| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | What is a good CAT Tool for a novel freelance translator in the field literary translation? Thread poster: Moises Aldana
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I would like to invest a portion of the payment for a new project (translating a 75,000 word book from English to Spanish) in a CAT tool that will help me along the process and, most importantly, keep the decisions consistent. I did my research and found that Trados is far too expensive, as is Wordfast Pro. It is not something I will purchase, at least for this as my very first project.
I have tried Smartcat in the past, but their software is not very good at recognizing words that ... See more I would like to invest a portion of the payment for a new project (translating a 75,000 word book from English to Spanish) in a CAT tool that will help me along the process and, most importantly, keep the decisions consistent. I did my research and found that Trados is far too expensive, as is Wordfast Pro. It is not something I will purchase, at least for this as my very first project.
I have tried Smartcat in the past, but their software is not very good at recognizing words that you have in previously translated segments.
Thanks in advance!
[Edited at 2024-01-09 19:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Andriy Yasharov 
Ukraine
Local time: 16:01
Member (2008)
English to Russian
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| 50% discount to individuals from Venezuela | Jan 9 |
Wordfast offers a 50% discount to individual/self-employed/freelance users buying one license of Wordfast Pro from Venezuela and other countries with developing economies. It will be USD240 instead of USD580.
You can also try Wordfast Anywhere. It is a subscription-based online CAT-tool. The subscription fee is $1 for a 30-day trial, then it's $4.95 per month for Venezuela.
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I have tried Smartcat in the past, but their software is not very good at recognizing words that you have previously translated segments.
I'm not sure what you mean. I have used SmartCAT for translation of several books and found it satisfactory. Also, you would not expect to have a 'glossary' or the like for translation of fiction, would you? (Although SmartCAT allows that too). It's a kind of text where repetitions and termbases are not much of a help.
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Hello Moises,
Literary translation is one of the few fields in which the translator himself is a writer (and in France, at least, that's how he's considered), and the freedom he enjoys means he doesn't need tools intended for other tasks where imagination is less important, if not irrelevant. I'd like to avoid falling into what looks like a trap.
But if indispensable, I'd opt for OmegaT, which really is free:
... See more Hello Moises,
Literary translation is one of the few fields in which the translator himself is a writer (and in France, at least, that's how he's considered), and the freedom he enjoys means he doesn't need tools intended for other tasks where imagination is less important, if not irrelevant. I'd like to avoid falling into what looks like a trap.
But if indispensable, I'd opt for OmegaT, which really is free:
https://omegat.org/es/
Regards ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:01
Member (2008)
Italian to English
try Cafetran (if you're on Mac or PC). It's very intuitive to learn.
HOwever in my opinion you shouldn't expect good results when translating literary works. CAT tools are mechanical.
A CAT tool might help, a little, with the very first rough translation - equating to about 5% of the work you'll need to do.
The other 95% can only be done by a human translator with a brain. CAT tools don't have a brain.
... See more try Cafetran (if you're on Mac or PC). It's very intuitive to learn.
HOwever in my opinion you shouldn't expect good results when translating literary works. CAT tools are mechanical.
A CAT tool might help, a little, with the very first rough translation - equating to about 5% of the work you'll need to do.
The other 95% can only be done by a human translator with a brain. CAT tools don't have a brain.
https://www.cafetran.com/
[Edited at 2024-01-09 18:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Philippe Locquet
Portugal
Local time: 14:01
Member (2013)
English to French
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| Word based Wf Classic - check developing economies pricing (50% discount) | Jan 9 |
Moises Aldana wrote:
far too expensive,
[Edited at 2024-01-09 19:07 GMT]
Hi,
As some of my colleagues said, a software choice that won't have a negative impact on your creative writing flow would be important for that kind of project.
I'd tend to suggest Wordfast Classic as it gives you all the tools (TM, Glossary, QA, MT etc.) within Microsoft Word and it works on Windows and Mac OS. So, you are using your CAT directly in MS Word.
If you like it, when you visit the Wordfast website, specify your country and check the boxes. If you work and live in a country that is among those that are listed in the system as "developing economies" you will get an immediate 50% discount on your base price (before VAT). Sometimes there are extra discounts like for the subscribers of my YouTube channel. If that's something you are interested in, DM me.
If your source file is not a .doc or a .docx, there are other options, but that will go down the road of traditional CATs or selection-based translation enhancers, but these don't use a TM system per se.
Hope this helps
Philippe
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Anaphraseus is a free CAT tool that works directly in OpenOffice and LibreOffice: https://anaphraseus.sourceforge.net/
EDIT: I'm afraid that Anapraseus is no longer developed. Couldn't install it on Sonoma/LO. But perhaps this is because I don't have Java installed on my iMac?
