| Páginas sobre el tema: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you use a CAT tool? Autor de la hebra: ProZ.com Staff
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Yes, I do use SDL Trados 2009, altough it depends on the project.
As most projects I work on are mostly technical or have some patterns, and may have common terminology and repetitions, I do use SDL Trados - other than that, there are some projects I just use Find & Replace function of MS Word or Notepad, according to what I find more practical to the project in mind.
For literary texts, I believe CAT tools are useless, unless the translator finds motivating using one - like s... See more Yes, I do use SDL Trados 2009, altough it depends on the project.
As most projects I work on are mostly technical or have some patterns, and may have common terminology and repetitions, I do use SDL Trados - other than that, there are some projects I just use Find & Replace function of MS Word or Notepad, according to what I find more practical to the project in mind.
For literary texts, I believe CAT tools are useless, unless the translator finds motivating using one - like seeing some colors in the project (I often get tired of just Black and White of notepad) and stats (I personally have this tendency to make a great deal and always keep track of my progress percentage). ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No, but I do use machine translation sometimes | Sep 16, 2011 |
For the kind of work I do, I doubt that a CAT tool would be much help. The texts I work with tend to be vague and confusing, and sometimes I have to pore over the sentences slowly to figure out the meaning. When I do figure it out, the translation often bears no one-on-one correspondence to the words in the original.
I have used machine translation for many years. Sometimes it helps; most of the time, it doesn't.
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 04:06
inglés al francés
+ ...
I own one but used it once only (it is no longer installed on any of the computers here).
There seem to be two schools: those who use them are shocked to see how many of us do not care for them, and those who do not use them wonder/are annoyed/amused about seeing this question repeatedly in the quick polls.
Let us say CAT tools just do not fit in with my way of working - nor the kind of texts I translate most of the time (Prozians tend to call those “literary” thou... See more I own one but used it once only (it is no longer installed on any of the computers here).
There seem to be two schools: those who use them are shocked to see how many of us do not care for them, and those who do not use them wonder/are annoyed/amused about seeing this question repeatedly in the quick polls.
Let us say CAT tools just do not fit in with my way of working - nor the kind of texts I translate most of the time (Prozians tend to call those “literary” though they have nothing to do with “literature”).
For the rest, I use my old faithful brain, and putting my memory to work should be quite efficient in keeping it fit... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dave Bindon 
Grecia
Local time: 05:06
griego al inglés
In Memoriam
I'm another non-user.
The vast majority of my source texts are scans / pdf files, very often handwritten, so CAT tools are unusable.
On the rare occasions that my source text is in an editable format (usually Word) find-and-replace is more than adequate (my texts are not very repetitive).
I don't like the idea of a CAT tool helping me to be consistent. Greek and English are very different languages, so I like to deal with each sentence in context: consisten... See more I'm another non-user.
The vast majority of my source texts are scans / pdf files, very often handwritten, so CAT tools are unusable.
On the rare occasions that my source text is in an editable format (usually Word) find-and-replace is more than adequate (my texts are not very repetitive).
I don't like the idea of a CAT tool helping me to be consistent. Greek and English are very different languages, so I like to deal with each sentence in context: consistent translation would often be incorrect translation.
I work for several companies who have an official policy that all translators must use Trados. Despite their policy, they have accepted my reasons for not using a CAT tool.
I'm not anti-CAT though. I would use it if I had a sufficient volume of repetitious work. ▲ Collapse
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Rolf Kern
Suiza
Local time: 04:06
inglés al alemán
+ ...
In Memoriam
I very well understand your point, but:
- I once was asked to work online with a CAT tool, which meant you could not print the entire text and you ony had one line on the screen and no overview whatsoever on what you had already translated and no search function smilar to WORD. This was not very productive, and I refused the job;
- when I go unto the ProZ forums I notice the great numer of problems translators have with CAT tools. Sometimes, It seems to be the main subj... See more I very well understand your point, but:
- I once was asked to work online with a CAT tool, which meant you could not print the entire text and you ony had one line on the screen and no overview whatsoever on what you had already translated and no search function smilar to WORD. This was not very productive, and I refused the job;
- when I go unto the ProZ forums I notice the great numer of problems translators have with CAT tools. Sometimes, It seems to be the main subject in these forums. This is not very productive;
- the problem of translating is mainly the quality of the source text, its interpretation, and not doing a good translation of a high quality source text. Your intelligence is required, that CAT does not have.
- I noticed that most peers, who state they have a CAT tool, have a language education. Those without such education, don't have a CAT tool (with a few exceprions). How come?
