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Starter CAT and TM software for a beginner ?
Thread poster: Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Spanish to English
Jan 28, 2014

Hi there.

I would like to know what CAT and TM software you would recommend for a beginner translator or Freelancer.

please let me know your thoughts.
regards
 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
A couple of questions first. Jan 28, 2014

Hi Luke,

A couple of questions first.

1. How computer literate are you?
2. What OS are you on? Windows? OS X? Linux?
3. Do you have any experience at all with CAT tools?
4. How are you currently translating? In Word?
5. What types of texts do you generally do?
6. What's your budget?

Michael

PS: My own biased recommendation would be CafeTran. It's only €80, and the best CAT tool currently on the market (I also o... See more
Hi Luke,

A couple of questions first.

1. How computer literate are you?
2. What OS are you on? Windows? OS X? Linux?
3. Do you have any experience at all with CAT tools?
4. How are you currently translating? In Word?
5. What types of texts do you generally do?
6. What's your budget?

Michael

PS: My own biased recommendation would be CafeTran. It's only €80, and the best CAT tool currently on the market (I also own a memoQ 2013 licence, and have used 'the old Trados'). However, I'm a volunteer on the cafetranhelp.com website, and a bit of a fan, so I can't be trusted;). ▲ Collapse
 
Jorge Payan
Jorge Payan  Identity Verified
Colombia
Local time: 18:41
Member (2002)
German to Spanish
+ ...
Try WordFast Anywhere Jan 28, 2014

This is the tool I teach at entry-level at the college. Why?


  1. It handles the most common formats, including PDF
  2. It does not need to be installed in the PC, as it uses Web interface (independent from any OS)
  3. It is free


You ca... See more
This is the tool I teach at entry-level at the college. Why?


  1. It handles the most common formats, including PDF
  2. It does not need to be installed in the PC, as it uses Web interface (independent from any OS)
  3. It is free


You can find it here: http://www.wordfast.com/products_wordfast_anywhere.html

CafeTran is also a good choice. ▲ Collapse
 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Starter CAT and TM software for a beginner ? Jan 29, 2014

Michael Beijer wrote:

Hi Luke,

A couple of questions first.

1. How computer literate are you?
2. What OS are you on? Windows? OS X? Linux?
3. Do you have any experience at all with CAT tools?
4. How are you currently translating? In Word?
5. What types of texts do you generally do?
6. What's your budget?

Michael

PS: My own biased recommendation would be CafeTran. It's only €80, and the best CAT tool currently on the market (I also own a memoQ 2013 licence, and have used 'the old Trados'). However, I'm a volunteer on the cafetranhelp.com website, and a bit of a fan, so I can't be trusted;).



Answers to your questions:
1: I am computer literate
2: I use both windows & Linux
3: No- I dont have any experience with CAT tools- hence the title of topic.
4: dictionaries and glossaries.
5: word
5: Free, as I have not started studying Translation yet, but am about to finalize my DPSI interpreting exam

regards
 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Starter CAT and TM software for a beginner ? Jan 29, 2014

Jorge Payan wrote:

This is the tool I teach at entry-level at the college. Why?


  1. It handles the most common formats, including PDF
  2. It does not need to be installed in the PC, as it uses Web interface (independent from any OS)
  3. It is free


You can find it here: http://www.wordfast.com/products_wordfast_anywhere.html

CafeTran is also a good choice.







Thanks Jorge.
I am about to buy a second hand Asus laptop as my Acer has broken and want to practice with these tools and get familiar with them for when I start learning Translation as I am about to finish my DPSI exam.
 
Piotr Bienkowski
Piotr Bienkowski  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 01:41
English to Polish
+ ...
WFA is fine but... Jan 29, 2014

it relies heavily on a live internet connection. What if you are on the move and you connection keeps breaking?

OmegaT (www.omegat.org) is free, so zero up-front investment, and can work both on- and offline.

