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Having acquired the foundational features of the Smartcat tool, I intend to focus on advancing my professional development through two primary objectives: enhancing my personal brand within the platform and exploring the range of job opportunities available.

Firstly, I will prioritize building a professional profile on Smartcat to establish a credible personal brand. This involves presenting my skills, language pairs, and areas of specialization in a manner that appeals to potential clients and employers, while leveraging Smartcat’s marketplace features to connect with relevant job opportunities.

Secondly, I aim to advance my proficiency in terminology management. This includes developing and managing comprehensive terminology databases by utilizing tools for term extraction from source texts and ensuring alignment with linguistic and contextual requirements. A particular emphasis will be placed on maintaining consistency and accuracy within terminology specific to my working languages and fields of specialization.

Furthermore, I plan to dive into Smartcat’s Quality Assurance (QA) tools with the objective of mastering their customization features. This entails configuring QA settings to effectively detect language-specific errors, particularly in English and Spanish, while addressing common translation challenges such as syntax, grammar, and cultural nuances.

I seek to enhance both my technical capabilities within the Smartcat environment and my professional visibility, thereby positioning myself for greater career opportunities and professional growth in the translation and localization industry.

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References above tutorial videos and reviewed websites:

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References above tutorial videos and reviewed websites:

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Pietrzak, P., & Kornacki, M. (2020). Using CAT Tools in Freelance Translation: Insights from a Case Study (1. wyd.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003125761

Tulis, M., Steuer, G., & Dresel, M. (2016). Learning from errors: A model of individual processes. Frontline Learning Research, 4(4), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v4i2.168

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After familiarizing myself with Smartcat, I initially held low expectations regarding its potential to serve as a viable alternative to professional CAT tools. However, I was pleasantly surprised by its functionality, which is not only user-friendly but also intuitive, without being overly complex. One feature that particularly impressed me was the alert system displayed after confirming a segment. While some users might find these alerts intrusive, for someone like me who has ADHD, they proved invaluable for tasks such as spell-checking and identifying omissions within segments.

In fact, I found using Smartcat to be more enjoyable than working with tools like Trados. Additionally, the platform is free of charge unless users wish to access higher-quality machine translation services. Even the experimental, free machine translation proved to be a useful aid in certain cases.

Through my exploration, I learned how to create projects, add reviewers, and assemble a team for collaborative work. The platform also allows for the inclusion of supplementary documentation, such as translation instructions, which I found particularly beneficial as it centralizes all project-related materials. Furthermore, I discovered how to merge segments, create translation memories (TMs), and build glossaries. The final project can be downloaded in various file formats, offering flexibility.

The use of tabs within Smartcat is also noteworthy, as they are designed to organize the document and streamline the formatting of translations effectively.

Overall, I have successfully acquired the skills to utilize this CAT tool and appreciate its utility as an alternative to other professional translation tools.

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Understand the Basics

Familiarize yourself with the user interface, including the dashboard, menus, and navigation tools.

Learn how to create, edit, and manage translation projects.

Explore Core Functionalities

Understand the process of uploading source files and handling different file formats.

Learn how to use the translation memory (TM) and glossary features to improve consistency and efficiency.

Practice using machine translation (MT) and integrating it into workflows.

Master Collaboration and Workflow

Explore how to invite collaborators, assign roles, and manage permissions within a project.

Understand the features for real-time collaboration and progress tracking.

Leverage Advanced Features

Explore additional tools, such as quality assurance (QA) checks and error tracking.

Learn how to analyze project statistics and generate detailed reports.