[Edited at 2024-01-10 11:01 GMT]
| | | | | I can’t be the only one wondering why | Jan 10 |
Obviously only you know exactly what you are translating, but CAT tools are designed for repetitive technical texts, not literary translation. I could not imagine using one to translate a novel. I would expect it to hamper my creativity, add unnecessary extra steps and have zero benefits. How are you expecting it to help you?
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Beautiful CAT tool indeed. Just had a new look on Sonoma and Ms Word 365 16.80. Dialogue boxes are a bit clumsy, but that's because VBA doesn't provide the tools to build nicer ones.
The flexibility and cleverness are very impressive.
Personally, I find the display of a source segment box and a target segment box "somewhere" on a white page very distracting: I prefer neatly aligned segments in a grid. It's a matter of taste and habit, I know.
The lev... See more Beautiful CAT tool indeed. Just had a new look on Sonoma and Ms Word 365 16.80. Dialogue boxes are a bit clumsy, but that's because VBA doesn't provide the tools to build nicer ones.
The flexibility and cleverness are very impressive.
Personally, I find the display of a source segment box and a target segment box "somewhere" on a white page very distracting: I prefer neatly aligned segments in a grid. It's a matter of taste and habit, I know.
The level of sophistication in Wfc is on a par with CafeTran Espresso and lacking in the other CAT tools.
I can see the value of Wfc for translating novels and other fiction. I think you need to set the segmentation to paragraphs, so you can move sentences around in the paragraph. I'll think about a way to segment by paragraph and still have individual sentences presented for translation: that would be optimal.
EDIT: On second thought, moving sentences around in segments that represent paragraphs is no problem at all in CafeTran Espresso...
By joining segments, you get even more flexibility in arranging target sentences:
[Edited at 2024-01-10 13:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 17:01
English to Russian
| Partially agree with this | Jan 10 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Obviously only you know exactly what you are translating, but CAT tools are designed for repetitive technical texts, not literary translation. I could not imagine using one to translate a novel. I would expect it to hamper my creativity I have been using different CAT tools for years and I have to admit they are not good for literary translation because segmenting each sentence makes them isolated from the whole picture. But I don't agree that CAT tools are only useful for repetitive technical texts. You can translate contracts, articles of associations, fiscal reports, short articles on tourism or politics and other such stuff even without any technical context or repetitions. It helps you ensure consistency.
The only "remedy" I can think of, in your case, is that you set your CAT tool to paragraph-based segmentation. Probably this would make easier to keep creative as Christopher Schröder mentioned above.
[Edited at 2024-01-10 11:49 GMT]
| | | | | Without wanting to derail the topic... | Jan 10 |
Stepan Konev wrote:
I don't agree that CAT tools are only useful for repetitive technical texts. You can translate contracts, articles of associations, fiscal reports, short articles on tourism or politics and other such stuff even without any technical context or repetitions. It helps you ensure consistency.
But by definition, consistency requires repetition. CAT tools can only help if text is in the TM, i.e. repeated, and that is far more likely in technical texts.
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Moises Aldana
Venezuela
Local time: 10:01
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | Useful information! | Jan 10 |
Andriy Yasharov wrote:
Wordfast offers a 50% discount to individual/self-employed/freelance users buying one license of Wordfast Pro from Venezuela and other countries with developing economies. It will be USD240 instead of USD580.
You can also try Wordfast Anywhere. It is a subscription-based online CAT-tool. The subscription fee is $1 for a 30-day trial, then it's $4.95 per month for Venezuela.
Thank you very much for this. I didn't know it. I will surely try this software in the near future!
| | | | Moises Aldana
Venezuela
Local time: 10:01
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER
Evgeny Sidorenko wrote:
I have tried Smartcat in the past, but their software is not very good at recognizing words that you have previously translated segments.
I'm not sure what you mean. I have used SmartCAT for translation of several books and found it satisfactory. Also, you would not expect to have a 'glossary' or the like for translation of fiction, would you? (Although SmartCAT allows that too). It's a kind of text where repetitions and termbases are not much of a help.
Hello, Evgeny.
You're right here. I wasn't clear. This book has a lot of poetry, but also some articles that the author has included, and these articles mention a lot of terms of the spiritual world that I have to keep consistent in my translation.
In the past, I've worked with MemoQ, for example, and that software would remind/point out/highlight the translation you did for a certain term some segments earlier. I have never seen Smartcat do this (I have been using it for at least more than two years).
| | | | Moises Aldana
Venezuela
Local time: 10:01
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | I will go with OmegaT | Jan 10 |
Thank you for your time and wise advice.
After reading each answer in detail, I've decided to give OmegaT a try. It seems to be perfect fit for this kind of project.
I apologize for not fully understanding the functionality of the CAT tool, as I needed to upload a TM I really don't have for the translation.
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