COMPUTER-ASSISTED/AIDED TRANSLATION TOOLS(CAT) { } ...
CAT TOOLS BACKGROUND ● Computer-assisted translation tools, often abbreviated as CAT tools, have been around in some form or another since the 1950s. ● In the past couple of decades, CAT software has seen great development and had a substantial impact on how humans do translation. ● It started as stand-alone software that could only be used on a single computer. ● Later, it was then found use as a client-server tool on company networks. ● Today’s CAT tools are mostly cloud-based and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime, via a web browser.
Table of contents Slides 4 - 5 Slides 6 - 7 Slides 8 - 10 01 02 03 What is computer-assisted translation (CAT)? What are CAT tools? What does a CAT tool do?
Table of contents Slides 4 - 5 Slides 6 - 7 Slides 8 - 10 04 05 06 CAT Tools Workflow Advantages of CAT Tools Disadvantages of CAT Tools 07 SMARTCAT Benefits to Industry Slides 8 - 10
What is computerassisted translation? 01 { } .. ..
Computer-assisted translation is… Computer-assisted translation is the process of using software to help a human translator transfer the meaning of written text from one language to another. *
What are CAT tools? 02 { } .. ..
CAT tools are… • software applications that support human translators in the translation of text from one language to another. • used for submitting, editing, managing, and storing translations. • used by many companies doing business across geographies and cultures as part of their global strategy to automate their translation projects end to end. *
What does a CAT tool do? 03 { } .. ..
• CAT tools are designed to automate translation-related tasks. • The translator can input text into the CAT software in the source language and use the interface to divide it into segments — a phrase, sentence, or paragraph. *
Meanwhile, the software saves each source segment and its corresponding translation as an entry in a database called translation memory. The more content you translate, the more translation matches the software will be able to reuse. This kind of automation significantly speeds up the translation process and ensures consistency with past translations. *
CAT Tools Workflow 04 { } .. ..
Here are 7 steps in CAT tools workflow 1.The translator opens the source text in a CAT program. 2.The CAT tool extracts the content that can be translated (source content with images or other non-text elements won’t appear translatable in the user interface). 3.The CAT tool splits the text into translation units—normally phrases, sentences, or paragraphs. These units are also known as segments. 4.The CAT tool displays the source text field and the translation field side by side, one segment after another. { .. *
5. The translator types translations into the still-empty target segments until the translation job is complete. 6. Once a translation segment has been completed, the CAT tool saves the source text and its translation together as a pair in a translation memory. The translator can return to this pair at any time to make changes, and the translation memory will update accordingly. 7. The CAT tool will recognize identical or similar source-text segments and auto-fill the corresponding translations in the target column, drawing from the translation memory. { .. *
Advantages of CAT Tools 05 { } .. ..
• translate multiple texts with the same consistent results every time • Your CAT tool will also get smarter the more you use it, as its translation memories—or database of previously used translation units—will keep on expanding, i.e., there will be fewer words that you will have to translate individually. • you no longer have to copy and paste your translations into a template • generate a clean copy of your original file in the source language Advantages Consistent Productive
• compatible with exchange files from other CAT tools. • can configure customized access rights so that certain users have write permissions while others have read-only access. • accessible across devices—on the web, desktop, and mobile—so you can use them on your preferred device, in the office, in your cloud, and while on the move. • If you frequently have to produce texts using technical, financial, or industry-specific jargon, then you know just how important tone and terminology are. • By referencing internal or external language databases integrated into a CAT tool, you can pick up these nuances (subtle differences in meaning between words, phrases or ideas) more easily and translate texts more quickly. Advantages Flexible Quality
Disadvantages of CAT Tools 06 { } .. ..
Disadvantages • Problems in terms of context and cultural components that need artistic creativity. • The number of different and deeper meanings behind each phrase or word – sometimes several at the same time – mean a translator needs to be allowed some creativity in order to match it. A computer isn’t yet capable of doing this. major fault with most CAT tools. A machine cannot yet be programmed to fully understand the context of how a certain word or phrase is being used. Even strings of text which have been matched in a Translation Memory (the database) need to be checked by a human translator to ensure contextual accuracy. 1) Contextual Errors 2) Struggles with literary { text } *
Disadvantages • Entrusting sensitive corporate or personal information to a Web-based tool is a risky proposition. • Web-based Computer Assisted Translation tools need special scrutiny to ensure information security is not compromised. • proper and effective localisation is a critical part of any translation project. • Will the target audience understand direct translations of the content’s metaphors, colloquialisms, or idioms? • These are the sort of obvious translation errors which a human would avoid. 3) Localisation 4) Security { } *
SMARTCAT BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY 07 { } .. ..
SMARTCAT is … ● a translation management system as well as a marketplace that brings together translators and clients. ● a cloud-based translation and localization platform that connects businesses, translators, and translation agencies in a single “Connected Translation” delivery loop. ● an “all-in-one” translation platform, combining CAT, TMS, and other translation technologies. ● completely free for freelance translators *
SMARTCAT BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY • SmartCAT makes a translator’s life easier by leveraging the concept of translation memories. • All sentences are saved and matched with new translation projects, so there’s no need to translate similar phrases over and over again. • In addition to that, a glossary can be created to make sure that the key terms are translated in a consistent way. *“Combined, these [and other] translation automation technologies increase speed by 70 percent and reduce costs by up to 50 percent, as estimated by the company’s internal research,” Jean-Luc Saillard, SmartCAT COO told TNW.