Teaching Machine Translation and Translation Memory Systems

Abstract

Machine translation (MT) and Translation memory (TM) system are both products of contemporary translation-related computer technology, though they work very differently. An MT system aims to offer automatic translation in place of human translators, though increasingly, it is becoming a kind of communication aid, for example, as a Web page or email translator in cross-cultural communication. The TM system, on the other hand, acts as an aid to translators by memorising all translation units (TUs) completed by the translator and retrieving the memorised bilingual pairs when the translation unit is encountered a second time, thereby saving the translator’s time as well as maintaining consistency in translation. Both MT and TM technologies have high implications for the translation industry as well as for translation teaching. Trainee translators need to know what MT systems are good for, and what advantages human translators have over MT, among other things. They need to learn to use a TM system if they are thinking about joining a large translation company, or to organize and utilize their translation works more efficiently. As there is little existing literature dwelling on the teaching of MT or TM, this article aims to offer some beginning ideas about how these two kinds of translation technology should or can be taught in a translation course.