Trados Studio

Level 2 Training Course

Using Neural Machine Translation in Studio

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Table of Contents
About neural machine translation ............................................................................................................................ 3
Setting up a sample project with an NMT provider .................................................................................................. 3
Using NMT while translating ................................................................................................................................... 5
The LookAhead function ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Applying NMT matches when no TM match is found .......................................................................................... 6
Using NMT as an AutoSuggest source ............................................................................................................... 7
Prioritizing NMT and TM hits ............................................................................................................................... 8
Pre-translating with NMT ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 11

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About neural machine translation
The results of earlier machine translation (MT) systems, which used statistics- or phrase-based logic,
usually required extensive editing, sometimes to the point where modifying MT suggestions was as
time-consuming as translating from scratch. Those MT systems could only offer meaningful
timesaving potential if they were specifically ‘trained’ for certain types of document.
However, machine translation has made significant progress in the past few years. What we refer to
as neural machine translation (NMT) engines often provide translation results that are good enough to
need little to no editing by a human translator.
The first NMT system was made available to the market in 2016 and yielded better results than its
statistics- and phrase-based predecessors. NMT uses artificial intelligence to ‘understand’ the source
text, thus enabling it to provide relatively high translation quality. At the time of writing, NMT systems
already account for about 95% of the machine translation market.
RWS, too, offer NMT-based engines, which can be accessed directly from Studio and used alongside
TMs and other resources. Of course, NMT suggestions also need to be checked and edited by a
human translator or reviewer; although NMT systems tend to provide more fluent-sounding
translations than earlier MT systems, this does not mean that NMT results are perfect. They might still
contain, for example, deprecated or incorrect terminology, which must be corrected. The corrected
segments can then be stored in a TM to make them available subsequently as reliable exact or fuzzy
matches.
One of NMT’s strengths is therefore that it can save you a lot of time when handling unknown
segments. It thus complements the use of TMs and termbases in Studio, giving you the ‘power of
three’ to help you both save time and maintain a high level of quality as you translate.

Setting up a sample project with an NMT provider

In this chapter you will learn how to leverage an NMT system from within Studio. The sample
document for this exercise can be found in the following location:
..\Sample Files\01 - Machine Translation\Spell check configuration.docx
To set up a project for this training module, take the following steps:
1. Create a new local Studio project that includes the above file for translation. Select English as
the source language and your preferred target language.

2. On the Translation Resources page of the project creation wizard create a new, empty TM
file.

3. Now take the following steps to add the NMT provider. If you completed the Getting Started
course, these steps will already be familiar to you. Make sure that you are logged on to your
Trados Live account by clicking the Sign In button at the top right of the Studio interface, as
shown in the following screenshot:

If you are not logged in already, you will be prompted to log in in the next step.

4. Click Use, and then select Language Cloud, as shown in the following screenshot:

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 You will now be prompted to enter your username and password if you have not logged in to
Trados Live previously.

5. Once you are logged in, you will see the Language Cloud page, which automatically lists the
NMT engine that applies by default to your project based on the selected language pair. The
default engine is called Generic - NMT.

6. Click Save. You will now see the Language Cloud engine listed below your TM, as shown in
the following screenshot:

7. In the project creation wizard, go to the page Batch Tasks, shown in the screenshot below
the following step.

8. On the left-hand side, click Pre-translate Files. If you have added an NMT provider to your
project, Studio will insert machine translation suggestions to all segments in the document
when no (fuzzy or exact) match can be found in the TM. To prevent Studio from doing so,
change the following setting: at the bottom of the page, under When no match found, switch
from Apply automated translation to Leave target segment empty.

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 9. Click Finish to create the project.

10. Click Close, and then open the project file for translation in the Editor view.

Using NMT while translating

In the first (short) segment, the NMT provider has inserted a translation suggestion, which is marked
with an NMT icon:

This shows that the suggestion originated from an NMT system. You can now edit the suggestion as
required for your target language. In this case, however, the segment is a simple one, and we will
assume that no editing is required. Simply confirm the segment, which will add the translation to the
TM.
You will now be in the second segment. The same applies to this segment; read the NMT suggestion,
edit it if required, and then confirm it.

Do the same with the following two segments (segments 3 and 4). Note that editing the segments may
also involve adapting character formatting or adjusting spaces.

