What about MemoQ? Is it really the best option?
Thread poster: margerrit
margerrit
margerrit  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:14
English to Russian
+ ...
Oct 21, 2019

Hello everyone! I am new to CAT tools, please help me choose an effective and not very costly product. A colleague recommended MemoQ. Is it really the best option? I translate a lot, different topics, have to start using CAT tools now. I understand MemoQ has a strong alignment feature, allowing users to rely on available ref docs.

[Edited at 2019-10-21 23:59 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-10-22 01:23 GMT]


 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
"Best" is in the eye of the beholder Oct 22, 2019

MemoQ is a good option.

Most if not all CAT tools offer a free/demo/trial version, so you can try for yourself and see what suits your particular needs best.

Alignment is not an essential feature, in that it can also be done outside a CAT tool, using an external aligner (for example the excellent free LF Aligner - https://sourceforge.net/projects/aligner ). You can then
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MemoQ is a good option.

Most if not all CAT tools offer a free/demo/trial version, so you can try for yourself and see what suits your particular needs best.

Alignment is not an essential feature, in that it can also be done outside a CAT tool, using an external aligner (for example the excellent free LF Aligner - https://sourceforge.net/projects/aligner ). You can then import the resulting translation memory into your CAT tool of choice.

[Edited at 2019-10-22 06:10 GMT]
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Jorge Payan
Dan Lucas
Hans Lenting
margerrit
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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@Margerrit Oct 22, 2019

margerrit wrote:
I understand MemoQ has a strong alignment feature, allowing users to rely on available reference documents.


Several CAT tools have built-in aligners, and different aligners have different strengths and weaknesses. You can see the MemoQ aligner here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS1PRTu2w9A
What I dislike about the MemoQ aligner is that it keeps the two files misaligned, showing lines (links) between segments visually, until the very end of the process. I prefer to use an aligner that allows me to move the segments into the correct order immediately so that segments that are finished are simply side-by-side and no longer all over the place. OmegaT's aligner has that feature, but in OmegaT you can't save your alignment until the end, so if OmegaT closes unexpectedly, or if you want to take a break, you have to do everything all over again. I personally use PlusTools, but only because I'm used to it -- objectively speaking, it's a rather primitive aligner.

I think many translators who start out with CAT overestimate the value of alignment. Alignment soon turns into a novelty, unless you make an effort to include it in your translation workflow.


[Edited at 2019-10-22 07:44 GMT]


margerrit
 
Hans Lenting
Hans Lenting
Netherlands
Member (2006)
German to Dutch
Best option? Probably not! Oct 22, 2019

margerrit wrote:

Hello everyone! I am new to CAT tools, please help me choose an effective and not very costly product. A colleague recommended MemoQ. Is it really the best option?


memoQ's strongest point is that it allows you to connect to the memoQ servers that many translation agencies use.

If you don't work for agencies that require you to use memoQ, there are many other CAT tools that are better than memoQ in terms of work and cost efficiency.

Today's CAT tools have the same basic feature set in common. This means that you can pick the one that supports your operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac) and focus on really important features like readability of screen fonts in dialogue boxes etc.

Personally, I don't like how memoQ (or Studio) forces me to lock terms in glossary databases and sentences in memory databases: I prefer to work with simple text files that I can edit on the fly whenever I find that massive changes have to be made in old translations that I have to re-use. Especially when you want to work with old, aligned translations, this can be an important point.

AFAIK, omegaT and CafeTran are the only mayor CAT tools that allow you to keep your terms and translated sentence pairs in simple text files (indeed, I consider TMX files to be simple text files). To my knowledge, only CafeTran allows you to make changes to your terms and translated sentence pairs in a very simple way, via the Find dialogue box.


DZiW (X)
margerrit
Daniel Graham
 
Stephanie Busch
Stephanie Busch  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:14
English to German
+ ...
Need to translate Memsource files? Oct 22, 2019

One advantage of MemoQ is the ability of translating Memsource files in MemoQ, which enables you to work offline and use your own TMs.

This could be a consideration if you have clients that use Memsource.

There is a thread on this topic in which John Fossey explains how to
... See more
One advantage of MemoQ is the ability of translating Memsource files in MemoQ, which enables you to work offline and use your own TMs.

This could be a consideration if you have clients that use Memsource.

There is a thread on this topic in which John Fossey explains how to do it:

https://www.proz.com/forum/memoq_support/302360-how_to_translate_memsource_projects_in_memoq.html
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margerrit
 
Andrea Hauer
Andrea Hauer  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:14
English to German
+ ...
Yes it is :-) Oct 22, 2019

in my opinion. I have switched from Trados to memoQ about ten years ago - and I'm still loving it

margerrit
Kevin Fulton
 
Natalie
Natalie  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 14:14
Member (2002)
English to Russian
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Moderator of this forum
SITE LOCALIZER
There is no such thing as "the best option" Oct 22, 2019

Different CAT tools may be the best ones in different situations. And you need to take into account that the best tool is the one you get used to. Try a few tools and choose one or two, and they will become the best ones for you.



[Edited at 2019-10-22 15:37 GMT]


margerrit
 
margerrit
margerrit  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:14
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you all! Oct 22, 2019

Thank you very much for your precious tips and links! I've downloaded and installed a trial version of MemoQ for a start, and will later explore other CAT tools, too.

 
Paula Bonini (X)
Paula Bonini (X)
Brazil
Local time: 10:14
English to Portuguese
+ ...
I am new to CAT tools too Oct 23, 2019

Hello Margerrit!

I'm new to CAT tools too. I've tried OmegaT, it's free and very easy to use, but most people I know use SDL Trados.


 


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What about MemoQ? Is it really the best option?







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