| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | Is it really so necessary to have Trados? Thread poster: Alex Dall'Asta
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Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
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| Why would you deal with 100+ agencies? | Dec 6, 2021 |
Kind of sounds like you might be a "translator of last resort" if you need 100+ different middlemen.
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. wrote:
> All translators do these things all the time.
Unfortunately, I am not a partner for that ping-pong. I do not have such a great 'I know all' view.
I only know just a few dozens of translators in person, a few hundred from online or phone contacts, and over a hundred real-life physical agencies. Well, we must be the ones of that worse under-educated and under-skilled sort.
The question arises, though... if everyone here is so perfect, why hundreds of pages of this forum? Is it not redunant, unnecessary or blatantly useless?
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Adieu wrote:
Kind of sounds like you might be a "translator of last resort" if you need 100+ different middlemen.
To be fair, I’ve worked for more than 80 agencies over the years. The occasional one-off jobs do accumulate over time.
I’m not entirely sure why everyone is laying into Mr Multiverse. Aren’t his posts just a manifesto for proper human translation relying on skill like we all claim to provide?
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 22:28
English to Romanian
| Trados Studio | Dec 6, 2021 |
I've been rejected as a candidate because I don't have or use Trados Studio. Studio is a must, they say.
| | | | Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 21:28
Polish to English
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| more inspiration | Dec 6, 2021 |
To: expressiverbis
> Slightly provocative?
"Provocative" as to elicit a deeper response, not in the offending flavour. I do like and appreciate it. Thank you.
==
The topic of this thread is even more provocative. One could reply with 'yes' or 'no'. Or 'it depends'. Utterly useless.
I chose to add more information, insight, and relativity to the matter. Sort of "I care". Hop... See more To: expressiverbis
> Slightly provocative?
"Provocative" as to elicit a deeper response, not in the offending flavour. I do like and appreciate it. Thank you.
==
The topic of this thread is even more provocative. One could reply with 'yes' or 'no'. Or 'it depends'. Utterly useless.
I chose to add more information, insight, and relativity to the matter. Sort of "I care". Hopefully, it is of some use to those who ask this question driven by their real need to have some hints.
Tools are just tools. Expensive or complex ones may add that special "oh, I am in that tribe too" feeling or may come in handy and useful (if the user devotes time and effort to master them). The other extreme is represented by translators (us) who bought (into) these advanced software packages without first calculating cost to benefit.
In hindsight, translation (for business purposes) is a game of time and cost. Both these factors are on the 'Debit' side.
Time is both time actually spent on the document + backstage (learning, customising, setting up, communication, hardware maintenance, etc.).
Cost includes misunderstandings over the client-translator line, non-ergonomic communication, complaint handling, just everything that needs reworking or touching up after it seemed to have been 'closed and forgotten'.
If a translator has the comfort of a niche client with sky-high rates per page, these matters may fade away. But, I guess, most of us work wholesale, at least partly. Time is of essence for us in this context.
I started with WF Classic in its initial version. It has some nice things, and it does not have some features that the big ones offer. When CAT file formats came to the market, I bought Wordfast Pro, and I did not like it at all. Its newer versions are more friendly, though. Then came Deja Vu. It still is my number one with its tidy interface (and useless manual).
Then I took advantage of a nice discount and bought Trados, solely because of low price. I was and still am amazed how much stuff one can pack into an innocent screen. It certainly is a pro tool, which I like. So I wanted to explore its capacity and browsed through all configuration and settings windows. All of them. I stopped counting after 200. I imagine 99% of translators will never need 99% of what Trados really can do.
From this perspective (ease of use, error-free functioning, short startup time, short retooling time, etc.) I see tradoses as extreme exaggeration of form over functionality - for most of us and for most of tasks in day-to-day translation services.
Some facts about my favourite:
Wordfast Classic (WFC): 1.62 MB installer, ca. 5 MB when installed.
You will successfully use it after 2 (TWO) minutes from the installation.
Cold startup: 0 s (it is already active in Word)
Setting up a translation template: 2-3 minutes (when you know the very very simple interface).
Adding a new glossary term: 0.2 s (try it with tradoses)
TMs and glossaries are standard text files, easily modifiable.
You can install, remove, reinstall, move, reinstall again, without any complex 'registration' hurdles.
Simplified, a CAT tool is just an interface to trigger some operations on the text.
You (any translator) still need knowledge and resources to deliver a good translation. And you still need to develop your own maintenance routines to prevent bad surprises.
Hope the above is of use to all of us. ▲ Collapse
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Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 21:28
Polish to English
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To: Adieu
> Why would you deal with 100+ agencies?
For reasons of time complexities Over 35 years of work in the field. And I only mean real agencies, with physical offices, and with real people.