The LookAhead function

LookAhead is a feature designed to speed up access to matches from resources like NMT providers
and larger TMs. While you are working on a particular segment, Studio looks ahead to the following
few segments and queries the NMT engine and the TM for translation suggestions in the background.

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The suggestions are then buffered, so that when you move to the next segment, any translation
suggestion will appear immediately.
This is especially useful if you are using one or more large TMs or when the connection to the NMT
provider is slow. By buffering the translation suggestions for the next few segments, Studio can
provide a response immediately when you move to the next segment. This reduces the response time
significantly, thereby offering you an enhanced user experience.
LookAhead is enabled by default. However, it can also be disabled, because the LookAhead feature
can occasionally lead to situations in which the priority given to speed means that no fuzzy matches
are offered. Usually, the significant speed gains and usefulness of the suggestions from NMT
outweigh the slight possibility of a fuzzy match not being presented.
To demonstrate how this function affects the reaction speed of the application, we will switch
LookAhead off. To do this, take the following steps:

1. Select Files  Options.

2. In the Options window select Editor  Automation.

3. Uncheck the option Enable LookAhead, and then click OK to confirm the change.

Confirm segment 5, which takes you to segment 6. Edit this segment as required, then confirm it. You
will now be in segment 7.
You may by this time have noticed a difference in the response speed. With the LookAhead feature
enabled, the NMT suggestions were shown almost instantly when you moved to the next segment.
Without LookAhead enabled, Studio needs some time to send the query to the NMT system and get
the response, which means that it can take a little more time for the NMT suggestions to appear in the
target segment.
As LookAhead provides a more fluid user experience, you may switch it on again.

Applying NMT matches when no TM match is found

As you would expect, Studio prioritizes TM matches over NMT matches. By default, Studio inserts a
machine translation suggestion when no TM match (whether fuzzy or exact) is found. However, you
can also configure Studio to leave the target segment empty in these situations and insert the NMT
match only when you actively request it. This is useful when you want to look at the NMT suggestion
in the Translation Results window first before you decide whether or not to use it. That way, if you

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decide that the NMT result is not helpful, you can just enter your own translation without needing to
clear the target segment.
To disable the option to insert MT matches automatically in this way, take the following steps:

1. Select Files  Options.

2. In the Options window, select Editor  Automation.

3. Uncheck the option Apply automated translation when no TM match is found, and then
click OK to confirm the change.

Now confirm segment 7, which will take you into segment 8. Note that this time the NMT suggestion
appears in the Translation Results window above the document but is not automatically inserted into
your document. Let us assume that you find the NMT suggestion helpful and want to insert it into the
target cell. To do this, either click Apply Translation in the ribbon or press Ctrl+T. Edit the translation
suggestion if required, then confirm it to move to segment 8.

Using NMT as an AutoSuggest source

NMT suggestions also act as a source of AutoSuggest matches, by which translations are suggested
for shorter strings of text from within the NMT translation of the whole segment. This means that you
can benefit from the machine translation result by adopting only certain strings of translated text from
within it (such as specific terms), even if you do not want to insert the full NMT suggestion for the
segment itself. To illustrate this, let us assume that you would prefer to translate the current segment
from scratch, but want to use the NMT translations for the strings Suggest from main dictionary only
and custom dictionaries that you see in the NMT segment.
Start translating the segment but use a wording that is different from the NMT translation. When you
reach the relevant point in the sentence, to insert the translation for the string Suggest from main
dictionary only, type only the first few characters of this string as it appears in the NMT translation.
Studio will show an AutoSuggest window with possible matches based on the segment, as shown in
the following screenshot:

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Press Enter to insert the selected target string into your segment. You can use the arrow keys or your
mouse to change the selection from the list if you wish to. Continue translating the segment, choosing
the AutoSuggest hits from the NMT source as you proceed. Another good AutoSuggest candidate is
the translation for the term custom dictionaries, shown in the following screenshot:

💡 Machine translation providers are enabled as AutoSuggest sources by default. You

can verify this by selecting File  Options. In the Options window select AutoSuggest.
In the list of AutoSuggest providers, you will see that Translation Memory and
Automated Translation is listed in the middle. You can disable this provider if you do
not want your machine translation source to act as an AutoSuggest provider.

Finish translating segment 9, and then confirm it. Continue by translating and confirming segment 10.

