| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: How much of your work involves using CAT tools? 投稿者: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How much of your work involves using CAT tools?".
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If it goes into a CAT tool, I use a CAT tool. The only time I don't is when I'm translating uneditable PDFs or proofreading/editing another translator's work. I wouldn't be without MemoQ.
| | | | | I voted all, but I meant most ... | Jun 21, 2013 |
I have got used to using it and find it very comfortable to work with, even for jobs where it will present me with few, or no, matches.
The only texts I don't use it for are song lyrics and poetry.
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but wanted "most" as well
So, "almost all" 
Can't avoid CAT tools if you're a tech translator wading through mountains of manuals, especially, if you're translating an entire series of documents for closely inter-related products.
Or, any other kind of translation work with lots of repitition requiring consistency in terminology, etc. through and across multiple documents, at that.
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Even if I do not have to use a CAT tool, I do as I find them far more comfortable to work with than in Word.
| | | | | I use Studio 2011 most of the time | Jun 21, 2013 |
I think it is a big mistake to be half-hearted about CAT tools.
To reap the advantages, you need to feel comfortable using the CAT, whichever you choose, and really take in all the features suitable to each job. It is a method of working, and when it runs smoothly, can improve consistency and keep track of terminology, and need not cramp your style.
For repetitive work a CAT will even save you time, but not always as much as people hope or expect!
Otherwise... See more I think it is a big mistake to be half-hearted about CAT tools.
To reap the advantages, you need to feel comfortable using the CAT, whichever you choose, and really take in all the features suitable to each job. It is a method of working, and when it runs smoothly, can improve consistency and keep track of terminology, and need not cramp your style.
For repetitive work a CAT will even save you time, but not always as much as people hope or expect!
Otherwise it is simply a distraction - you spend too much time and energy on the mechanics and this will impair the translation. I have worked with CATs I liked, and with CATs I hated, and a couple in between. I can understand those who feel they never want to have anything to do with them.
I would advise giving a CAT a fair chance. It takes time and patience to learn to use a good CAT, so taking on a big rushed job and hoping a new CAT will help is a recipe for disaster.
They are NOT always intuitive, at least at first.... whatever anyone says.
If you have an efficient way of managing terminology without a CAT, and work in a field like marketing where repetitions may even be something to avoid, then there is no point in struggling to use a CAT. Unless, like me, you like it and can also use it to see what you wrote last time, to find a way to rephrase it!
Most texts can be aligned after translation, so if the CAT is a pain, it can be circumvented that way. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Allison Wright (X) 
ポルトガル
Local time: 18:40
Michael Harris wrote:
Even if I do not have to use a CAT tool, I do as I find them far more comfortable to work with than in Word.
I use a CAT tool for most of my work now, although it is still primarily my brain which comes up with the translations.
The most useful features for me are those which make me check that I have translated everything, remembered to put full stops at the end of sentences, and the Concordance to ensure I get all those long names of organisations correct.
I also like the motivational factor of knowing what percentage of the document still has to be translated.
Don't try and make me use more than one CAT tool, though: I am only human!
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They
-remove a big part of the repetitive work.
-increase the consistency to a point that would not be possible without them.
-minimise DTP kind of work and allow a perfect result with minimal effort (most of the time).
-make the process easier through segmentation, side-by-side presentation etc.
I think I wouldn't like translating without CAT tools.
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Allison Wright wrote:
I also like the motivational factor of knowing what percentage of the document still has to be translated.
That too!
| | | | Maria Arruti
スペイン
Local time: 19:40
2012に入会
フランス語 から スペイン語
+ ...
I use CAT tools for all the work involving translation, but when it comes to marketing, invoicing… they aren’t of much use.
| | | | | For almost every work I do | Jun 21, 2013 |
I use CAT tools for almost every work I do, even uneditable PDF (I recreate the document in Word first), even when the client does not require a CAT.
One of the main reasons is the ability to visualise source and target in the same window. In this light, CAT tools played an important role in my business even when I only had Wordfast Demo version. Secondly, the pretranslation function making use of TM and MT and thirdly autopropagation.
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99% of my work is uneditable, dead PDFs and handwriting. A CAT tool wouldn't be of much use to me.
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| PDFs are editable | Jun 21, 2013 |
I am quite often sent PDFs to work from. I bought a PDF extraction tool which converts these to Word, and then munch through them with Wordfast. Word software even lets you save it as a PDF at the end. I believe there are free PDF extractors available, too, but the one I bought was not expensive, and allows for manual (as well as automatic) detection of images and tables, as well as dealing with multiple alphabets, of course. I feel it was money well spent.
There's nothing to be done about... See more I am quite often sent PDFs to work from. I bought a PDF extraction tool which converts these to Word, and then munch through them with Wordfast. Word software even lets you save it as a PDF at the end. I believe there are free PDF extractors available, too, but the one I bought was not expensive, and allows for manual (as well as automatic) detection of images and tables, as well as dealing with multiple alphabets, of course. I feel it was money well spent.
There's nothing to be done about handwriting, though
[Edited at 2013-06-21 11:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Some to most | Jun 21, 2013 |
Some of the jobs but most of the wordcount. The jobs which earn me money are large technical jobs, which no-one but a complete idiot would do without a CAT tool, as it saves you mega-amounts of time, not just with the repetitions but also with the glossary of terminology which you build up.
I actually really enjoy working with Trados, I find the side-by-side display very soothing, but I completely agree with those who say that it confines your style to some extent.
Stev... See more Some of the jobs but most of the wordcount. The jobs which earn me money are large technical jobs, which no-one but a complete idiot would do without a CAT tool, as it saves you mega-amounts of time, not just with the repetitions but also with the glossary of terminology which you build up.
I actually really enjoy working with Trados, I find the side-by-side display very soothing, but I completely agree with those who say that it confines your style to some extent.
Steve K. ▲ Collapse
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I like seeing the source and target at the same time and ensuring that everything has been translated and nothing skipped, but I think terminology management is the main time-saver. I translate a lot of texts that come with glossaries and style guides and sometimes multiple projects at one given time with similar terminology, but different company-preferred equivalents, so a CAT tool is invaluable. One agency sends me work for an end client with an Excel style guide and term list containing 3,00... See more I like seeing the source and target at the same time and ensuring that everything has been translated and nothing skipped, but I think terminology management is the main time-saver. I translate a lot of texts that come with glossaries and style guides and sometimes multiple projects at one given time with similar terminology, but different company-preferred equivalents, so a CAT tool is invaluable. One agency sends me work for an end client with an Excel style guide and term list containing 3,000+ entries. NO way I can adhere to that "manually." ▲ Collapse
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