Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: the best and easiest CAT for the newbie
Poster: Vladimir Pochinov
Post title: To CAT, or not to CAT
[quote]Tom in London wrote:
Huh? I've been working without CATS for many years. I find they are completely dispensable.
[/quote]
Yes, I have a colleague who prefers using a goose quill and sheepskin, sending his translations to clients by mail coach. He sometimes drops me a line or two from his psychiatric ward :)
[quote]
More recently I have considered other CATS but I've decided against them because I clone my hard drive every day and, as I understand it, cloning would invalidate my licence.
[/quote]
You are absolutely wrong in your understanding. I use CrashPlan Pro for continuous backup of my hard drive, and it does not affect any software licenses.
[quote]
Anyway life's too short, I'm too busy, and all CATs require a learning curve.
[/quote]
Exactly, CAT tools save you hours of work. You can use these additional hours for leisure, pleasure, or to earn more money.
[quote]
So I beg to disagree; I'm a busy successful translator perfectly happy to work without a CAT (except of the furry kind).
[/quote]
You might be a much wealthier busy successful translator with a CAT of your choice (and, perhaps, one or two of the furry kind running around you). The busiest translators are those unsuccessful and rather unhappy colleagues who agree to work for $0.01-0.02 per source word. On the other hand, over the last few years, I taught several of my colleagues to use SDL Trados Studio. All of them are busy successful translators with a CAT (and, perhaps, one or two of the furry kind running around them) perfectly happy to work with SDL Trados Studio 2014/2015/2017. Each reports a dramatic increase in his or her daily and monthly throughputs.
[quote]
CATs seem to be about one thing and one thing only: saving time by identifying repetitions, thereby enabling the outsourcer to charge less, and to demand a copy of the TM you've used, which enables the outsourcer to charge still less...and less... and less...and of course if you refuse to hand over the TM, the outsourcer will never give you any more work.
[/quote]
I have been offering Trados fuzzy matches and providing project TMXs upon request since 2003 (Trados 6.5 at that point). My rates doubled and tripled over that period, yet some of my existing clients date back to mid-2000s.
[quote]
Maybe if I ever have time to spare and no urgent work coming in with next-day delivery deadlines, I'll take time out to explore some more CATS.
[/quote]
Very sound idea.
[quote]
Here's the best comment about CATS that I've ever seen:
[url removed]
[/quote]
I read this one in 2010 or 2011. The verdict: BS
P.S. I am an early adopter of multiple technologies that make my life easier. For instance, I seem to be the only individual subscriber to SDL Trados GroupShare 2017 in Russia/CIS and possibly Eastern Europe.
[Edited at 2018-04-23 06:41 GMT]
Topic: the best and easiest CAT for the newbie
Poster: Vladimir Pochinov
Post title: To CAT, or not to CAT
[quote]Tom in London wrote:
Huh? I've been working without CATS for many years. I find they are completely dispensable.
[/quote]
Yes, I have a colleague who prefers using a goose quill and sheepskin, sending his translations to clients by mail coach. He sometimes drops me a line or two from his psychiatric ward :)
[quote]
More recently I have considered other CATS but I've decided against them because I clone my hard drive every day and, as I understand it, cloning would invalidate my licence.
[/quote]
You are absolutely wrong in your understanding. I use CrashPlan Pro for continuous backup of my hard drive, and it does not affect any software licenses.
[quote]
Anyway life's too short, I'm too busy, and all CATs require a learning curve.
[/quote]
Exactly, CAT tools save you hours of work. You can use these additional hours for leisure, pleasure, or to earn more money.
[quote]
So I beg to disagree; I'm a busy successful translator perfectly happy to work without a CAT (except of the furry kind).
[/quote]
You might be a much wealthier busy successful translator with a CAT of your choice (and, perhaps, one or two of the furry kind running around you). The busiest translators are those unsuccessful and rather unhappy colleagues who agree to work for $0.01-0.02 per source word. On the other hand, over the last few years, I taught several of my colleagues to use SDL Trados Studio. All of them are busy successful translators with a CAT (and, perhaps, one or two of the furry kind running around them) perfectly happy to work with SDL Trados Studio 2014/2015/2017. Each reports a dramatic increase in his or her daily and monthly throughputs.
[quote]
CATs seem to be about one thing and one thing only: saving time by identifying repetitions, thereby enabling the outsourcer to charge less, and to demand a copy of the TM you've used, which enables the outsourcer to charge still less...and less... and less...and of course if you refuse to hand over the TM, the outsourcer will never give you any more work.
[/quote]
I have been offering Trados fuzzy matches and providing project TMXs upon request since 2003 (Trados 6.5 at that point). My rates doubled and tripled over that period, yet some of my existing clients date back to mid-2000s.
[quote]
Maybe if I ever have time to spare and no urgent work coming in with next-day delivery deadlines, I'll take time out to explore some more CATS.
[/quote]
Very sound idea.
[quote]
Here's the best comment about CATS that I've ever seen:
[url removed]
[/quote]
I read this one in 2010 or 2011. The verdict: BS
P.S. I am an early adopter of multiple technologies that make my life easier. For instance, I seem to be the only individual subscriber to SDL Trados GroupShare 2017 in Russia/CIS and possibly Eastern Europe.
[Edited at 2018-04-23 06:41 GMT]