| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Is it practical to use two CAT Tools or more? Thread poster: Tzviya Levin Rifkind
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| well, my situation is | Nov 5, 2012 |
that I have many repetitions. I am a medical translator and work for many translation agencies. A large portion of my work is Clinical Trials documentation which has a lot of repetitions (not like in Heinrich's work), regardless who is the translation company or client.
I sometimes work in one tool and have to do a context search on the other tool. This is one thing I want to avoid, but I doubt if I can, in the light of the answers here.
All the TMs are mine. When I rec... See more that I have many repetitions. I am a medical translator and work for many translation agencies. A large portion of my work is Clinical Trials documentation which has a lot of repetitions (not like in Heinrich's work), regardless who is the translation company or client.
I sometimes work in one tool and have to do a context search on the other tool. This is one thing I want to avoid, but I doubt if I can, in the light of the answers here.
All the TMs are mine. When I receive a TM from a client I open a new TM on my tool for context search only, and discard it after completion of the project. The reason is that most of the TMs I receive in my language combination and domains (various medical fields) are of poor quality and full of mistakes. I usually don't use them at all.
For now, I refuse to work in an online tool which I can't download the TM from after a project is completed. TMs content is very valuable for me and I don't want to spend time more than once for a certain issue.
I am aware of the fact that if I work in an online tool the quality of my work will be compromised, and that's what I tell to the PMs who ask me to use such a tool. I don't think anybody will agree in advance to receive a lower quality job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ultimately, you are the supplier, and you decide which tools you will or will not work with. | Nov 5, 2012 |
Some years ago I told one client I simply would not work with their online tool.
It was just too nerve-wracking, and keeping to deadlines often meant working all night and compromising the quality of my work for the next client. We parted company, and I did not miss them.
Good medical translators don't hang on trees as a rule, and you should be able to find clients who do not force you to stand on your head and keep changing your routines all the time.
I only wor... See more Some years ago I told one client I simply would not work with their online tool.
It was just too nerve-wracking, and keeping to deadlines often meant working all night and compromising the quality of my work for the next client. We parted company, and I did not miss them.
Good medical translators don't hang on trees as a rule, and you should be able to find clients who do not force you to stand on your head and keep changing your routines all the time.
I only work with one CAT, which I really find is a good investment, although it does cost money every year. I have tried others, but I am not technically minded enough to be happy changing, and clients have to accept that.
Personally, I would choose one CAT or at the most two, and say that is what I work with. Clients can align texts if they want to, and I honestly think there is a limit to how far they can dictate that you must use this or that CAT. Just because we are the small suppliers at the end of the line, that does not mean we have to put up with anything.
The translation business actually depends on translators, and we should demand to have an influence on our own jobs and a say in how WE work best!
(I have just translated a piece on the working environment for a big manufacturing company. They would have the Trade Unions on their backs in a flash if the managers interfered in the way their skilled employees manage their machines...)
We need to be our own trade union and protect our own rights on the market, so good luck!
[Edited at 2012-11-05 20:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Export / import | Nov 5, 2012 |
Tzviya Levin wrote:
Hello Paola,
How do handle the issue of splitting the TMs and glossaries? Do you have any trick to combine these resources?
For the memories, it's easy: export the memory in TMX format, reimport it in the other CAT tool, use, rinse and repeat.
Same really for glossaries: export to a format that the other tool can use (ideally, TBX), and so on.
| | | | | This is an interesting point of view, Christine | Nov 5, 2012 |
It is quite obvious, but I didn't think about it this way.
Some month ago I started working with a very large translation agency which have a preferred tool, but it is not obligatory. I knew I can import the file specific to their tool to my tool of choice. Unfortunately, it is not possible to connect to the remote TM and also the new version of my tool have an export issues with these files. The other choice is to work on doc files which I can't import to my tool of choice. Working... See more It is quite obvious, but I didn't think about it this way.
Some month ago I started working with a very large translation agency which have a preferred tool, but it is not obligatory. I knew I can import the file specific to their tool to my tool of choice. Unfortunately, it is not possible to connect to the remote TM and also the new version of my tool have an export issues with these files. The other choice is to work on doc files which I can't import to my tool of choice. Working in doc is going back 5 years and giving up all the benefits of CAT tools, which I wouldn't do. I have seriously started thinking about buying their preferred tool, but continually updating TMs will be too nerve wrecking and time consuming. ▲ Collapse
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To sum up: it is not practical to use more than one CAT tool, both in terms of performance and money, it is simply a necessity for some of us.
I'm glad for those that can make their own rules!
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Tzviya Levin wrote:
The other choice is to work on doc files which I can't import to my tool of choice.
You can easily convert them, preferably to .docx. If your preferred tool can't handle .docx, I think you should start looking for another preferred tool…
Cheers,
Hans
| | | | | converting is easy for translation | Nov 6, 2012 |
but I also do a lot of proofreading, and for these files I have to work in the doc/docx file.
My tool supports docx.
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