| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7] > | Am I the only translator who doesn't use TRADOS? Thread poster: Amanda Tozer
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 14:44
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| You should care... | Sep 23, 2007 |
ATozer (PhD) wrote:
In fact, I am ashamed to admit that I don't actually know what its function truly is. I don't know what "it looks, feels and smells like".
As a modern translator, you should at least have a clue about what CAT tools are and do and can be used for.
But, I do realise that I miss out on work because of the fact I don't own a copy of Trados and don't know how to use it.
It's better not to own Trados and not know how to use it than to own Trados and discover shortly before that nice deadline that... you don't know how to use it.
| | | | Buck
Netherlands
Local time: 14:44
Dutch to English
| Trados can be wonderful | Sep 23, 2007 |
Although I don't have it yet at home, we have been using Trados in the office for years now. I work for a legal translation agency, and Trados started paying for itself after the second year. Whether or not you need it depends on the kinds of texts you translate. If you specialise in a particular field and do a lot of work that is similar (contracts, regulations, etc.) or have a huge project or projects repetitions, it can be very handy.
| | | | Seamus Moran
Ireland
Local time: 13:44
German to English
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| Second-class citizen | Sep 23, 2007 |
I have been asking myself the same question. I haven't had to use Trados for most of the work I do but i have missed out on work and some agencies have abruptly broken off communication when they discover i don't have Trados but, to be honest, it doesn't bother me because i get by (so far) without it. What I don't like, is the impression I get of being classed as a second-class citizen by some agencies just because I don't use Trados. I might invest in the future but right now I don't need it. P... See more I have been asking myself the same question. I haven't had to use Trados for most of the work I do but i have missed out on work and some agencies have abruptly broken off communication when they discover i don't have Trados but, to be honest, it doesn't bother me because i get by (so far) without it. What I don't like, is the impression I get of being classed as a second-class citizen by some agencies just because I don't use Trados. I might invest in the future but right now I don't need it. Plus I don't have time to find out how it works - not right now anyway. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You don't need too much time | Sep 23, 2007 |
Seamus Moran wrote:
I don't have time to find out how it works
I have learnt to use trados in 2 days and I was 46 at that time (not a young girl) I bought a second hand copy in 2003, and now I just can't live without it.
[Edited at 2007-09-23 10:55]
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biankonera
Latvia
Local time: 15:44
Italian to Latvian
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| Just four-legged CATS | Sep 23, 2007 |
Just like Henry Ive just a four-legged cat:D I had to use an electronic cat just for one project (used Wordfast not Trados however) but it brought sooooo much chaos in my life... sheesh.. Im not afraid of technologies by no means (Ive got hang of all my graphic and web-design programs all by me onsies) but I prefer my cats to be alive and purring.;) Besides I translate mostly movies and TV series so such cats are really useless for me.
| | | | | Yes, absolutely | Sep 23, 2007 |
Henry Hinds wrote:
Well, Claudia, reassurance comes from knowing you can do it, any time, any place, empty-handed.
You are absolutely right! I was always happy, that I can walk, ride a bike, drive a car and sometimes may even take a plane - I always prefer to have a choice to select the most appropriate solution for a given situation.
But who feels fine and can live without CATs, has no need to use them. Sometimes it's just nice to have a cat warm your back. I have that, too, and I love it.
In the case of options I prefer both/and to either/or, but this is simply a question of personal preferences.
If you feel perfectly fine with a certain way to do things, I think you should just be happy with it. But that does not mean that there is something wrong with the way others do it.
| | | | | Nope, you are not alone | Sep 23, 2007 |
I don't use Trados either, but this is going to change soon.
You can also use Wordfast.
| | | | | Let's get back to the original question | Sep 23, 2007 |
M. Anna Kańduła wrote:
I use another CAT tool and have no intentions of buying Trados for many different reasons.
Anni
Let's get back to the original question. A. Tozer asked whether he was the only translator not using Trados. The answer is clearly no, he is not.
I did not mean (and did not say) that Trados was no good. Obviously many translators find it wonderful and that's fine with me. I meant (and said) that I don't use it and don't want it myself.
I'm not a complete technophobe (or I wouldn't even be able to use this site) and I adore many of the conveniences of modern life. I am happy with the methods I use and they work for me. I get heaps of work without Trados and without accepting ludicrously low rates and long payment terms.
