On this page of our website, we've listed a few
computer-based tools of interest to translators.
Click on the links to the manufacturer's websites to
find out more.
This application is an increasingly popular
computer-aided translation tool that we also use and
recommend (at least for German/English texts,
although it supports many more, including
right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew).
memoQ is made by a Hungarian software firm called
Kilgray in Budapest and
has been on the market for several years now. The
current version is 5.0.64 (as of 2 May 2012).
It's relatively easy to work with and is an
integrated package including a text-alignment module,
term extraction and management, a TM module, a
(quick-alignment) library feature called LiveDocs for
storing your own reference sources (even PDFs), and plug-ins
allowing you to use specific online dictionaries,
online translation memories and machine-translation
offerings (e.g. Google Translate and Asia Online).
memoQ lets you process a wide range of file formats,
including Trados Workbench files and the XLIFF files
created by Trados Studio 2009/2011. It also displays your
translation in a preview window as it's being created
(if the file format permits this) and is very
user-friendly in general. The support team at Kilgray
is also very responsive.
Some links you might like to follow up:
- Fabio Said's review of
memoQ (v4.x) on his blog, "fidus
interpres".
Fabio, a Brazilian translator, talks about his
first impressions of using the program here (he
likes it, of course).
-
- FAQs on memoQ (on
Kilgray's website).
These questions are in groups and cover issues
such as installing memoQ, backing up files,
processing certain file formats and compatibility
with other popular software packages.
-
- The memoQ user group at
Yahoo!
If you want to ask other memoQ users about the
program, you can do so here.
NB To get access to this mailing list, you need to
join the group after opening a (free) user account
at Yahoo!.
-
- The various versions of memoQ
There are stand-alone versions for freelance
translators and server-based agency/corporate
versions for teams. To find out which version of
memoQ you need, click
here.
-
- Kilgray's memoQ Resource
Center
Once you have registered as a user (it's free),
you can then access this page and and watch
recorded webinars on various aspects of using
memoQ. (You can also attend free live
webinars.)
-
- Click
here to access some short videos and webinars
that Kilgray has made to show memoQ users how to
employ specific features such as "track changes"
and term extraction. The videos available here also
cover other products, e.g. qTerm (for terminology
management) and TM Respository (for managing
TMs).
Special offers
Kilgray runs these on its own website and at proz.com every few months, especially around the end of the year. They only last a few days and give you the chance to buy a licence at a very good rate. To check out the offers, go to their News page or TGB (group buys) on proz.com.
Links to other translation aids
Kilgray has collected a number of links to
3rd-party tools, which we've chosen to add here because it lists the most popular ones on a single page.
The programs mentioned are for quality assurance,
pre-processing and post-editing of texts, and database
management (e.g. for cleaning up TMX memories and
validating/enhancing the quality of your
databases).
Kilgray also runs webinars on optimising source texts for translation, which means pre-processing them to remove surplus tags/codes and improve the formatting to make translation easier. CodeZapper by Dave Turner comes in handy for this purpose. See his web page and Kilgray's outline on how to convert PDF files into translatable text.
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This CAT tool has been around for many years and
is still a powerful one, especially when it comes to
assembling translations automatically (by drawing on
the terms and sentences in your own databases) and
creating project-specific termbases using its unique
"lexicon" tool (for term extraction).
Several versions exist, the most popular one
among freelance translators possibly being
Déjà Vu X Professional. (Agencies
farming out assignments use the Workgroup and Server
versions.)
A new package was released in May 2011 that
incorporates various helpful new features: "DVX2". This can
tap Google's machine-translation database
and also includes AutoWrite, which is similar to
Trados Studio's AutoSuggest feature (which suggests
possible translations of terms from a list while you
are translating).
DVX2 is also very good at assembling target texts using the data you have saved in its TMs and "glossaries" (i.e. term bases). Its intelligent way of digging for data and inserting it into target segments is known as DeepMiner.
To learn a bit more about Déjà Vu X2, take a look at Atril's short e-learning videos.
Victor Dewsbery, a fellow translator and DV user, has published a few screen shots of the new interface and how it can be customised on his blog, Language Mystery.
Users of Déjà Vu have been running
a very helpful mailing list at
Yahoo! for some time. You can ask questions about
the tool here and compare it with other CAT tools
like memoQ from a user's perspective.
Other useful tips on usage can be found on
Necco's tt4t
site and blog (see
below).
The developers of the package - a Spanish/French firm
called Atril - are very quick to help if you have a
technical problem. In addition to their practical videos, webinars and other types of training are
also available.
Regarding pricing, go to Proz.com's TGB page or contact Atril about it directly.
SDL Trados Studio 2009 and 2011
SDL Trados has put a series of training videos on
YouTube, which users of their "Studio 2009" CAT
software package can watch for free - click here
to go to the first one.
The other videos in this series currently cover
topics such as creating a project, handling project
packages sent by agencies, reviewing and finalising
projects, and sorting out licensing issues.
The full range of official resources and
practical information for users (and potential
buyers) can be found at
translationzone.com.
One of the many helpful things you can find on
this site is a series of
practical tips on using various CAT tools from
SDL Trados, including MultiTerm and Trados
Workbench.
For some tips on using Studio 2009, take a look
at SDL's official blog.
The articles on this (corporate) site are on a host
of topical subjects (cloud computing and machine
translation are just two of them).
Studio 2011, the
successor to Studio 2009, is due to be launched in
September and will no doubt be worth a test. One of
the main enhancements is the inclusion of a
filter to handle the "old" bilingual Trados
format. (Believe it or not, this is missing in the
2009 version.)
For details about upgrades and other special
offers, go to SDL's online shop at
www.sdl.com or check out
the group buys at proz.com.
Incidentally, SDL Trados is encouraging
developers to create add-ins and other tools that
enhance or complement its own products'
functionality. These are available from SDL
OpenExchange.
Related blogs
-
Translation Tribulations by Kevin Lossner
frequently covers issues concerning popular CAT
tools.
-
- Translator's Shack
focuses specifically on CAT and software
localisation. Edited by Roberto Savelli, an English
to Italian translator who also owns an agency. He's
covered a wide range of subjects here as well as
providing some industry news.
-
- Tuomas Kostiainen is a Trados specialist from
Finland. His
blog on migrating to Trados Studio 2009
contains useful tips and information about the
popular CAT package and related programs.
-
- Tips and
tricks for translators is a special blog
focusing on ways of working more effectively with
Déjà Vu. Maintained by "Necco",
it contains lots of practical tips and workarounds
written by various DV users and developers.
-
- Kilgray's own
blog, where members of the staff talk about
current and future versions of memoQ (e.g. version 6) and their
other products, machine
translation, the competition in the CAT field,
interoperability among CAT tools and many other
issues of interest.
Other pages of interest:
Share your tips with us
We hope you've found something of benefit on this
page. You're welcome to send us any tips of your own
if you feel they would help other translators.
ATS, Amper Translation Service,
Fürstenfeldbruck, translation, editing,
translation agency, language services, Carl Carter,
resources, blogs, CAT, CAT tools, TEnTs, translation
tools, translation technology, memoQ, Kilgray,
Déjà Vu X, SDL Trados Studio 2009,
tips, tricks, videos, webinars, training,
translationzone, user groups
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