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Computer Aided Translation (CAT) Tools

What are CAT tools and what they do?

CAT stands for computer assisted translation. A CAT tool is a software or program that assists a translator in managing one’s translation on a computer, making it more efficient and easier to perform the task.

The several aspects of a CAT tool are, retaining a memory of the translation, dividing the text into logical segments, presenting the segments on screen for ease of viewing, and so on.

What CAT tools will NOT do:

translate automatically

What CAT tools WILL do

divide the text into coherent units, phrases, or sentences, known as segments,

make it easier to view each segment by highlighting and spacing it out,

save the translation made by a translator and store it in the translation memory (TM),

In short, a took automates tasks related to translation.

In this way the translation process can be made more efficient. Hence a CAT tool does not actually perform the translation, but simply provides local and technical features that support the translator to make the translation easier to manage, and to maintain a database for future reference.

Segmentation and translation memory are by far the most significant aspect of a CAT tool. The more segments we translate, the more translation memory is available for automatic retrieval and re-use. This makes the work faster more consistent and therefore more efficient.

Machine translation vs. computer-assisted translation – Differences

Machine Translation is a process of automatic translation without human intervention, using artificial intelligence. Google Translate, Bing Translator, and Yandex Translate are some leading names in this sector. Nowadays, translation memories are being used as collective memories of MT tools and this is significantly improving the quality of MT. When humans review, check and edit machine translation, it is called machine translation post edit (MTPE). This is increasing in popularity today.

Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT), one the other hand, refers to software that automates the translation process, helping them in retaining memory, improve productivity, efficiency and consistency. They do and cannot replace a translator as the primary task of translation is performed by the translators themselves.

Machine Translation vs Computer-Assisted Translation

List of CAT Tools

Advantages

Translation memories reduce time and increase consistency in translation. The various automating and supporting tools make translation efficient and easier to execute. Translation memories further help in reducing the cost of translation.

Apart from the TM, other databases such as glossaries and style guides are also generated and maintained with the help of CAT tools. These continue to develop over time and serve as a future reference for the same or similar projects.

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Hiring professional translators is worth the price we pay in return for expertise, accuracy and, well, professionalism. An unprofessional translation can alienate an audience and have detrimental impact on the image and sales of a company.

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Legal translation is a specialised area of translation that requires skilled legal translators. The article outlines the process we follow at WordPar to ensure well-drafted translations by legal experts.

We treat legal translations as fresh drafts and engage legal experts and qualified legal translators for the drafting of such translations.

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Translation of closed captions allows search engines to read video files. This will optimize videos for search engines, which will crawl videos for the embedded text. Multilingual subtitles will attract the search engines of different countries and optimize internet searches.

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Translation strategies for international e-commerce

Translation strategies for international e-commerce

The unstoppable growth of the Internet and the digitization of the economy and trade make access to international markets considerably easier. The companies seem to cross geographical boundaries without any problems. What remains, however, are the linguistic and cultural barriers.

International marketing, i.e. the market and competence-oriented management of the entire company in more than one country, also means that not only individual text content is translated, but the entire communication that affects the customer. There are e-commerce websites that only partially offer translation. If, for example, the prices / currencies are localized but the product descriptions are not, this may not have the desired effect on the customer and he or she may not visit the website a second time.

Is English enough?

English is actually still the most widely used Internet language and is often classified as the so-called lingua franca in the business world. According to Statista, there are around 335 million people who speak English as their mother tongue and around 1.5 billion people worldwide who speak English at different levels. This means that around 6 billion people do not speak English. Numerous studies also show that Internet users who master English as a foreign language at different levels prefer websites that are offered in their native language, especially when shopping online.

When companies speak the language of their customers and have the content translated accordingly, there is further potential in e-commerce. Translating the content can take a lot of time and resources, but it is usually worthwhile.

Dos and don'ts

In addition to the translation, localization is also an extremely important point. Date and time formats as well as prices should always be adapted to the respective target country. Separate websites with local domains are always advantageous (e.g. ".pl" for Poland or ".es" for Spain). This suggests that the website is a local provider. This solution also offers you clear advantages in the SEO area. With a holistic language translation service in the corresponding mother tongue, you can use further potential in e-commerce.

Translation memories, termbases and glossaries that are automatically created during the translation process are also invaluable. Once content has been created, it can be consistently reused. The technology helps to ensure that your very personal corporate language (individual and characteristic corporate language) is used consistently for all content.

What you should do without is machine translation. Entering a text in a corresponding free tool promises maximum uncomplicated and quick results. However, you cannot rely on the quality. Even if the machine-made translation does not contain any gross errors, the sentences still appear unnatural and choppy. Your brand stands for trust, professionalism and quality - convey this in your translations too.

Should you nevertheless use machine-made translations, please always have the text checked and corrected again by a specialist translator.

The competition never sleeps. Pay attention to the respective cultural preferences. Providers who do not adapt the language to the mother tongue of the target audience have a harder time. Investing in a professionally implemented online shop and presence is worthwhile in order to attract attention abroad.

Make use of all the advantages, we will be happy to advise you.