There is a common misunderstanding among people everywhere, especially those not working in or related to the translation profession, that translation is nothing more than a straightforward mechanical process comprising a simple word-for-word correspondence between two languages. that anyone fluent in two pairs of languages could easily handle. To this end, we are forced to say that a simple word-for-word translation can only be applied to machine translation, while human translation and the human brain created by God are totally different.
Human translation or the God-created human brain of a professional translator is backed by study and experience that the translator calls upon when the need demands it. He knows how the job should be done, he understands the Translation Paradigm and he knows how to apply it. Making good use of his senses, he is able to learn, develop and update his knowledge, so he constantly undergoes a process of uninterrupted development of knowledge absorption that pours in to broaden his personal and professional experience. .
Consequently, a professional translator can solve problems and can make correct decisions on issues such as; ambiguity, the correct choice of the precise and precise word to be used among a long list of consistent meanings to convey the exact meaning from the source document to the translated document, the correct decision on when to add or remove words to support the meaning and convey it clearly, how to bridge the linguistic and cultural gaps between two languages and cultures by crossing cultural barriers, how to use the correct collocations, how to use the correct approach, style and tone of the author while observing, at the same time, the conventions of the language to finally create a translated document (target language) that is a mirror copy of the source document that conveys the exact message of the author and fits the translation. ME SO being IDEA, STYLE AND ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.
However, we are not against machine translation, but we are in favor of human translation supported by computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools. To save time, money, and quality, CAT tools, including translation memory (TM), have become very popular with translators, translation agencies, and even clients.
Although TM has its advantages and disadvantages for professional translators and translation bureaus, it has advantages and hardly any disadvantages for clients.
First of all, the great advantage of TM lies in the translation quality capacity that is likely to improve in terms of consistency, both in the same document and in other documents. TM saves pairs of terms or text strings and replays them whenever the same source language (SL) term or string occurs elsewhere in the document being translated. Therefore, it helps to maintain consistency by always using the same equivalent for the same term or string. In other words, the translation becomes more efficient and consistent. Furthermore, the same TM can always be used with future translations, thus achieving consistency in terms of terminology and style across translation projects.
Second, terminology research is said to account for 75 percent of a translator’s time. Thus TM saves time for the translator by avoiding the need to search again for terms and words if they are repeated in the text, especially in the case of large projects, or in another translation for the same client or in the same field of expertise. . The translator will translate the repeated terms and strings only once and TM will ‘translate’ them each time they appear again in the SL, saving time. TM also saves the translator the need to strain his memory by remembering how he translated a certain term or string before or the need to go back through the document to locate it.
Third, TM increases productivity, which can lead to increased revenue. This accounts for the fact that many clients now not only know but also require their work to be translated by MT software. In other words, the use of MT makes translation agencies more competitive by distinguishing themselves from others that do not use MT, so they are more likely to receive more work. Finally, TM is quite portable. It can be stored on a CD or on a ‘Flash Memory Stick’.
Despite all the above advantages of TM, we must admit that it is a tool that can only be used for technical documents that contain a certain number of repetitions, such as manuals, brochures and balance sheets that contain a considerable number of repetitions and need to be updated with quite frequently. This is where TM comes in to achieve consistency and efficiency. On the other hand, TMs are not likely to be used for literary texts where context plays a more important role compared to non-literary texts. Literary texts are also characterized by their figurative language and lofty style that makes them difficult to translate with MT. Furthermore, literary texts do not seem to have the same number of repetitions as technical texts.
Therefore, we conclude that making use of human translation in conjunction with CAT tools is the ultimate goal that any client should seek to ensure that they achieve originally efficient and consistent translation quality.
