My CAT Tools Portfolio by Emilia Stasiewicz

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-04-22 14:22:38 UTC

08.06.2023

I always find myself working on my computer late at night, because that's when I feel the most productive. My eyesight at the age of 24 is already in quite a bad condition so whenever I can, I try to adjust my computer settings to help my eyes tire less while I work in darkness. I usually use dark mode in all my apps and programs so I tried to make my MemoQ appearance more comfortable to work for my poor eyes.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 16:36:58 UTC

15.06.2023

There are numerous benefits that come from using CAT tools in translators' job. Even me, a student who has barely started her journey with CATs, sees how much easier they make the job and how many opportunities they open. They save you your time and for sure, your nerves sometimes. It's hard to imagine modern localisation without CAT softwares. You can translate more while spending less time doing it – it makes working so much more efficient. What is more, the program checks your errors of many kind, for instance spelling or more technical issues like formatting. Thus, it can ensure the quality of translation by reducing the risks of mistakes resulting from human fallibility. It is extremely important to have a CAT tool as your "computer-revisor," especially in fields such as medical or technical translation where someone's life might be threatened if you make a mistake.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 16:49:26 UTC

30.04.2023

We started out CAT tools journey with a one quite "vintage" – OmegaT. Using this non-commercial open-source software, we learnt the basic functions that all CATs have, we got familiar with program's desktop, useful keyboard shortcuts, process of working on the projects etc. – basically, all we need to know to be able to then go to more advanced CAT programs. Along with these, I learnt some handy "tricks" on how to use the computer more efficiently and new terminology, such as text alignment or master/working memory.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 16:58:25 UTC

25.05.2023

Having the opportunity to work on this project was truly amazing to me. I found it so satisfying and I think I might have discovered my interest in medical translation, which is kind of a mixture of what I want to do in the future – to be a translator and my childhood dream of being a doctor.

During this project, Cochrane gave us access to professional accouts on Phrase (Memsource Cloud), a translation management system, working on which I found very pleasant, I really enojyed it. It really made the translation process easier and faster. We also had access to Cochrane's termbase and translation memory, which was very valuable.
Apart from having been sent 4 medical texts to translate, I was also assigned to be a revisor. During this project, we had to, of course, translate our texts and also communicate on the professionally used platform Slack. We had to be active there, posting about some problems that we encountered during translation or revision and seek our colleagues' help or advice. We had to deliver evidence supported by some verified, trustworthy sources when we wanted to suggest some solutions.

Now, we are still waiting for feedback on how well we did from Cochrane. I did my best and I hope they are satisfied with my and my friends' work.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 20:39:44 UTC

06.06.2023

MemoQ is another computer-assisted translation software that we became familiar with during our classes. It is one of the most frequently used programs among professional translators. We further expanded our knowledge and skills by using it. To me, it was more complicated than OmegaT and Phrase, however, I can appreciate that it has numerous features and really assists translators, making their job often much easier and faster.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 21:09:03 UTC

I couldn't find the dark mode feature while browsing through MemoQ's options, so I wanted to find another way to make it darker. Just to be sure that I haven't missed any function that might have helped me, I searched for "dark mode MemoQ" in Google and I have found on the professional forum Proz that fellow translators have the same struggle with CAT tools not having dark mode. (https://www.proz.com/forum/off_topic/357826-cat_tools_dark_mode_dark_theme_desperately_needed.html)

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-13 21:12:04 UTC

Even the MemoQdocs webstie admits that there is no dark mode. (My question is: why?)
(https://docs.memoq.com/8-5/en/Places/customize-appearance-translation-editor.html?Highlight=dark%20mode)

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 21:58:30 UTC

The MemoQ website suggests using my operating system's "night mode", however, at least on my device, it doesn't work in MemoQ. Thus, following someone's advice from Proz.com, I tried to use the colour inversion option.
In order to access it, you have to go the computer's settings, choose "ease of access" from the options, then go to magnifier from the left sidebar and look for "invert colours." As a result, you get the appearance shown on the screenshot.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 22:15:42 UTC

If something is not easily readable or clear enough, you can change the colours to your liking by going to MemoQ's options > appearance and change all the colours, font and its size, etc.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 22:53:21 UTC

I am happy that I have found the way to "DIY" dark mode in MemoQ, but it was quite a long process. This action could be done with one simple click if only this option was available.
I think that having in mind people with various visual impairments or simply eye protection and working comfort of MemoQ's users, the creators of the software could work on that issue and try to make the program more accessible.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 23:21:31 UTC

10.06.2023

While I was revising a text that I got from the translation agency that I'm doing my apprenticeship in, I encountered a name of a new solution involving merging the gutters into the roof. Its name was DACHRYNNA® (https://dachrynna.galeco.pl/?gclid=CjwKCAjwyqWkBhBMEiwAp2yUFhzBAKtuz50yP9gColMFf8ncR0SQKDzBdXJX6YLgxk-AFwKj9c5GYRoCbwwQAvD_BwE) and it is registered as a patent/trademark. Thus, it should not be translated, even though it is made from two common words: dach ("roof") and rynna ("gutter"). I was wondering if there's an option in MemoQ that allows to point out words or phrases that we don't want to have translated.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 23:28:38 UTC

On MemoQ website, I found that this option exists, indeed (https://docs.memoq.com/current/en/Places/add-non-translatable.html). Adding a non-translatable term allows to put certain words on the "forbidden list."