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The features and functionalities of the Smartcat Tool have convinced me to explore its potential further and evaluate how it performs in comparison to other CAT tools. To familiarize myself with its interface and capabilities, I sought out online tutorials. Prior to this, I reviewed its general display and found the layout to be intuitive, making it relatively straightforward to start a project and navigate its features. However, I wanted to ensure that I did not overlook any valuable functionalities due to a lack of prior knowledge. Below, I have compiled a selection of tutorials that I found particularly helpful and used them as a reference in my learning journey:

How to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ouuKTDQIJQ

SmartCat blog with answers to basic question:

https://www.smartcat.com/

SmartCat Introduction:

https://youtu.be/_ouuKTDQIJQ?si=vwnkC3p8hqvLw3lH

Demos:

https://youtu.be/abgKoi9Ggn4?si=4iTDUuBeECO3HVTu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiF7ndESw6Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32bHKwt1Xao

AI translation:

https://youtu.be/_wTtT3Y96ug?si=2B4eJjTXUjwuHmox

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Step by step introduction to SmartCat || MD Academy

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I explored the internet searching for solutions and the tool in the opposition to the ones which I have learnt on the course. There were many options provided yet one of it has caught my eye: The SmartCat tool (CAT tool – unlimited translation software)

Reference:

3 CAT Tools to train for free as a newbie translator

I decided to check the reviews, the same way I have checked the Trados. I have made some key observations summing up the reviews from Capterra:

The platform operates without the need for a paid license, making it a cost-effective solution.

It offers a user-friendly interface, particularly when compared to alternatives such as MemoQ and Trados, which are more complex. Despite its simplicity, the platform retains robust functionality without unnecessary complications.

It includes advanced features for client search and management, enhancing usability for professional purposes.

As an online platform, it allows users to work from any computer with an internet connection. Logging in is sufficient, eliminating the need for software installation.

Retrieved from: https://www.capterra.com/p/155255/smartCAT/reviews/

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Due to lack of the interest explained in previous paragraph, the author has started the journey to explore cheaper versions of CAT tools and look for recommendations of such. None can deny that the Cat tools themselves are proven to be a good way of improving the speed of translation and increase productivity (Michela, 2020; Bego, 2016).

In the book written by Pietrzak and Kornacki, they provided an overview of the latest developments in translation technology, the dynamics of interaction with it and shared the insights from the study conducted with translators in Poland, highlighting factors affecting the use of CAT tools. Moreover, what I found intriguing was the chapter about current users of CAT tools and non-users, where the authors of the book have highlighted why freelance translators choose to use CAT tools. The main reason pointed out was increased efficiency and quality due to easier maintenance of consistency in terminology and style. On the other hand, authors showed the reasons of avoiding CAT tools such as cost, technological anxiety or lack of knowledge. At the end of the book Pietrzak and Kornacki indicated the possible improvements which could be introduced in trainings regarding the CAT tools.

The book inspired me to search for additional tool which would be easier to use and wouldn’t demand additional fares for the basic features and usage. (Pietrzak & Kornacki, 2020, s. 38–43).

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The questioning of the effectiveness and usefulness, especially after acknowledging that the tool, even though often used by corporations, for student at the beginning of their ladder carrier seemed too much and has led to few interesting remarks.

First, Trados Studio is itself an expensive tool to use even for professionals. According to users’ review found on Capterra website as well as on Reddit, it is indeed practical, quite reliable without including the bugs and errors in the system has. Yet as many commented, the unnecessary complexity and investment in renewing the license, paying additional fees makes it less or rather no user friendly. It seems to be overpriced. The disadvantages found have influenced on decision to leave it behind and search for more affordable solutions for a student’s pocket. No need was seen in further development skills regarding the software. In the event of translation agency providing it, this decision will be reconsidered and the basic knowledge gained on the academic course refreshed, updated and developed. Moreover, not that much of technical translation as such would like to be explored by author (Capterra 2024. Reddit).

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The idea of bookmarks was abolished. The author has begun to question if any other functionalities of Trados Studio would be as necessary to learn as some descriptions have suggested.

I decided to attend the webinar organized by Trados team: Strategizing large documents, although itself it was broadening the perspective it made me realized that probably I am not a target for this type of Cat tool.

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Learning from mistakes is approached by many with a certain dose of skepticism. Being called a specific learning phenomenon is above all viewed as a failure. Nevertheless, as currents studies have shown, the potential seen in the error making was found efficient along with support of metacognitive processes. In the case of the author, construct criticism made by the professor has helped to spot errors and react accordingly. Feedback was taken into consideration, causing increase of motivation and the learning behavior being introduced. In the following paragraphs the authors described the information seeking procedure and its effect (Tulis i in., 2016, s. 14–20).