I have a human, living memory that is in remarkably good nick and can remember, copy and paste when parts of jobs are repeated, but I don't do much in the way of technical manuals and patents. I keep personal glossaries of useful terms too, so I'm probably a cyborg by now - a living Trados.
I'll be back.
Jenny.
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Juliana Brown
Israel
Local time: 08:44
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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Elisabete Cunha wrote:
And nowadays most outsourcers demand the use of this or other CAT tools.
It depends on your field(s) I think, because in the past 9 months I lost out on only one job offer because I didn;t use CAT tools (and I get quite a bit of work).
As for Trados, I'd like to learn how to use it, but the money is just not there...
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 06:44
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | Nothing wrong with others | Sep 23, 2007 |
If others find that CATS help them with their work, I can certainly understand why they would favor them. This would include a large amount of repetitive work from the same clients, revisions of work done previously, etc., and of course all supplied in electronic files.
That just does not happen to be my own case. I would guess I am one of the few still translating (and often printing out) large quantities of paper documents.
Of course I do electronic documents as well,... See more If others find that CATS help them with their work, I can certainly understand why they would favor them. This would include a large amount of repetitive work from the same clients, revisions of work done previously, etc., and of course all supplied in electronic files.
That just does not happen to be my own case. I would guess I am one of the few still translating (and often printing out) large quantities of paper documents.
Of course I do electronic documents as well, sometimes revisions, etc. like others, and for those I simply refer to the original translation. From that I can make the revised one, no CAT needed. Plus, exact correspondence of wording can be preserved.
The last point is a critical one, since I often do documents in which there can be an approximate, but not exact correspondence of wording. How does a CAT handle that? If you want "exact" it may not give you anything, and if you ask for "fuzzy", then you have to go back and take the "fuzziness" out of it.
How would that work? It would seem like a real chore to me, not to mention all the other problems people have mentioned here.
I have always been intrigued with finding out how such things work, but I do not know of any colleagues locally who use Trados, etc. either. CATS just do not seem to offer any advantages to us here. Our environment appears to be much different than the environment the vast majority of you live in. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 08:44
German to English
| Depends on client / market | Sep 23, 2007 |
If you have a lot of one-of-a-kind projects or documents available only as hard copy (fax, scanned PDF, etc.), then there may not be a real need for a CAT tool. Such tools are generally expensive and not particularly easy to learn. Trados is particularly buggy, which only adds to the difficulty of mastering the program.
And it is true that many agencies aren't interested in working with translators who don't use Trados (or other CAT tools). In part this has to do with price gougin... See more If you have a lot of one-of-a-kind projects or documents available only as hard copy (fax, scanned PDF, etc.), then there may not be a real need for a CAT tool. Such tools are generally expensive and not particularly easy to learn. Trados is particularly buggy, which only adds to the difficulty of mastering the program.
And it is true that many agencies aren't interested in working with translators who don't use Trados (or other CAT tools). In part this has to do with price gouging, but there's a legitimate reason why an agency would prefer Trados (or other CAT tool) users. Good agencies generally have repeat customers; as a consequence there is often a large corpus of translated material/terminology that has been approved / specified by the client, and a CAT tool is the best means of maintaining consistency among documents. This puts non-CAT users at a disadvantage, but there are lots of agencies that don't have this requirement.
As one of the posters mentioned, even when working on texts that don't have a lot of repetitions, a CAT tool can be handy for managing phrasing and terminology. With a CAT tool, you only need to look up a term once; once you use it, it's in your data base permanently.
Over the years I've translated a series of specifications for robotic painting facilities. In many cases, the specifications have exceeded 40 pages (12K + words), but since I've done so many of them, I can frequently finish a project in less than a day, since many requirements are the same, the primary differences being the number of spray booths, hose lines, etc. Sometimes the boilerplate changes slightly, but my CAT tool allows me to see the differences and adjust the text accordingly. As a consequence, I'm able to complete more work in a shorter amount of time, and in the case of the robotic plants, I get paid full price per word.
Buying and using a CAT tool is a return on investment decision. Because of the cumulative nature of database acquisition, the benefits are not realized immediately. In many cases it may take a year or two before the user realizes a gain. If the translator translates primarily hard copy, there may not be a sufficient ROI to justify the purchase of a full-featured CAT tool.