Prioritizing NMT and TM hits

In segment 11 you will get a fuzzy match from the TM, but no machine translation suggestion. By default,
Studio will not search the NMT system if a TM hit (an exact or fuzzy match) is found. However, it is
possible to change the settings so that Studio always provides an NMT suggestion even if a TM match
has been found. You might in some cases find that an NMT suggestion is better than a low fuzzy match.
We refer to the action by Studio of automatically querying the TM and other resources for matches
when you move into a new segment as ‘lookup’. To change the lookup behavior, take the following
steps:

1. Click Project Settings in the ribbon.

2. In the Project Settings window, select Language Pairs  All Language Pairs 
Translation Memory and Automated Translation  Search.

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 3. This shows the page on which you can fine-tune the TM lookup behavior. Check the option
Look up segments in MT even if a TM match has been found. Click OK to confirm the
change.

In the Translation Results window for the current segment, you will now see an NMT hit below the
fuzzy match.

You can now decide which match requires less editing, the fuzzy match or the NMT suggestion.
Studio will still list the TM matches first, even if the fuzzy match value is low.
To switch between the NMT and the TM hit, choose Select Previous Match and Select Next Match
in the ribbon to insert the match into your target segment.

You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+1 and Ctrl+2 to switch between the two suggestions.
Insert your preferred hit, edit it as required, and then confirm the current segment.
For the last segment, you will get three hits: two fuzzy matches and one NMT suggestion. You can
also use the buttons described above or press Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, and Ctrl+3 to switch between the
translation results.
Insert your preferred suggestion, edit it as required, and confirm it.

💡 If two or more fuzzy matches are found in the TM, they will be listed in the Translation
Results window, sorted by match value. For example, a 95% match will be listed above a
90% match. When the matches have the same fuzzy value, they will be listed by date.
The most recent unit in the TM will be shown first. By default, the Translation Results
window can show up to 5 hits. You can increase or decrease the maximum hit count in
the Project Settings window, by selecting Language Pairs  All Language Pairs 
Translation Memory and Automated Translation  Search, as shown in the following
screenshot:

After translating and confirming all of the segments, save and close the document.

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Pre-translating with NMT
In the preceding sections, we set out how to use NMT interactively while translating. However, it is
also possible to have all of the segments pre-translated during project creation. In this way, all of the
segments will have been machine translated when you open the document, so that you can simply go
through the pre-translated document and edit the machine translations.
The sample file for this exercise can be found in the following location:
..\Sample Files\01 - Machine Translation\Tourists can do their bit.docx
1. Create a new local Studio project that includes the above file for translation. Use the same
project settings as before, choosing the same language pair and adding the same TM and the
NMT provider.

2. In the project creation wizard, go to the page Batch Tasks, shown in the screenshot below
the following steps.

3. On the left-hand side of the window click Pre-translate files.

4. At the bottom of the page, under When no match found, make sure that Apply automated
translation is selected to make Studio use the NMT engine whenever no TM match has been
found. In the case of our demonstration document, there are no matching segments in our
TM, so all of the segments will be pre-translated using NMT.

Click Finish to create the project. The documents will now be pre-translated during project creation.
When the project has been created click Close, and then open the file in the Editor view, where it will
appear as shown in the following screenshot:

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All segments are marked as NMT matches and have the draft status. Go through the document, and
edit it as required. When you confirm a segment, it will be stored in your TM.

Summary
 In Studio, you can use TMs alongside neural machine translation systems. If no TM match is
available, Studio can provide an NMT suggestion, which you can edit and commit to the TM.

 By default, Studio uses a feature called LookAhead, which pre-fetches the translations for
the following few segments while you are working on the current segment. Any hits for the
subsequent segments are buffered, thereby making them instantly available when you move
to the next segment.

 By default, Studio inserts the NMT suggestion directly into your document. You can change
the Studio options so that the NMT hit only gets inserted when you press Ctrl+T instead.
Even if you choose not to insert the NMT suggestion for the segment, the machine translation
system can be used as an AutoSuggest source, which allows you to insert terms and other
short strings of text inside the segment quickly.

 If a TM match is found in the TM, Studio will by default not search in the NMT engine.
However, you can change the project settings so that Studio always provides an NMT
suggestion, even if the TM offers a fuzzy or exact match.

 You can switch between multiple translation suggestions by using the keyboard shortcut
combination Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, Ctrl+3, and so on. By default, the Translation Results window
lists up to five hits.

 When creating a project, you can have all project files pre-translated. This pre-populates all
segments for which no TM hit has been found with NMT suggestions, which you can then edit
once you have created the project.

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