Are you using a Computer-aided translation (CAT) tool?
Thread poster: Melody Liang
Melody Liang
Melody Liang  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:33
English to Chinese
+ ...
Dec 27, 2012

Hi everybody,

Are you using a translation tool , for example Trados , for your daily translation work? Is it really useful for the translator's job? Any experience to share.

Thanks in advance for your kind regard.



[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2012-12-27 17:22 GMT]


 
Rolf Kern
Rolf Kern  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 14:33
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
no Dec 28, 2012

I do not use any CAT tool, because in my case, I do not see any advantage, just trouble.
Regards
Rolf Kern, MSc

[Bearbeitet am 2012-12-28 18:52 GMT]

[Bearbeitet am 2012-12-28 18:59 GMT]


 
Stanislav Pokorny
Stanislav Pokorny  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 14:33
English to Czech
+ ...
Different working scenarios, different needs Dec 28, 2012

I use them (SDL Trados Studio and DVX2) on a daily basis and they have definitely made my life easier.

It always depends on what you do and what you need.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yes, can't do without it Dec 28, 2012

Melody Liang wrote:
Are you using a translation tool ... for your daily translation work? Is it really useful for the translator's job?


Yes, I do all of my translation work in a CAT tool. Without a CAT tool I work much, much slower, even if the text is not repetitive. The segmentation really helps me focus on what I have to do. I also use CAT tools for agency work, but in those cases my work with the CAT tool isn't much faster than it would have been without the CAT tool -- the tool is simply required by the client and/or the file format.


 
Ambrose Li
Ambrose Li  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:33
English
+ ...
segmentation Dec 28, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:

Without a CAT tool I work much, much slower, even if the text is not repetitive. The segmentation really helps me focus on what I have to do.


This comment is probably especially relevant for the original poster, since segmentation is one reason I personally don’t find CAT tools useful at all.

Chinese and English have different rules for punctuation, and the differences are such that segmentation will not work (ironically, maybe) if the punctuation is done correctly. Of course you can work around that by lying to the CAT tool, but then that defeats the whole purpose of using a CAT tool in the first place. Some might say joining segments is the solution, but sometimes things can get so bad you can’t fix the problem even if you joined the whole paragraph (because the CAT’s segmentation rules incorrected treated things that are in the same paragraph as separate paragraphs).

Of course, you can also work around the problem by punctuating incorrectly—which I don’t find satisfactory (to use a nicer word) but unfortunately seems to be something a lot of people end up doing.

Samuel Murray wrote:

I also use CAT tools for agency work, but in those cases my work with the CAT tool isn't much faster than it would have been without the CAT tool -- the tool is simply required by the client and/or the file format.



This is probably a more realistic reason. Or using the CAT tool for terminology. I can’t say much about terminology management though; I hardly use my CAT for that.


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:33
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Always! Dec 29, 2012

For each and every job. In my case I use memoQ. I wonder how some translators manage without a CAT tool in our market today. Most agencies ask you to have a CAT tool, and they increasingly accept that you choose your preferred tool instead of letting them decide for you.

 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 21:33
Chinese to English
I agree with both Samuel and Ambrose, weirdly Dec 29, 2012

Because I do Chinese to English, and English sentences are generally shorter than Chinese sentences. If I were going the other way round, as Ambrose says, there's no way it would work.
However, you can change segmentation rules.

I find Trados helps me to focus, and it allows me to save things like brand names in my termbase, so I don't have to look them up next time.

But I wouldn't say it's necessary. You could get a free on, or a free trial, and just see if you
... See more
Because I do Chinese to English, and English sentences are generally shorter than Chinese sentences. If I were going the other way round, as Ambrose says, there's no way it would work.
However, you can change segmentation rules.

I find Trados helps me to focus, and it allows me to save things like brand names in my termbase, so I don't have to look them up next time.

But I wouldn't say it's necessary. You could get a free on, or a free trial, and just see if you like it. If you don't, then don't force yourself.
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Giles Watson
Giles Watson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 14:33
Italian to English
In memoriam
An elixir of reminding Dec 29, 2012

The deal clincher for me is the way the concordance of a CAT tool will dig out previous translations of words or phrases, allowing you to maintain consistency even at a distance of years or look at the various translations you have used for a specific word or phrase in the past.

