Poll: What percentage of your translation work do you do nowadays using a CAT tool? Autor da sequência: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What percentage of your translation work do you do nowadays using a CAT tool?".
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| | | | | | Lieven Malaise 
Bélgica
Local time: 09:17
Membro (2020)
Francês para Holandês
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The importance of a CAT tool in my career can't be over-estimated. It allowed (and still allows) me to maintain competitive yet profitable rates and to create extensive translation memories over a period of more than 20 years with a treasure of terminology in every possible context.
Whereas technical, medical or legal texts of all kinds were a real challenge in the first half of my freelance career they nowadays simply aren't anymore. So my CAT tool obviously has had a huge impact o... See more The importance of a CAT tool in my career can't be over-estimated. It allowed (and still allows) me to maintain competitive yet profitable rates and to create extensive translation memories over a period of more than 20 years with a treasure of terminology in every possible context.
Whereas technical, medical or legal texts of all kinds were a real challenge in the first half of my freelance career they nowadays simply aren't anymore. So my CAT tool obviously has had a huge impact on my translation quality (terminological consistance that is way easier and, more importantly, faster to achieve with than without a CAT tool), translation speed and therefore profitability in the course of the years. ▲ Collapse
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I'm a technical translator. I can't imagine working without a CAT tool any more.
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Christine Andersen
Dinamarca
Local time: 09:17
Membro (2003)
Dinamarquês para Inglês
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I still occasionally get a ´dead´PDF - typically a birth certificate or other document which is scanned and not machine readable.
Otherwise I will go to quite some length to prepare a source file that I can use in my CAT - it really is worth the effort.
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I am not using CAT tools currently, but it is a great tool for productivity and consistency in our translation works.
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I occasionally do very small assignments of one or two phrases, max., in Word or by email (and sometimes even on my cell phone if not in the office). Otherwise, I use CAT software for everything.
| | | | | Client work vs solo work | Sep 7, 2025 |
This is interesting, and an excellent poll question.
I use a CAT tool for client (agency) work, although some is currently done in exported bilingual review mode (DOCX).
But for my own (non commissioned, but professional, mostly book) translation projects, I'm increasingly not using a CAT tool, but simple markdown.
Segmented text and context-less MT suggestions? No thanks…
Rediscovering the joy of reviewing my work without having to mentally... See more This is interesting, and an excellent poll question.
I use a CAT tool for client (agency) work, although some is currently done in exported bilingual review mode (DOCX).
But for my own (non commissioned, but professional, mostly book) translation projects, I'm increasingly not using a CAT tool, but simple markdown.
Segmented text and context-less MT suggestions? No thanks…
Rediscovering the joy of reviewing my work without having to mentally merge sentences and reconstruct the text and its flow.
Can always align later for bilingual reference.
[Edited at 2025-09-07 05:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| TM -worthiness | Sep 8, 2025 |
Some translations have no worth for TM building: their highly specific and/or highly creative nature suggests no one will be able to use them productively in any future work. However, I like to see ordered pairs of segments when I'm working, so I'll still be using a CAT tool on a completely TM- worthless text unless it's really small (I have separate TMs for such work, reserved for my own use only). So, it's still 99% plus. I also don't mind working with MS Word tables where translations are pla... See more Some translations have no worth for TM building: their highly specific and/or highly creative nature suggests no one will be able to use them productively in any future work. However, I like to see ordered pairs of segments when I'm working, so I'll still be using a CAT tool on a completely TM- worthless text unless it's really small (I have separate TMs for such work, reserved for my own use only). So, it's still 99% plus. I also don't mind working with MS Word tables where translations are placed side by side with source sentences. They are just as convenient, and some customers even require them. If, however, such a table is required but I know a CAT tool will be of great help, I just use the tool and then build a table manually. Sorry if I overlooked any blunders from Google keyboard. Maybe one day I'll find a keyboard with an autosuggest feature that's just a tad smarter ▲ Collapse
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