Merciere keeps track of new global trends in the translation industry and is equipped with state-of-the-art tools and technologies. Translation technologies = CAT tools. CAT stands for Computer Assisted Translation tools. These tools greatly assist translators during the translation process but, of course, the final product is produced and controlled by both the brains and fingers of the translators themselves.

The combination of computer translation and a human is commonly referred to as Machine Translation (MT), which is the principle that online translations are based upon. It is necessary to point out, however, that this has nothing to do with CAT tools. CAT tools serve only to simplify the translator's routine. The final quality depends entirely on the human factor. Having evolved over thousands of years, the human grasp of language is completely different from IT technologies, which have been evolving for no more than several dozen years.

Translation memory and its working principle

CAT tools are based on a relatively simple principle: let us say we are assigned the translation of technical documentation for your piece of machinery. Every sentence that is translated by our translator is saved into so-called Translation Memory (TM). These sentences, or a percentage of them, can appear repeatedly throughout the whole project. This is easily recognized by the CAT tool and the translator is offered a result from TM (associated with a degree of similarity in %). It is up to the translator whether he chooses to modify the segment or to use the 100% match without any modification.

Please note that we always work with complete sentences (segments). CAT tools do not work with individual words, unless they exist as such.

Consistency, quality, quick turnaround and a good economy

CAT tools and associated tools, ensuring quality control, are an invaluable support in providing perfectly consistent translations. When you translate the same sentence (segment) in one way and then the other, these tools will recognize and remember this. Where TM provides 100% matches for repetitions, you are only expected to confirm them or to make small additional corrections. All these factors have a great impact on turnarounds, quality and, last but not least, the pricing.

Are you looking for the highest quality translations of your documents? Contact us.