Skip to main content

Current overview of CAT tools

My first experience as a trainer was extremely rewarding. I named the presentation "Current overview of
CAT tools”  (Computer-assisted translation tools )and it led the participants on a bird’s eye tour of the basics of Computer Assisted Translation, the tools that help professional translators to increase productivity, save time and offer consistent terminology in the work delivered.

I started translating many years ago in the prehistory of the translation era, that is, with rudimentary tools: pencil and paper, and I delivered many a translation written on an electric typewriter (those were the modern times!), but I was an early adopter of every new tool offered by the technology that make the life of translators easier. I remember my first computer with a RAM of 128 K, the first text editor, my first printer... Then in 2002 I learnt about CAT tools and my passion for these started.

What was pioneering then is a must today, as it is hard to imagine a competitive translator working without at least a CAT tool. The ability to work source and target in a single document and the segmentation that presents you with a single unit at a time for translation are worth the investment in time and money. Segments provided by translation memories can then be reused and even shared with other colleagues!


Several key aspects CAT tools were covered in the presentation, including translation memories, the segmentation of texts, the meaning of new, fuzzy and repeated segments, terminology management, document analysis and alignment. This was followed by a practical demonstration of the above concepts in a SDL Trados environment. The presentation was closed by a brief description of the leading products in the market such as SDL Trados, Wordfast, Déjà Vu, MemoQ, MetaTexis and Across.


I am thankful to the participants in the presentation for their excellent feedback and by their intense interest in the subject, and to IPEI, whose facilities provided a friendly and cozy environment for the event.



Haydée Incicco

haydee@two2tango-translations.com



Don´t miss Haydée's next talk at IPEI on Friday 16th April at 6:30 p.m.!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alexa Thompson discusses the ways that learning English in an online or offline setting can benefit non-native speakers

The Internet platform has become an essential tool for learning and teaching online , as noted by English Virtual Community. In this post, Alexa Thompson discusses the ways that learning English in an online or offline setting can benefit non-native speakers. For instance, learning English can lead to outsourced jobs that big businesses make available overseas. To read more about online English school from Alexa, visit the website she maintains about English education. English as a second language teachers, English Language Learners Did you know you can get a foreign job based on your ability to speak English? Many work opportunities are available to English speakers from almost any country in the world. Thanks to the Internet and impact outsourcing, more foreign speakers of English are coming into contact with businesses from North America and Europe, making English as a Second Language courses extremely valuable for both students and native English speakers. The last three decades h...
4 comments
read more

My first Meme (pingback and trackback)

When did I start using Internet? I think it coincides with the economic change in Argentina ( 1 peso = 1 dollar) in the late 90's. I started using e-mailing. I have friedns and family living abroad or in other cities, and they usually complain about the fact that I am pretty lazy for writing letters and going to the post office. So, e-mailing was a solution for me. A really turning point took place in 2001 when I was invited to an on line course on " How to evalute websites" carried out by another Argentinean - Prof. Norma Scagnoli- working at the University of Illinois. She introduced me into the virtual world and there I met one of my dearest cyberfriends: Prof. Dafne Gonzalez. From that moment my virtual life started. I bagan exploring the net and that same year I opened my firs e-group: English Virtual Community. My first steps on the Internet were really awful. I used to have dial up connection, so my experience was a bit poor. I could not spend much time on line and...
7 comments
read more

The origin of the names of the days of the week

  I have found this interesting video about the origin of the names of the days of the week and would like to share it with you. 👉Please, leave your opinion in comments :)
Post a Comment
read more