Translation Memory (TM)
A Translation Memory (TM) is a database of previously translated content that can be reused to improve consistency, speed, and cost-efficiency across projects.
In Taia, the TM is seamlessly integrated with both AI and human workflows to help you translate smarter — not just faster.
🧠 What Is a Translation Memory?
A TM stores pairs of source and target language segments — usually sentences or phrases — that have been confirmed by a translator or reviewer.
Each TM entry contains:
- Source segment (e.g., “Log in to your account”)
- Target translation (e.g., “Connectez-vous à votre compte”)
- Metadata: language pair, project ID, timestamps, user, match type
It’s not a glossary (term-based), but rather a full-sentence memory system.
✅ Benefits of Using a TM
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| 🧩 Consistency | Reuses the same translations across files and projects |
| 💸 Cost savings | Reduces words needing full retranslation |
| ⚡ Faster delivery | Pre-translated segments are automatically filled or suggested |
| 🧠 Human-AI synergy | AI + TM improves fluency while preserving preferred terminology |
| 📈 Quality control | Avoids introducing errors in frequently repeated content |
📥 Importing an Existing TM
Already using a TM in SDL Trados, memoQ, XTM, or another CAT tool?
You can bring it into Taia in a few steps:
Supported Formats:
.tmx(Translation Memory eXchange, industry standard).csv(2-column, source/target).xlsx(structured source/target format)
How to Upload:
- Go to Settings → Translation Memories
- Click Create New or Import
- Select language pair(s), upload your file
- Taia will validate and index your TM for reuse
🛠️ Need help converting your format? Contact us →
🔁 How the TM Works in AI Translation
When you start an AI translation, the system automatically:
- Scans your TM for perfect or fuzzy matches
- Reuses exact matches directly into the target file
- Injects similar segments into the prompt for GPT-style models (context-aware)
- Prioritizes your approved translations over generic model suggestions
📌 If there’s a perfect match in your TM, the AI won't attempt to retranslate it — it will use your version.
👨💼 How the TM Works in Professional Translation
For human translation jobs (MTPE, revision, or full professional):
- Linguists receive pre-translated segments from your TM
- Matches are color-coded:
- 100% match
- Fuzzy match (70–99%)
- No match
- Editors can confirm, overwrite, or revise as needed
This greatly reduces cost and ensures compliance with previous translations, style guides, and terminology.
📈 How We Store and Update Your TM
- TMs are automatically updated after each confirmed human translation or editor confirmation
- AI translations are only saved to TM if you explicitly confirm them in the CAT editor
- You can manage multiple TMs per organization
- TM growth improves over time, especially for repetitive content (e.g., product descriptions, FAQs)
🧪 Tips for Better TM Usage
- Import your existing TM before starting new projects
- Group TMs by department, brand, or client if you serve multiple teams
- Review your TM periodically to clean outdated or inconsistent entries
- Combine TM + Glossary + AI for best results
🔐 Plan Requirements
| Plan | TM Access | TM Upload | AI Integration | Human Integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Basic | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Pro | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Have a large TM you'd like us to import for you or clean up?
Let’s talk →