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Where to look for translation work where no cat tools are needed-feedback wanted
Thread poster: Luke Mersh
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:01
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
The US Mar 9, 2012

luke mersh wrote:
Can anybody tell me where work is available without the need for CAT tools.

Small-to-medium agencies in the US. There is a whole world out there. I daresay that European agencies of all sizes use CAT tools, but I have found some agencies in the US who do not care as much.


 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
feedback Mar 9, 2012

yes just looked at wordfast anywhere, it accepts TMs from Trados or Wordfast, just need to learn how to use it.

 
Charlie Bavington
Charlie Bavington  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:01
French to English
Keeping options open Mar 10, 2012

luke mersh wrote:

Other problem I have is that I am not a windows user, I use linux


Any particular reason? And is using Linux the reason why you believe you can't use CAT tools? Or is not using CAT tools a policy decision independent of the decision not to use Windows?

FWIW, I strongly believe that a client is fully entitled for ask for any kind of deliverable they like and, as such, they may or may not therefore have absolutely requirements or preferences in terms of how the job is done. That is entirely their prerogative, and they must realise that the more requirements they have, the fewer the suppliers able to meet them all.

Likewise, as suppliers, we are free to decide what services will will and won't provide, as long as we understand our potential market expands and contracts accordingly. If you have a CAT tool, you can clearly supply more potential clients than without (since obviously for clients who don't specifiy, you can choose to use it or not). Similarly the decision with file formats and types you can handle.

In essence then, the good Lord helps those who help themselves, as the saying goes, so I think it's wise to ensure that the choices you are making are being made for the right reasons, not as a knee jerk reaction to popular misconceptions such as the belief that CAT tool users always find their margins pared to the bone by penny-pinching agencies, and that in buying a CAT tool, you just leave yourself open to abuse. Doormat freelancers are doormat freelancers whether they own a CAT tool or not. There may or may not be correlation, but correlation is not causality. And so on.


 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
reply Mar 10, 2012

I use linux because I got feed up with Windows, Linux has less viruses too.
But as you have indirectly pointed out it does have its drawbacks.

Its not a policy choice, just my own.

But it seems that in using Linux I am limiting myself.


 
Jenn Mercer
Jenn Mercer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:01
Member (2009)
French to English
To Linux or not to Linux.... Mar 10, 2012

Luke,

You might want to start another thread specifically to ask about Linux CAT tools. This suggestion is partially to avoid topic drift, but I think you could also attract more Linux users. Your CAT tool suggestion is limited by using just Linux, but there are options available. You just need to decide which OS will help you to be most productive overall.


 
JaneD
JaneD  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 16:01
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Linux for home, Windows for work? Mar 11, 2012

I completely understand you being fed up with Windows, Luke - but perhaps you could simply have two PCs, one of which uses Windows and is only used for work, and the other one with whatever flavour of Linux you like for your own private use.

That means that you are able to use Windows-based CAT and other tools for working without having to permanently struggle to find converters and so on. Equally if you are unfortunate enough to be infected with a virus it's only your well backed-u
... See more
I completely understand you being fed up with Windows, Luke - but perhaps you could simply have two PCs, one of which uses Windows and is only used for work, and the other one with whatever flavour of Linux you like for your own private use.

That means that you are able to use Windows-based CAT and other tools for working without having to permanently struggle to find converters and so on. Equally if you are unfortunate enough to be infected with a virus it's only your well backed-up work that suffers, rather than your private life.

I use Trados Studio, but I would never recommend it to a beginner. Start with Wordfast Classic - it's just a tiny Word macro, and really easy to use. That will get you into some of the basic concepts of CAT use and you can learn from there.

And as others have said, there are hundreds of agencies out there (plus millions of direct clients) who just don't care how you translate as long as the end result is good.

Dividing regular clients by CAT is an interesting exercise. I expected that probably half of them would require a CAT tool, but in fact of my 15 regular clients, they break down as follows:

No CAT requirement - 11
Trados - 2
Company's own CAT tool - 1
Other (localisation) software - 1

That said, the clients that don't require CAT tools do often send me documents that reuse terminology I have already worked with. As a businesswoman, I feel that in these circumstances it is my duty to use a tool that ensures consistency for the client and less effort for me.
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FarkasAndras
FarkasAndras  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:01
English to Hungarian
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Limiting yourself Mar 11, 2012

luke mersh wrote:

I use linux because I got feed up with Windows, Linux has less viruses too.
But as you have indirectly pointed out it does have its drawbacks.

Its not a policy choice, just my own.

But it seems that in using Linux I am limiting myself.


Definitely. Trados is the de facto standard CAT, and it doesn't have a linux version. Office is the standard for most source files, and it doesn't have a linux version, either. You might be able to get office working on linux via wine or whatever, but I'm not sure every feature will work exactly the same way. I've been told that office for Mac is buggy and lagging behind office for Windows, as well. Using OOo or something like that too big a risk to take... compatibility is not 100%, and if the translated document doesn't look right on the client's computer, the fact that it's fine on yours won't matter at all.