> Kind of sounds like you might be a "translator of last resort"
Exactly. Processing all file formats, pre-processing files for other translators and other language pairs, unlimited consultat... See more To: Adieu
> Why would you deal with 100+ agencies?
For reasons of time complexities Over 35 years of work in the field. And I only mean real agencies, with physical offices, and with real people.
> Kind of sounds like you might be a "translator of last resort"
Exactly. Processing all file formats, pre-processing files for other translators and other language pairs, unlimited consultation for the agency and their clients, overnight work for high-end companies (sources sent at 5 pm, translation expected at 8 am in the morning), routine weekend helpline, ultrashort delivery time, and other services not so many translators can or want to offer... Agencies really need translators of (their) last resort.
> if you need 100+ different middlemen.
Simple accounting and settlements (one invoice in place of 30), no fuss about regular payments, and streamlined communication are only some of more obvious advantages of working for middlemen.
Again: real persons, real businesses. Unlike those Galactic Translation Services who have '25,000 translators working for us' ▲ Collapse
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 20:28
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Sorana_M. wrote:
I've been rejected as a candidate because I don't have or use Trados Studio. Studio is a must, they say.
No, Trados is not a must.
You can work with another tool (memoQ, Memsource, MateCat, Wordfast, Heartsome, Logiterm - just to name a few) as long as you export your translation in Trados Studio format (sdlxlif) to your client(s).
It's a shame when clients reject translators in the context of an application or a translation project, because they only work with their specific CAT tool which often proves to be extremely limited.
[Edited at 2021-12-07 00:27 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ice Scream wrote:
No need to be rude, Tom.
It's extremely rude to accuse someone else of being rude; and for future reference, I intend to be what you call "rude" as and when necessary. Deal with it.
[Edited at 2021-12-07 09:23 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| I do it the other way | Dec 7, 2021 |
Sorana_M. wrote:
I've been rejected as a candidate because I don't have or use Trados Studio. Studio is a must, they say.
I do it the other way: I reject agencies that require me to use Trados or any other CAT tool.
As it happens I do use a CAT tool, but that's my business.
How I do my translations is irrelevant to the end user.
I have a plumber coming today to repair a leak. I have not specified to him what tools I expect him to use.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Adieu wrote:
Kind of sounds like you might be a "translator of last resort" if you need 100+ different middlemen.
Every agency has its own invoicing requirements, payment terms, and individual quirks. I would find it impossible to work with 100+ agencies; the time wasted on admin would be a nightmare.
| | | | | A Tool Is As Good As the Person Who Wields It | Dec 7, 2021 |
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. wrote:
Trados-like software will strip you of the learning-while-working advantage. After a time, you will be less competent in the field, but definitely a great performer at mouse clicking.
If this is what you are after, great. Just that I have not found this part in the description of "translator" in dictionaries.
Plus...
Trados-like software has advantages, clearly. I am not interested in them, as they are obvious and they should be there.
What is more important is the problems and defects. Here you can write volumes on 'side effects' harming the translation process and (more importantly) the translator-client relationship.
All in all, CAT tools should help in translation, not replace the translator.
If you rely on tradoses, you will be expendable sooner or later. One, because you have happily given out all you skills and work for FREE, and two, because you will spiral down into dumbness. Long-term, you will master multiple choice traps, losing sensitivity to language(s), awareness of pseudo-synonym intricacies, and never even coming to the fence of active learning the subject matter of your (or trados'?) work.
('You' meaning any one of all of us, translators.)
Your shallow point of view is very entertaining really, for a faceless and nameless poster.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. wrote:
.....
...it's your English.
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 21:28
Member (2016)
English to German
| ...another other way | Dec 7, 2021 |
Sorana_M. wrote:
I've been rejected as a candidate because I don't have or use Trados Studio. Studio is a must, they say.
I usually reject job offers if I cannot do them in the specific tool of my choice, which in my case is memoQ -- I have a lot of gripes with it, and I wish it had certain functionalities that it does not have, but I have my workflow (shortcuts, macros, views, color codes, etc.) optimised for it. I made it necessary for myself, so to speak.
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Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 21:28
Polish to English
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
...it's your English.
Coming from your heart, with all human feelings and respect for another, that kind of appreciation is a rare thing nowadays.
For a self-taught Czech, such words have even greater value.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. wrote: Tom in London wrote:
...it's your English. Coming from your heart, with all human feelings and respect for another, that kind of appreciation is a rare thing nowadays. For a self-taught Czech, such words have even greater value.
Your profile says you translate into English. Really?
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Hi everybody
In my opinion trados is a great CAT tools but not necessary because there are many other CAT tools that can be use.
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Is it really so necessary to have Trados? | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
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