working with trados Thread poster: Luke Mersh
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Luke Mersh 
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:08
Spanish to English
I would like to know how you can do a job for a company requiring trados when starting out, as you will not have a large database of terminology on your system???
how do you start?
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 08:08
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| To get the ball rolling | Nov 15, 2011 |
Hello Luke,
I'm not a Trados user, but I do use Wordfast in a limited way. Limited in terms of technical ability but also, specialising as I do in marketing and tourism, I find that I am not really able to leverage my TMs, which are now reasonably large but relatively useless in terms of fuzzy matches. I find the concordance searches and the glossaries useful, and using a CAT tool forces a certain discipline, thereby ensuring everything gets translated.
So, I get relati... See more Hello Luke,
I'm not a Trados user, but I do use Wordfast in a limited way. Limited in terms of technical ability but also, specialising as I do in marketing and tourism, I find that I am not really able to leverage my TMs, which are now reasonably large but relatively useless in terms of fuzzy matches. I find the concordance searches and the glossaries useful, and using a CAT tool forces a certain discipline, thereby ensuring everything gets translated.
So, I get relatively little help from loads of TUs. Just like you, I have to translate each segment from scratch! Nobody ever claimed it would do the translating for you!
Sheila ▲ Collapse
| | | | Åsa Campbell
Australia
Local time: 16:38
Member
English to Swedish
| The TM and Termbase is specific for each client | Nov 15, 2011 |
Hi Luke,
I work mainly with technical translations and was in the same situation when I started up.
I am now in a situation where I receive work from regular clients, mainly agencies. The TMs and terminology databases are specific for each client (end client, not agency). For each agency I work for I have separate TMs and terminology databases for each end client.
Now that I have been adding to them for many years I can translate a lot quicker and do not ... See more Hi Luke,
I work mainly with technical translations and was in the same situation when I started up.
I am now in a situation where I receive work from regular clients, mainly agencies. The TMs and terminology databases are specific for each client (end client, not agency). For each agency I work for I have separate TMs and terminology databases for each end client.
Now that I have been adding to them for many years I can translate a lot quicker and do not have to spend too much time on researching terminology.
As Sheila said, there are no short cuts, you will have to do this work yourself. If you work with technical translations the trick is to find regular work within your specialisation and you will soon build up your knowledge.
I believe the above will be true also in other areas of translation, for example medical and legal.
Hope this helps,
Asa ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marina Steinbach
United States
Local time: 03:08
Member (2011)
English to German
| I used to only use my brain and a dictionary… | Nov 16, 2011 |
luke mersh wrote:
I would like to know how you can do a job for a company requiring trados when starting out, as you will not have a large database of terminology on your system???
how do you start?
…, but I’m so happy since I am able to use my brain, a dictionary AND Trados!
(Unfortunately, I’m not being paid by SDL for saying this :-/)
It’s IMHO very helpful to have a computer-aided translation software. You can see source and target text at the same time in one line. And, it does make sense to take the extra time to populate your termbase, because you will not have to look up recurring terms a second time. That’s what will make you more efficient than others.
[Edited at 2011-11-16 00:47 GMT]
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Luke Mersh
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:08
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | using trados | Nov 16, 2011 |
I do find that when translating I do just use my mind and a good dictionary, but I see on here that a lot of jobs require Trados and what I was asking is if the client/ agency would take on somebody or somebody just starting out who doesnt have a large TM.
After all we have all had to start from 0 at some stage.
| | | | Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 09:08
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| Why a CAT tool is required | Nov 16, 2011 |
luke mersh wrote:
what I was asking is if the client/ agency would take on somebody or somebody just starting out who doesnt have a large TM.
That's not quite the point. There are a few reasons why a client/agency may require Trados (or other CAT tool):
1. The document is repetitive. I'm translating a clinical trial protocol amendment right now. Regulations require the amendment to reflect the initial text and the amended one (using a system of striking through, etc.). So, in the very same document there are paragraphs that are identical except for a couple of words. You could do this without a CAT tool, but it would be much slower. By requiring a CAT tool, the agency ensures that the text will remain identical (except for the changes) and it may well only pay a small percentage of the repeated sentences. It makes sense, doesn't it?
