https://www.proz.com/forum/translator_resources/215267-best_cat_tool_for_a_beginner.html

Off topic: Best CAT tool for a beginner?
Автор темы: Firas Allouzi
Firas Allouzi
Firas Allouzi  Identity Verified
Великобритания
Local time: 02:01
английский => арабский
+ ...
Jan 3, 2012

Hi All,

I am fairly new to all tools would you advice me please what is the best and easiest for a beginner, and at the same time do the job and preferable for clients.

Thank you


 
John Di Rico
John Di Rico  Identity Verified
Франция
Local time: 03:01
Член ProZ.com c 2006
французский => английский
Wordfast Anywhere Jan 3, 2012

Hello Firas,

I would recommend trying Wordfast Anyhwhere (www.freetm.com). It is free and there are a lot of online training videos and good user support from the development team (see user forums).

Good luck!

John Di Rico
www.apextra.net


 
JLLTranslation
JLLTranslation
Великобритания
Local time: 02:01
французский => английский
+ ...
probably SDL Studio Jan 4, 2012

Hi,
if you're wanting to work for clients, your best bet is SDL Studio, giving you Trados and SDLX compatibility. If you want to work for SDL, this is what you'll need and it will probably enable you to reach the greatest range of other potential clients. But some clients e.g. Lionbridge, have their own tool. So it depends on your client base as well. You need to decide which clients you plan to target for work. If you're going to target smaller clients, ask which tool they would want you
... See more
Hi,
if you're wanting to work for clients, your best bet is SDL Studio, giving you Trados and SDLX compatibility. If you want to work for SDL, this is what you'll need and it will probably enable you to reach the greatest range of other potential clients. But some clients e.g. Lionbridge, have their own tool. So it depends on your client base as well. You need to decide which clients you plan to target for work. If you're going to target smaller clients, ask which tool they would want you to have.
Hope this helps.
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esperantisto
esperantisto  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:01
Член ProZ.com c 2006
английский => русский
+ ...
ЛОКАЛИЗАТОР САЙТА
Mutually exclusive Jan 5, 2012

Firas Allouzi wrote:

best and easiest for a beginner, and at the same time do the job and preferable for clients.


Your requirements are mutually exclusive if your prospective clients are translation agencies because they use mainly such tools as SDL Trados Studio or DejaVu X, definitely not the easiest ones. Thus, if you’re going to work for such clients, learn their program, don’t waste time for any other.

I use OmegaT for most of my jobs and do recommend trying out. It is a really easy and robust program.


 
wilhelm_zwo (X)
wilhelm_zwo (X)
Нидерланды
Local time: 03:01
немецкий => голландский
My advice: CafeTran Aug 15, 2013

Firas Allouzi wrote:

Hi All,

I am fairly new to all tools would you advice me please what is the best and easiest for a beginner, and at the same time do the job and preferable for clients.

Thank you


I'd advise CafeTran: easy to learn and not expensive. You can handle many formats.


 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Украина
английский => русский
+ ...
Yyves may be sad again Aug 16, 2013

yet I can't help recommending rather old, but tiny and free WordFast 3.35x (MS Office add-on), which works like a charm and does mostly everything a decent translator may require, unless it's about MACOS or *nix platform. Being under 2 MB (!) it's quite easy and forward-going ever.

It works with so ancient MS Office'97 to quite modern Office'2003, however it may have some minor problems with newer 'stripped' versions.

Furthermore, having some extra money and choice, Gr
... See more
yet I can't help recommending rather old, but tiny and free WordFast 3.35x (MS Office add-on), which works like a charm and does mostly everything a decent translator may require, unless it's about MACOS or *nix platform. Being under 2 MB (!) it's quite easy and forward-going ever.

It works with so ancient MS Office'97 to quite modern Office'2003, however it may have some minor problems with newer 'stripped' versions.

Furthermore, having some extra money and choice, GroupBuy is a very nice option.
(Perhaps it really depends on your platform too.)

IMO
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Tony M
Tony M
Франция
Local time: 03:01
Член ProZ.com
французский => английский
+ ...
ЛОКАЛИЗАТОР САЙТА
Wordfast Classic Aug 18, 2013

Assuming you are working with MS Word, then I personally am a great fan of WFC.

When I first started looking at CAT tools (ages ago now!), I tried a few of the 'classic' ones, but they were so impenetrable and counter-intuitive, it felt like you needed to be a computer programmer to use them, and I soon gave them up as a waste of time; I was not prepared to invest the time taken to overcome the steep learning curve in addition to the already steep price. They in fact put me off the
... See more
Assuming you are working with MS Word, then I personally am a great fan of WFC.

When I first started looking at CAT tools (ages ago now!), I tried a few of the 'classic' ones, but they were so impenetrable and counter-intuitive, it felt like you needed to be a computer programmer to use them, and I soon gave them up as a waste of time; I was not prepared to invest the time taken to overcome the steep learning curve in addition to the already steep price. They in fact put me off the idea of using CAT at all for a long, long time.

Then I came across Wordfast ('Classic' now, but the only one back then) — to start with, I liked the whole approach, the sales policy, and the very fair approach to the trial version.

I found it intuitive to use, it did not require me to totally rethink my workflow, and I was up and running (well, crawling) in a very short time; this is partly due to the very well-written manual, which being in .doc format is readily searchable. Also, Yves has taken the trouble to explain much of the jargon used — which I find is the biggest onstacle along the learning curve: if you don't know what something is called, you can't even start looking for help, and vice-versa, if you encounter something with an unfamiliar name, it's not always obvious what it's for (or indeed, whether I even need it or not).

No doubt the other CAT tools have evolved since those early days, but I have not felt the need to go back to them again, since Wordfast meets all my current CAT needs, in an intuitive way that is close to my normal workflow pattern.
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Best CAT tool for a beginner?


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