But as I said, if you don't have a need for a CAT tool, there's no need to buy one. I translated for almost 2 decades without one. But I've never regretted the investments I've made in CAT tools. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Manual chore | Sep 23, 2007 |
Henry Hinds wrote:
The last point is a critical one, since I often do documents in which there can be an approximate, but not exact correspondence of wording. How does a CAT handle that? If you want "exact" it may not give you anything, and if you ask for "fuzzy", then you have to go back and take the "fuzziness" out of it.
How would that work? It would seem like a real chore to me, not to mention all the other problems people have mentioned here.
It seems to me it must be a real chore comparing similar documents by hand trying to spot small differences, or remembering how you translated a difficult expression, sentence or paragraph 6 months ago when a similar text comes up again. That's where a CAT tool can help you.
And what about terminology? Do you keep it all in your head (pretty hard if the customer gives you a 50-page glossary to follow. I find I add a couple of hundred new terms to my termbase almost every job. I would find it hard keeping to keep track of such terminology on the back of an envelope or by making notes in the margin. But each to their own, I guess.
BR,
David
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Hynek Palatin
Czech Republic
Local time: 14:44
Member (2003)
English to Czech
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| How would that work? | Sep 23, 2007 |
Henry Hinds wrote:
The last point is a critical one, since I often do documents in which there can be an approximate, but not exact correspondence of wording. How does a CAT handle that? If you want "exact" it may not give you anything, and if you ask for "fuzzy", then you have to go back and take the "fuzziness" out of it.
A CAT tool shows you previously translated similar sentences (ie. the fuzzy matches) and it highlights the differences between the new and the previously translated source text. That way it's easy to change the old translation ("take the fuzziness out of it"). Of course, this has to be done manually. The CAT tool doesn't translate for you, it "only" finds identical or similar sentences in the translation memory (among many other things).
[Upraveno: 2007-09-23 20:58]
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 06:44
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | Response to Both | Sep 23, 2007 |
David said:
"It seems to me it must be a real chore comparing similar documents by hand trying to spot small differences..."
Yes, I have to compare a previous translation with text in the document to spot small differences and make changes. It's not so hard... plus I'm getting paid for all those words!
"...or remembering how you translated a difficult expression, sentence or paragraph 6 months ago when a similar text comes up again..."
Usually... See more David said:
"It seems to me it must be a real chore comparing similar documents by hand trying to spot small differences..."
Yes, I have to compare a previous translation with text in the document to spot small differences and make changes. It's not so hard... plus I'm getting paid for all those words!
"...or remembering how you translated a difficult expression, sentence or paragraph 6 months ago when a similar text comes up again..."
Usually I can remember expressions. If it's a sentence or paragraph, and especially for the sake of uniformity, I can find a prior translation on the computer without much effort.
"And what about terminology? Do you keep it all in your head?"
Yes, absolutely, that is where I keep it all!
Hynek said:
...it highlights the differences between the new and the previously translated source text.
...this has to be done manually
As above I have to find and make the changes, differences are not highlighted, but it is not a great chore.
For me at least, I think the disadvantages of CATS would far outweigh any advantages that could be gained, which would be small to non-existent. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jande
Australia
Local time: 22:44
Danish to English
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| You are not alone #49 | Sep 24, 2007 |
I was asked to do a job where they needed to know what dictionaries I used and the CAT's I had. There was even a limit that you couldn't get the job if you didn't have a certain number of these tools.
Wouldn't the mark of a good translator be the opposite, e.g. not requiring a dictionary or CAT?
I want to be able to rattle stuff off the top of my head so I don't use trados on purpose, even if that means looking up the same adjective 10 times in the dictionary. I figur... See more I was asked to do a job where they needed to know what dictionaries I used and the CAT's I had. There was even a limit that you couldn't get the job if you didn't have a certain number of these tools.
Wouldn't the mark of a good translator be the opposite, e.g. not requiring a dictionary or CAT?
I want to be able to rattle stuff off the top of my head so I don't use trados on purpose, even if that means looking up the same adjective 10 times in the dictionary. I figure out that with the 11th time I might just remember what the word means.
I could see how Trados or Wordfast would be faster, but is that in the short term or long term?
I am faster at typing out a word than cutting and pasting it, so that also deters me. ▲ Collapse
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