Rolf
[Bearbeitet am 2011-09-16 07:31 GMT]
[Bearbeitet am 2011-09-16 07:32 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | isabelmurill (X)
Local time: 04:06
inglés al español
+ ...
My texts are both "literary" and literature, so CAT tools and my way of working are totally incompatible.
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 04:06
inglés al francés
+ ...
I am the proud owner of a language and translation degree and do not use a CAT tool, even though I tried it once
Some people have a language degree and specialise afterwards; others have a specialisation and have or acquire language skills. I think both categories can coexist on the market, as long as they provide excellent quality, however they achieve it. There are sufficient fields to be handled.
| | | | Alex Lago
España
Local time: 04:06
inglés al español
+ ...
| CAT tool usage | Sep 16, 2011 |
Rolf Kern wrote:
I very well understand your point, but:
I'm sorry but I don't think you do see her point.
Rolf Kern wrote:
- I once was asked to work online with a CAT tool, which meant you could not print the entire text and you ony had one line on the screen and no overview whatsoever on what you had already translated and no search function smilar to WORD. This was not very productive, and I refused the job;
CAT tools are like everything else, there are good ones and bad ones, this tool you mention sounds like an example of the bad ones.
Rolf Kern wrote:
- when I go unto the ProZ forums I notice the great numer of problems translators have with CAT tools. Sometimes, It seems to be the main subject in these forums. This is not very productive;
CAT tools are software and as all software they are subject to bugs, updates that cause problems, etc..
This is like saying because a computer breaks down sometimes it is not very productive
Rolf Kern wrote:
- the problem of translating is mainly the quality of the source text, its interpretation, and not doing a good translation of a high quality source text. Your intelligence is required, that CAT does not have.
CAT tool, the word tool here is important, CAT tools are just that tools they have no intelligence nor are they expected to have any, they are like any other tool, you use them to help you, but like any other tool you have to learn what they are for and how to use them.
Rolf Kern wrote:
- I noticed that most peers, who state they have a CAT tool, have a language education. Those without such education, don't have a CAT tool (with a few exceprions). How come?
I have no language education and use a CAT tool, maybe I am one of the exceptions, who knows?
But these are some of the things I think CAT tools are very useful for:
a) Keeping your workspace organized, that means being able to see what you're translating and your translation all on one screen (obviously not with PDF jobs).
b) Having quick access to previous terminology, this saves you spending time trying to remember a one off term you translated 5 years ago, with a CAT tool I still have it stored in memory.
c) Being protected from power failures, as you work everything is saved in the TM, so if anything happens and your computer crashes or the electricity goes you won't have lost any of the information as its is constantly saved as opposed to say word where you have to remember to save or enable auto save, but even then you are likely to loose at least a few minutes work.
d) Never having to translate words like date, sincerely, best regards, etc. again
e) Be able to do quality checks, checking things like numbers, dates, formats, etc
f) Check consistency within a job, if you have 70000 words it helps to make sure you have translated all equal terms the same way.
and many more time saving routines, if I have a tool that saves me time I can work more and make more money it's as simple as that.
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isabel murillo wrote:
My texts are both "literary" and literature, so CAT tools and my way of working are totally incompatible.
+ 1 here
| | | | | No, not efficient for me | Sep 16, 2011 |
I tried SDLX because I have a client who often requires this. But to be honest, it's much more time efficient to just do the translation myself or use the find and replace function in my text processing software. Plus: Then I can actually see that the layout and everything else is as I want it to be or the client requires it to be. Therefore, no CAT tools for me.
| | | | Sunliner (X)
Local time: 04:06
alemán al inglés
+ ...
| CAT tools and quality | Sep 26, 2011 |
I used a SDLX lite for an international agency once. It cost me nothing. The same agency wanted everyone to buy Trados and took a poll, which found that 80% of the translators would not buy it. So, I am assuming that the 77% who say they use CAT tools in the Proz poll, must not be using Trados.
I suppose I might be open to using some translation tool for my own benefit, but what some agencies want translators to do with Trados is accept TMs of poorly translated text. As a professional, I ... See more I used a SDLX lite for an international agency once. It cost me nothing. The same agency wanted everyone to buy Trados and took a poll, which found that 80% of the translators would not buy it. So, I am assuming that the 77% who say they use CAT tools in the Proz poll, must not be using Trados.
I suppose I might be open to using some translation tool for my own benefit, but what some agencies want translators to do with Trados is accept TMs of poorly translated text. As a professional, I like to control the quality of my own translations. I can't do that if I have to incorporate poorly translated TM texts. ▲ Collapse
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