Segmentation is an issue in many language combinations and text types, which is one reason why it's a good idea to incorporate an "external review" (i.e. outwith the CAT environment) stage into your working
... See more
The deal clincher for me is the way the concordance of a CAT tool will dig out previous translations of words or phrases, allowing you to maintain consistency even at a distance of years or look at the various translations you have used for a specific word or phrase in the past.

Segmentation is an issue in many language combinations and text types, which is one reason why it's a good idea to incorporate an "external review" (i.e. outwith the CAT environment) stage into your working routine.
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Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: duplicate posting
Melody Liang
Melody Liang  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:33
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks a lot! Dec 31, 2012

Hi my friend,

You are so kind to sharing your comment and experience about using CAT tool with me. Thanks a lot!

I think all the points of view is reasonable.
In my opinion, I have got used to do the translation by manual work with some help of the dictionary. Translation tool is the new product in the market, which really caused some impact to the translation industrial, especially to the freelance translator. I found many translation agencies set using trans
... See more
Hi my friend,

You are so kind to sharing your comment and experience about using CAT tool with me. Thanks a lot!

I think all the points of view is reasonable.
In my opinion, I have got used to do the translation by manual work with some help of the dictionary. Translation tool is the new product in the market, which really caused some impact to the translation industrial, especially to the freelance translator. I found many translation agencies set using translation tool as a must when posting the job. It really vexes me since different agency required different brand of tool. I lost some chance to get the project for the tool that I can't use.

I think to get more job oppotunity, I will have to learn to use some tools. Otherwise, I will be out of the market. Just as Stanislav said," it always depends on what you do and what you need." For the client who have no request for using tool, I will translate manually. For the agency request tool, I will have to spend more time to learn something. I see I have to invest more , including time and money .

That is the market!

Thanks again!

Happy New Year!
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Stanislav Pokorny
Stanislav Pokorny  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 14:33
English to Czech
+ ...
Some brief comments Dec 31, 2012

Melody Liang wrote:
Translation tool is the new product in the market...

Actually, CAT tools are not that new: the first of them appeared already in the early 1980s (I think it was the IBM Translator, if I'm not mistaken).

It really vexes me since different agency required different brand of tool. I lost some chance to get the project for the tool that I can't use.

The keyword here is "interoperability": many tools allow you to work on the file formats used by other tools. To give an example, you can use DejaVu to work on Trados projects, and I have successfully translated MemoQ Xliff files with Trados Studio.

I see I have to invest more , including time and money.

Most probably, yes.

Happy New Year to you too!


 
Dominique Pivard
Dominique Pivard  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:33
Finnish to French
Inexpensive tools Dec 31, 2012

Melody Liang wrote:
I will have to spend more time to learn something. I see I have to invest more, including time and money.

Before investing (lots of) money, you may want to have a look at the short presentations I made of five inexpensive tools (prices vary from 0 to 139 euros):

OmegaT -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=607
MemSource -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=616
Wordfast Anywhere -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=630
CafeTran -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=637
MetaTexis -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=643

and the direct links on YouTube:

OmegaT -> http://youtu.be/O7y6zWzV-yY?hd=1
MemSource -> http://youtu.be/VonxyPL0Iic?hd=1
Wordfast Anywhere -> http://youtu.be/ww28wyVoYSw?hd=1
CafeTran -> http://youtu.be/h1vUGxaRCvI?hd=1
MetaTexis -> http://youtu.be/P_I3wB622C4?hd=1


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:33
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
I don't see that happening Dec 31, 2012

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Most agencies ask you to have a CAT tool, and they increasingly accept that you choose your preferred tool instead of letting them decide for you.


Tomás,

Maybe I'm watching the wrong game, however from where I stand I still see too many translation agencies for whom the only absolute must is having Trados; they are willing to overlook any translator's lacking expertise, experience, qualification as long as they have Trados... even if it's just about translating a 300-word lo-res scanned PDF.

I could quote several jobs like this posted here on Proz. While I don't get notified about jobs that require language pairs different from mine, I get notifications on all of them in my pair from outsourcers who won't give thwe time of the day to someone not owning Trados.

Agencies adopting any CAT tool other than Trados as their standard usually want to hear from translators using any CAT tool, unless a specific project involves several translators sharing a TM online.


 
Melody Liang
Melody Liang  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:33
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks again to all guys. Jan 8, 2013

Hi every friend,

Thanks again for your kind attention and discussion on this subject.
I have got useful message and learn something from you.

Best Regards,


 


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