An Essential Productivity Tool for All Translators Personal | Professional | Precise
Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools are an essential asset to any translator. They integrate many other translation technologies such as translation memories, glossaries and machine translation systems that are designed to improve productivity, consistency and translation quality.
What Are CAT Tools?
Computer-assisted translation tools, typically known as CAT tools, are software used by translators to produce translations. They break up a text into segments – usually either sentences or paragraphs – and display it in a bilingual table, with the source text on the left and a space on the right for them to enter the translation. This allows the translator to work more efficiently and helps them to keep track of their place within the document, ensuring that nothing from the source text is missed. Any non-translatable text, such as numbers and names, can also be automatically copied across from the source text into the translation, eliminating inaccuracies and human error.
Advantages of Working with CAT Tools
One of the main advantages of working with CAT tools is that they facilitate the use of translation memories. These are multilingual databases of previous translations, which CAT tools leverage by identifying segments that are exact or partial matches between the current text and the translation memory. These can then be inserted into the translation and edited if necessary to reflect the differences in the source. When the new translation is completed, this is then automatically saved to the translation memory for use in future projects, leading to increased consistency and continuously improving quality as more jobs are completed.
CAT tools also include various quality assurance features such as spelling, grammar and consistency checks, as well as customisable checks for specific requirements for an individual project, client or text type. These go far beyond the standard spellchecking features in word processing software, since they are specifically designed to be used in a bilingual environment.
Another major advantage of using CAT tools is the ability to work seamlessly with a wide range of file formats in a consistent environment and without the need to purchase licences for the native software. CAT tools can automatically extract the text for translation from many different file types, from coding and web development formats to complex multilingual spreadsheets and desktop publishing files. This allows the translator to focus on the translation without the distraction of working with software that is not designed for translation, whilst also ensuring that the layout and formatting of the original file is perfectly preserved in the translated version.
To find out more about how we can help you, speak to one of the team today by phone on +44 (0)1952 288 230 or by email to info@dixon-associates.co.uk