2. The client has its own TM that it will send you along with the project. This is often the case if the document is similar to others that the client has had translated in the past. Going back to the clinical trial example, if a client has other clinical trials in its own TM, the informed consent form will differ according to the drug involved, but at the end, the patient consents to a series of statements that don't vary from one trial to another ("I am participating of my own free will; I have read and understood this information, etc."). For the client it is important for this to be translated the same for every trial.
3. Client termbases. Your client may have decided that he/she wants a series of terms translated a particular way (its own in-house terminology). By sending you a TB, you can be sure that you are using the chosen term in every case.
So I think it's reasonable for clients to require Trados in the above situations.
| | | | Luke Mersh
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:08
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | using trados | Nov 16, 2011 |
Ah I see, so they send you the termbase, I was under the assumption that it was the translator that had to have the termbase or as well as....
Is the translator allowed to store client/agency termbase on his/hers system to use for future projects?
is the termbase or TMs copyrighted to the agency?
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I would say that where agencies require 'translation using Trados' they mean a format of delivery, and nothing else.
Respectively a translation project may be completed with empty TMs, which is your case.
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Åsa Campbell
Australia
Local time: 16:38
Member
English to Swedish
The agency don't always provide a termbase and/or TM. It depends on wheather the agency has done work for this end client before. If they have, they often have a TM of previous work and maybe also a termbase.
If the end client is new to the agency you will have to do it all from scratch.
Asa
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 03:08
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Don't be misled by the fact that because a lot of jobs here require Trados that most translation jobs "in the real world" require Trados. The chances of you ever getting a job that is posted here are less than 1% and the chances of any job posted here being worth your time is probably less than that (the only jobs posted are those where the companies can't find anyone in their database to complete them because they either don't pay enough, don't pay on time, are difficult to work with or the dea... See more Don't be misled by the fact that because a lot of jobs here require Trados that most translation jobs "in the real world" require Trados. The chances of you ever getting a job that is posted here are less than 1% and the chances of any job posted here being worth your time is probably less than that (the only jobs posted are those where the companies can't find anyone in their database to complete them because they either don't pay enough, don't pay on time, are difficult to work with or the deadline is ridiculous.) The good jobs hardly ever get posted for the general public and there are many translators who make a fine living without a CAT tool or who use a CAT tool for their own purposes.
I don't think purchasing Trados to get more work should be the main reason to purchase Trados. Although Trados would probably like us to have that perception.
luke mersh wrote:
I do find that when translating I do just use my mind and a good dictionary, but I see on here that a lot of jobs require Trados and what I was asking is if the client/ agency would take on somebody or somebody just starting out who doesnt have a large TM.
After all we have all had to start from 0 at some stage.
[Edited at 2011-11-18 14:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 03:08
German to English
| TM usually supplied with ongoing projects | Nov 18, 2011 |
I think most clients are more concerned about your experience rather than how extensive your translation memory is.
I use a variety of translation memory tools and have built up extensive databases. My clients generally have specific reasons for requiring the use of these tools (specified terminology, consistency, extensive repetition in the case of technical manuals, etc.). Sometimes a TM is provided, but frequently I have to rely on my own resources.
Many of my jobs ... See more I think most clients are more concerned about your experience rather than how extensive your translation memory is.
I use a variety of translation memory tools and have built up extensive databases. My clients generally have specific reasons for requiring the use of these tools (specified terminology, consistency, extensive repetition in the case of technical manuals, etc.). Sometimes a TM is provided, but frequently I have to rely on my own resources.
Many of my jobs involve ongoing projects. In these cases the agency/client provides a translation memory containing the corpus of previous translations. In some cases the previous translations are "locked" and cannot be changed (not necessarily a good thing!). The point is to avoid having to "reinvent the wheel" every time a manual or procedure is modified.
Ownership of a TM is a different matter. If you created the TM for your own purposes, it's yours. Reusing a client-supplied TM for a 3rd party is another matter. Ethical and legal considerations aside, you can get into a lot of trouble if you accidentally/automatically insert "All rights reserved, Company XYZ AG" into a document for "Company DEF AG" (I've seen this!) ▲ Collapse
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