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-14 23:29:17 UTC

To add a term to the list, you need to open a document for translation. Then, find "add non-translatable" on the "translation" panel and write a word that you want never to be translated in the box that appears and click OK.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-15 00:17:14 UTC

You can also add non-translatables after you open a document pair for editing from a LiveDocs corpus while doing alignment.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-15 00:22:38 UTC

13.06.2023

While browsing through the program's options, I have noticed that it is possible to customise shortcuts however you like. You have to go to MemoQ's options and then, on the left, choose the category "keyboard shortcuts."

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-15 00:51:08 UTC

Before using this function, you have to add a non-translatable list to the project you want. To do this, go to settings pane in "project home." You can also find all your non-translatable lists there.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-15 00:54:01 UTC

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-15 00:59:00 UTC

I think this feature may be very useful while dealing with lots of words that have to be left in their original form, untranslated: maybe some proper names etc.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 19:12:00 UTC

But when you want to edit the default shortcuts, the program tells you that it is not possible and you have to clone them. After that, you can change the cloned options.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 19:17:37 UTC

When you click "edit" for the cloned shortcuts, a window with lots of program's functions appears. You can choose from the list and add your own shortcut for a feature that doesn't have a default shortcut or change the original shortcut. After introducting any changes, click OK.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 19:22:42 UTC

In the bottom left corner of the window for customising shortcuts, there is an option that I think is very helpful. It allows you to generate and save a cheat sheet with all your shortcuts, the default and the ones you have created. It ensures that once you have just created your own personal shortcuts, even if you forget them, you can have a quick access to the list on your computer and you don't have to search for the shortcuts in the options.
It is also a great way to get to know all the interesting shortcuts that you might not know. They can be handy while working on your translation projects, especially when you are in a hurry.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 19:23:21 UTC

And here is how the cheat sheet looks like:
I think I will definitely have a look into all of these shortcuts.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 20:18:20 UTC

So what are the disadvantages of using CAT tools?

In my opinion, the answers don't come to one's mind so quickly in comparison with a question about CAT tools' benefits. But they certainly do have some drawbacks.
For sure, they are useless in terms of creative translation. It's only us, humans (and maybe the quite recently-invented chat GPT), that are able to create a text that is humourous, witty, sarcastic. Only humans can translate poetry (not literally) along with conveying its message using different means functioning in another language.
Even in the texts that do not have to be creatively translated, using CAT tools definitely limits the user's creativity. It serves you the translation of a segment on a silver platter, you often do not have to think twice before you click "confirm." Of course, not having to think about issues such as a proper grammar structure or translation of a given word makes working significantly faster, but for me, it deprives the act of translation its creative element – and there is beauty in it. I am one of those people who enjoy spending some time looking for information and becoming really wrapped in the process of research and that's what I love about translating – that you are kind of a new creator of the text (sometimes, when it is appropraite and not harmful in any way), not only its translator from one language to another.
What is more, CAT tools are wrong sometimes. They are not able to read the context from a text so they cannot diferenciate when one word is right to use and when you should use a different one, maybe a synonym. These issues can completely change the interpretation of a given fragment so it's really important to pay attention to these kind of situations while translating.
Also, sometimes they point out errors where there isn't any. This may be misleading and lead to messing in the translator's head, especially when he/she is tired, they may doubt their own knowledge and start spiralling down the rabbit hole of looking for mistakes and checking the content when it is not necessary. It may also be annoying at times to have to click "ignore" when the program thinks you have made a mistake.
Moreover, the price for translation is often calculated on the basis of the TM match level – whether existing segments match the new translations fully (100% matches), partially (fuzzy matches) or not at all. It they are significantly matching, we get less money. I find it not really fair, because there is always a need for double-checking. There may be a number of TM suggestions that are correct but inappropriate in specific contexts and a human has to look for them and correct them. Suggestions from TM do make the process of translation faster, but they do not do it completely for us. Besides, buying a commercial licence for a CAT tool is quite expensive so if a translator buys it with their own money, he/she buys it to make their life easier, not his/her paycheck smaller.

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2023-06-16 21:18:27 UTC

All in all, I think CAT tools bring tons of opportunities to make a translator's life easier, but they cannot be applied in every type of translation and even if they make our job easier, it is always necessary to check for possible mistakes in the computer-assisted translation.

font/colours change trados

emiliastasiewicz15 — 2024-01-16 23:09:22 UTC