If you get a PDF, you need to use an OCR software. There are free alternatives to the commercial ones, too.

Piotr

Jorge Payan wrote:

This is the tool I teach at entry-level at the college. Why?


  1. It handles the most common formats, including PDF
  2. It does not need to be installed in the PC, as it uses Web interface (independent from any OS)
  3. It is free


You can find it here: http://www.wordfast.com/products_wordfast_anywhere.html

CafeTran is also a good choice.
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 01:41
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Sounds like OmegaT for you... Jan 29, 2014

luke mersh wrote:
Michael Beijer wrote:
1. How computer literate are you?
2. What OS are you on? Windows? OS X? Linux?
3. Do you have any experience at all with CAT tools?
4. How are you currently translating? In Word?
5. What types of texts do you generally do?
6. What's your budget?


1: I am computer literate
2: I use both Windows & Linux
3: No - I dont have any experience with CAT tools - hence the title of topic.
4: Dictionaries and glossaries.
5: Word
5: Free, as I have not started studying translation yet...


Based on this information, it sounds like OmegaT would be for you. It is free and it supports DOCX files. Two links for you:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/omegat/files/OmegaT%20-%20Latest/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/omegat/info

Wow, I just realised that OmegaT is an 86 MB download (that's without the JRE)!
 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Starter CAT and TM software for a beginner ? Jan 29, 2014

Samuel Murray wrote:

luke mersh wrote:
Michael Beijer wrote:
1. How computer literate are you?
2. What OS are you on? Windows? OS X? Linux?
3. Do you have any experience at all with CAT tools?
4. How are you currently translating? In Word?
5. What types of texts do you generally do?
6. What's your budget?


1: I am computer literate
2: I use both Windows & Linux
3: No - I dont have any experience with CAT tools - hence the title of topic.
4: Dictionaries and glossaries.
5: Word
5: Free, as I have not started studying translation yet...


Based on this information, it sounds like OmegaT would be for you. It is free and it supports DOCX files. Two links for you:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/omegat/files/OmegaT%20-%20Latest/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/omegat/info

Wow, I just realised that OmegaT is an 86 MB download (that's without the JRE)!


does it also run on windows?
how do you guys rate this program.
I see that the norm is Trados(will have to wait till i start my course and save to buy that)
 
Piotr Bienkowski
Piotr Bienkowski  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 01:41
English to Polish
+ ...
OmegaT runs on Windows and other OSes that can run Java Jan 29, 2014

Maybe it is not eyecandy but it does its job. You can easily translate "Trados" SDLXLIFF and TTX files with it.

It's got many conversion filters for source formats and the possibilities are further extended if you use Okapi Rainbow to create an OmegaT project.

Piotr
 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:41
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Starter CAT and TM software for a beginner ? Jan 29, 2014

Piotr Bienkowski wrote:

Maybe it is not eyecandy but it does its job. You can easily translate "Trados" SDLXLIFF and TTX files with it.

It's got many conversion filters for source formats and the possibilities are further extended if you use Okapi Rainbow to create an OmegaT project.

Piotr


Thank you.
will try and learn how to use it.
 
Dominique Pivard
Dominique Pivard  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:41
Finnish to French
Five inexpensive CAT tools Jan 29, 2014

luke mersh wrote:
I would like to know what CAT and TM software you would recommend for a beginner translator or Freelancer.

Since I know you are on a budget, you may want to have a look at the introductory videos on five free or inexpensive CAT tools I made about one year ago:

OmegaT -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=607
MemSource -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=616
Wordfast Anywhere -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=630
CafeTran -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=637
MetaTexis -> http://wordfast.fi/blog/?p=643

There is one "free" tool you want to avoid: Across. I also made a couple of videos about it:

http://wordfast.fi/blog/cat-tools/2012/12/25/commented-installation-of-across-personal-edition-5-5/
http://wordfast.fi/blog/cat-tools/2012/12/26/first-steps-with-across-personal-edition/
 


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