to keep them separated so I don't inadvertedly use Client A's terms in Client B's translation projects, and because most of my TMs overlap but contain subtle differences. So, most of the TMs in my TM library are smaller ones.
HOWEVER, the TMs I actually work with are fairly large as I do usually combine several TMs to obtain a temporary working TM (which I delete after the translation is finished) wherein I leverage units from different clients and different subject areas. I mix and match several TMs depending on the current project's specific needs. It's like Lego for grown-ups, really... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Project-specific | Jun 17, 2009 |
Simon Cole wrote:
What methods to people use to decide their TM policy:
"client specific" vs "topic specific" vs "big mother"?
I usually create a new TM for each project (and use the big momma as a reference). I further use attribute fields to break down each TM based on subject matter and document (sometimes I work on dozens of files within the same project), and I also use attribute fields to identify clients (and sometimes end clients, too).
So, when I create a temporary big momma for a project, I choose the TMs to combine primarily based on past projects. I can then further filter out portions (I want the segments from the user manual but not from the parts list) of these TMs using various criteria through attribute fields. This helps me ensure that the TM is as small (and fast) as possible all the while ensuring that all that is likely to be useful is included.
Attribute fields are the most awesome functionality of Trados, in my opinion - they allow me to manage my TMs as I deem fit.
| | |
|
|
|
Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 15:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
| What is a Translation Unit? | Jun 17, 2009 |
What is a TU (Translation Unit)?
| | | | | Translation Units | Jun 17, 2009 |
Hi Jeff,
A translation unit is just a segment of source text followed by a segment of target text. It also include information on source and target languages, attributes, creation date and usage count.
Hope it helps,
Liz
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
Sounds like an admin question. Not my forte I'm afraid. I'm still largely baffled by the techno aspect of things...
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 15:45
German to English
| Usually divided by client / subject matter | Jun 17, 2009 |
My largest TM has over 200,000 translation units. It is specific to both the client and subject matter. I have another large technical TM (probably 50K units) that I use for general technical translations. I also have a few smaller specific TMs for certain clients or subjects such as SAP, etc.
| | |
|
|
|
Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 15:45
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Translation Memories | Jun 17, 2009 |
Thanks. So if a translation unit could be anywhere from two-three words up to an entire paragraph, what significance, if any, does the number of TUs you have mean?
I would think it would be better to calculate what percentage of TUs in your database you have been able to reuse on a subsequent project to see if you are getting a return on your time (managing TM files, dealing with CAT tool errors, working in a different environment, etc.) and cost investment vs. just using copy and... See more Thanks. So if a translation unit could be anywhere from two-three words up to an entire paragraph, what significance, if any, does the number of TUs you have mean?
I would think it would be better to calculate what percentage of TUs in your database you have been able to reuse on a subsequent project to see if you are getting a return on your time (managing TM files, dealing with CAT tool errors, working in a different environment, etc.) and cost investment vs. just using copy and paste.
I can see the value of CAT tools for some language pairs/projects, but I do not use them because only 1-2% of my work contains repetitions and the TMs would just be useless clutter on my computer.
You cannot make the statement that the purchase of the CAT tool and the time invested in creating and maintaining the TMs was worth it just because you get a document that contains text similar to a previous job because you have to leverage the time savings on the new project based on whether or not you could have done the same job with copy/paste.
I also do not understand why some companies require the use of CAT tools on small projects or projects where there are no repetitions at all??
Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales wrote:
Hi Jeff,
A translation unit is just a segment of source text followed by a segment of target text. It also include information on source and target languages, attributes, creation date and usage count.
Hope it helps,
Liz
[Edited at 2009-06-17 21:53 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sence of TMs | Jun 17, 2009 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote: I also do not understand why some companies require the use of CAT tools on small projects or projects where there are no repetitions at all?? Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales wrote:
Hi Jeff,
A translation unit is just a segment of source text followed by a segment of target text. It also include information on source and target languages, attributes, creation date and usage count.
Hope it helps,
Liz [Edited at 2009-06-17 20:18 GMT]
Dear Jeff,
clients have often a data base with some recollected terminology and want to be sure that it is more or less mantained. I use them very, very often and it helps to assure the quality of the text.
BUT sometimes the previous translator has messed the text, than I am in the tricky situation to mantain bad style or to change eventually the whole project....
Sometimes I have got in one year 2 or 3 documents with similar content to translate, so the memory helps me out with difficult terminology.
I agree that this poll is a bit useless, because it doesn´t reflect whether I am working a lot with a TM or not. In my case, I have just very larges TMs, because I use them for YEARS.
Mabel
| | | | Elisabete Cunha
Portugal
Local time: 20:45
Member (2006)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I have topic related TMs and client specific TMs. Most of them are within the range 10K-50K. My biggest one has almost 180K TUs (client specific).
I was somewhat surprised to see that 30% does not have TMs...
[Edited at 2009-06-18 01:17 GMT]
| | | | | how can you tell? | Jun 18, 2009 |
I have several TMs (separated by client and in some cases, by field), but I don't know how to tell how many TUs each one of them have.
Again, although I like using Trados (I like seeing the source and target simultaneously) , I'm not greatly proficient in its use, and for instance, I cannot make shorter segments or things like that which could make it still more useful...
| | |
|
|
|
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
Thanks. So if a translation unit could be anywhere from two-three words up to an entire paragraph, what significance, if any, does the number of TUs you have mean? It depends on the purpose of the poll. For example, the free version of Wordfast is limited by the number of TUs, so for that purpose, it could be interesting to know the average number of TUs people have in their TMs (I'm not saying this is the point of the poll, just gibving an idea).
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I also do not understand why some companies require the use of CAT tools on small projects or projects where there are no repetitions at all?? Maybe there are no repetitions this time, but will be in a future project.
@ Valeria : in Trados, go to File > Properties and click Translation Units. You'll see the number of units displayed on the right.
| | | |
My personal TM has over 100K. The client/subject specific ones range from 100K to a few TUs.
| | | | keelin feeney
Ireland
Local time: 20:45
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Useful or not useful | Jun 18, 2009 |
That definitely depends on the type of translation that you are doing. I think that Trados is great when you are working on ongoing translation and so that you can keep your terminology updated with that of the client.
I generally tend to stick to the one memory of 50 K if possible unless it is just not compatible with the client's.
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: How large are most of your Translation Memories (TMs)? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
