Today it is difficult to imagine a field of activity that can do without innovative technologies. The modern rhythm of life requires fast and high-quality solutions, which are called upon to provide a rapidly developing artificial intelligence.
Whether he can completely replace a person is a moot point. However, the use of such technology has given a huge potential for the development of translation.
Technologies in the field of written translation
The workflow of a modern translator can no longer be imagined without auxiliary systems and automated programs that allow you to speed up work at times. First of all, technology has penetrated the field of written translation.
Machine translation is still popular and is rapidly improving. By taking over the laborious process of searching for and translating unfamiliar expressions, a computer allows translators to save a lot of time. Improvements in machine translation may lead to the fact that in the future specialists will have to work exclusively on editing machine text.
Computer Assisted Translation tools
CAT-tools are familiar to almost everyone involved in the field of professional translation. This is a whole range of programs, including:
- Translation of documentation
- Software localization
- Maintenance of terminological dictionaries
- Translation quality check
- Creation and distribution of projects
The use of such systems is especially effective in areas of translation with a high frequency of repetition of texts, for example, in financial, technical or legal activities.
The use of CAT-tools also allows several translators to work simultaneously on a common project, carrying out a translation consistent in terms of terminology and style.
Benefits of CAT systems
Why do professional translators today increasingly prefer automated translation? The answer is pretty simple. The biggest advantage of CAT systems is “translation memory” (Translation Memory).
It allows you to accumulate data in the translation database and create thematic glossaries in various fields of knowledge. Thus, the translator does not need to re-translate every time what he has done before. The database stores large amounts of data and ready-made translation templates that allow you to quickly carry out high-quality translation.
To date, a fairly wide range of CAT-automated translation systems is presented on the market: from easy-to-manage and accessible to any average person to complex programs used to implement large projects. The following is a list of the most popular technological solutions to speed up and simplify the translation process.
TRADOS
It is a professional automated translation software. Includes many features and fine-tuning. Software modules allow you to work in unforeseen situations. Suitable for large projects and is used mainly by translation companies.
The downside of the system is its complexity and the fact that translators need a lot of time to master the program. However, many companies work on the basis of TRADOS precisely for the sake of specific settings that are not implemented in other systems.
SmartCAT
A progressive online platform that implemented the ideas of users of CAT systems. Includes the ability to work with many plugins (machine translation, QA). Of the benefits – a user-friendly interface. This is one of the easiest programs to learn.
Of the minuses – frequent errors and problems in working with large files. Despite a number of shortcomings and shortcomings, it is popular among freelancers, as it allows you to significantly speed up the translation process, and, in addition to the CAT system, is a kind of project portal.
It has a database of clients for translators, as well as a database of performers for clients, supported by the ability to conduct mutual settlements directly in the system.
MemoQ
This system is especially popular with localizers because, unlike others, it is compatible with multilingual Excel files. It can upload a wide variety of file types and, unlike TRADOS, is not picky about the size and content of files.
However, it is less popular among translators, since the program has unusual functionality, and many who are familiar with TRADOS first experience some difficulties in the settings. Nevertheless, MemoQ is especially appreciated by localizers and programmers, in this environment it is very popular.