 
Ana Lottis
Ana Lottis  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
Network at nearest university? Mar 11, 2012

I'm sorry for your loss.
I work part-time, and get about one or two jobs a month, so I'm not the best source (most of my income is from medical interpreting.) I don't use CAT tools - in fact, in the last year I've used Google translate to take care of basic grammar and busywork, and then focused on carefully revising the sentence structure and terminology it comes up with.
I get certificates, medical records, and occasionally legal documents from a small agency (those have dried up
... See more
I'm sorry for your loss.
I work part-time, and get about one or two jobs a month, so I'm not the best source (most of my income is from medical interpreting.) I don't use CAT tools - in fact, in the last year I've used Google translate to take care of basic grammar and busywork, and then focused on carefully revising the sentence structure and terminology it comes up with.
I get certificates, medical records, and occasionally legal documents from a small agency (those have dried up in the last three months due to new regulations agencies are subject to in WA.) I also get revisions and translations from academics, mostly biologists, in Brazil, where my father built up a network of contacts during his years of translating.
If you can, stopping by different departments at the nearest university to you might be a good plan. If people mention that they already have someone they trust to do translations, ask for the translator's name and contact info - they might be interested in partnering with you or delegating stuff to you when there's too much on their plate.
Boa sorte!
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Alex Lago
Alex Lago  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:01
English to Spanish
+ ...
Excellent advice Mar 13, 2012

Charlie Bavington wrote:
In essence then, the good Lord helps those who help themselves, as the saying goes, so I think it's wise to ensure that the choices you are making are being made for the right reasons, not as a knee jerk reaction to popular misconceptions such as the belief that CAT tool users always find their margins pared to the bone by penny-pinching agencies, and that in buying a CAT tool, you just leave yourself open to abuse. Doormat freelancers are doormat freelancers whether they own a CAT tool or not. There may or may not be correlation, but correlation is not causality. And so on.


Very well put, couldn't have said it better


 
cristinacb (X)
cristinacb (X)
Romania
Local time: 17:01
French to Romanian
+ ...
from another beginner Mar 18, 2012

JaneD,

Thank you for your message/answer; also thank you for Luke; your question and, of course, the answers received, are very usefull for me, too.


 
paul hacker
paul hacker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:01
Finnish to English
+ ...
Too Much Trouble Feb 17, 2013

I have tried several CAT tools and not a single one has ever worked the way it is supposed to. My Trados is accumulating virtual dust after I tried it and I was going back and forth and there was nothing being memorized. Trados people told me it was my fault that I couldn't make it work. I tried to get some help through Proz and got some nasty snide replies. I have been getting some XTM training and I am basically overwhelmed by the jargon. I have explained the situation to some agencies and... See more
I have tried several CAT tools and not a single one has ever worked the way it is supposed to. My Trados is accumulating virtual dust after I tried it and I was going back and forth and there was nothing being memorized. Trados people told me it was my fault that I couldn't make it work. I tried to get some help through Proz and got some nasty snide replies. I have been getting some XTM training and I am basically overwhelmed by the jargon. I have explained the situation to some agencies and never one offered to help me make it work. But if they need assistance, they find some other way of helping. I use my own devices for getting terminology, such as aligning EN and a foreign language source, and I align the two on my own without using any alignment tools that I can't figure out in any case. (usually regarding a law that has been translated officially into EN). The CAT learning curve is too long and steep and the potential payoff is too limited from my perspective. When you need to produce hundreds of pages of explanations, you get into the bind of, pardon the expression, getting lost in the translation. If I am doing repetitive work, such as pharmaceutical trials, I retain the pairs of the translations, and I can easily search the word I have been using before.Collapse


 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Update... Mar 27, 2015

Thank you for all your posts....
since writing this post my old laptop with Linux broke and I am now using Windows.

I have been using Wordfast Anywhere , but I am practicing with Trados, I have purchased Mats Linder "Studio2014- The Manual"

I when I have the funds hope to take some training webinars.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:01
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
VM Mar 29, 2015

Keep using Linux, there are enough CAT tools for that system and/or install a VM (= Virtual Machine), install a Windows version on it, install a CAT tool on it and off you go. I did, works as a charm.

 
Luke Mersh
Luke Mersh  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER
Where to look for translation work where no cat tools are needed-feedback wanted Mar 31, 2015

@Robert.

I do not have Linux anymore.

I now have a separate Windows laptop specifically for translation.

But thanks for the advice anyway.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:01
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
By the way Apr 2, 2015

@Luke

I also do. I have 3 computers, 2 with Windows and 1 with Linux + VM, but stil.....

[Edited at 2015-04-02 22:00 GMT]


 
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