CAT Allergy

I recently did a rather large translation that had quite a lot of repetition in it. In fact, it would have been perfect to use a CAT tool (that's not a tautology, it's Computer Assisted Translation or something) for. But I didn't.

This document (actually there were 3) would have been perfect for a CAT tool because it had a lot of repetition, both of terms and whole sentences, which is exactly what CAT tools are designed to deal with. I've had some experience with CAT tools: At MAJIT we had some training in TRADOS and I downloaded the free trial to play with for awhile and I've also used OmegaT (I even reinstalled it specifically for this job). Furthermore, this wasn't a case where I would be punished for using it (I've read of some agencies paying less for fuzzy matches and 100% matches, but I have no personal experience of this. Although, I did get an email from a company that apparently does this and wants you to buy a licence to their product as well. This seems to be a major issue that some translators have with CAT tools in general and this agency in particular. I won't name them though because, as I said, I don't have any personal experience. I didn't take them up but more because I had enough on my plate. I wonder how long I can drag out this set of parenthesis, I'd say 'without going off-topic', but it's a bit late. That seems to be it).

However, despite having every reason to and no reason not to, I didn't use a CAT tool because I just don't like them very much. I like the idea of them. They are very cool and can potentially be extremely useful, especially in texts such as the one I had, where there was a lot of repetition and consistency was important (it was a document for a court case). But I don't like using them. I prefer to work off a print out rather than off the screen (I ensure consistency with a piece of paper, a pencil and patience). I also don't like messing around with tags and things (they annoy me, I'm sure I can be trained to use them effectively, etc. but they still annoy me).

So there you have it. I could have used a CAT tool, and it probably would've made things easier for me, but I didn't, for no real reason other than I don't like working that way.

As an aside, when I was writing this it occurred to me that I'm probably not doing a very good job of advertising myself here, what with admitting that I can take a long time and I don't like time and labour saving CAT tools. So I went back and looked at my first post to see who my target audience was. It seems I didn't really have one. Now, I think my target audience is other translators who are at a similar stage in their careers to me. I don't really have any wisdom to share but I hope they get something useful out of it, even if I'm not sure what. Also, I can't get a damn thing done if I spend all day in my PJs.

Better Left Unsaid

Earlier this week, I planned to post about a particularly troublesome proofreading job I had over the weekend. However, a major part of the post I wrote devolved into a criticism of the translator and it occurred to me that posting such a rant would have been unprofessional and possibly unethical.

It would have been unethical because a) the AUSIT code of ethics says that we shouldn't badmouth our professional colleagues, or words to that effect, and I'm fairly certain this would apply even if I don't mention any names, which I don't know in any case, and b) it'd be a nasty thing to do and wouldn't really accomplish anything.

It would also have reflected poorly on me. It would look more than a little unprofessional if I lambasted everyone I thought did a bad job and I doubt anyone would want to work with someone who then publicly criticises them. Even if I withheld names, if you think it's you, you'd still feel insulted, I'm sure, and I don't think I have the skill, yet, to make a successful career while alienating people unnecessarily (if I did I wouldn't refer to myself as a journeyman).

I may write about it another time, when I've cooled down a little (after 4 days, it stills aggravates me when I think about it) or I'll just stick to complaining in private.