{"id":961,"date":"2019-10-20T18:51:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T17:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/?p=961"},"modified":"2019-10-20T18:56:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T17:56:51","slug":"literary-translations-with-cat-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/2019\/10\/20\/literary-translations-with-cat-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Literary translations with CAT tools"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n

What are\nCAT tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you deal\nwith literary and creative translation only, you have probably never used any\nspecial translation-related software other than dictionaries (and a word\nprocessor), but you may have heard of \u201cComputer Assisted Translation\u201d tools or\nCATs for short. These were developed with technical translation in mind, and\ntheir main premise is to \u201cnever translate the same sentence twice\u201d, which makes\na lot of sense in the world of repetitive instruction manuals, but can this be\nuseful in literary translation? Let\u2019s see, but please note that this text does\nnot touch the subject of machine translation (MT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let me start with a short introduction: I started translating literature in 2000, while still working on my (failed) Ph.D. in chemistry, \u201cretyping\u201d paper books into a text editor. Several ergonomic improvements later, it was finally electronic text in two windows on a single screen. And somewhere along the line, I started translating \u201ctechnical\u201d texts as well (medicine and chemistry), where the use of CAT software was a requirement. And after I got used to the software, I started using it for literary translation too at some point. And never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Default layout of memoQ, one of the popular Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s\nthe deal with the CAT tools? The main idea behind them is that the text for\ntranslation is \u201csegmented\u201d into sentences, and once you translate a sentence\n(segment), both source and target are stored in a database called a\n\u201ctranslation memory\u201d (or \u201cTM\u201d), which you can use in the future translations\nand share with others. When you encounter identical segments in the future, the\nsoftware will insert the prior text into your current translation, so you don\u2019t\nhave to waste time on something you \u2013 or someone else, if you received a\ntranslation memory along with the files for translation \u2013 already did, while\nensuring consistency, which is very important in technical communication. If\nyou encounter a sentence similar to something you already translated (a\nso-called \u201cfuzzy match\u201d), the software will also show you the previous\ntranslation with differences between the current and previous segment texts\nhighlighted, again helping you work faster and in a more consistent way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Translation memory match in memoQ: (1) Current sentence for translation, (2) Similar sentence found in translation memory, highlighting differences between current text and TM match (3) Translation of the segment found in TM, (4) Information on TM match: who translated\/edited it, when, what was the document name, similarity score (match percentage) etc. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Of course,\nthat\u2019s not necessary something we want in a literary translation, but it\u2019s\nsometimes useful, and the CAT tools offer way more than just help with\nconsistency, definitely helping me work in a more comfortable, efficient way.\nLet me tell you how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I never\nactually did the translation in Word thing: I used a Linux text editor, but the\nidea was the same: open the source text in an editor window, open a second\nwindow to the right\/left\/above\/below, make sure the windows are right\nsize and in the right places, and then you can translate. Also, once in a while\nyou need to switch to the source text window to change the scroll. And if you\ntake a longer break for any reason or close the source text window, you need to\nfind where in the source text you now are. It doesn\u2019t take long, but this adds\nup in the course of a work day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\nwork with a CAT tool, some preparation is required at the beginning in most\ncases, as most tools employ the concept of a \u201cproject\u201d: you need to create a\nproject with a name, define a language pair and create a new translation memory\nand term base or mark existing ones for use, and then import the source file.\nFor something you\u2019ll do once in several months it\u2019s really not a big deal. Once\nyou have done this, you can run an analysis in which the software will tell you\nhow many segments\/words\/characters source file has and if there are any\nrepetitions \u2013 identical segments written more than once in the text. For\nliterary texts, in most cases this will be things like \u201cChapter:\u201d and for an\nEnglish source text also \u201che\/she said\u201d and the like. Running an analysis is a\ngreat way to track your progress: while the software will display progress\ninformation in real time, I like being able to record this information, so I\nalways run analysis at the end of my working day to be able to track and\ncompare daily progress. But it\u2019s optional, and the number of characters\/words\nshould be the same as reported by a word processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start\nthe translation. Once the text is imported, you can open it for translation.\nDepending on the actual software used, various levels of formatting will be\nshown \u2013 some programs, like Trados Studio, replicate font color, size and\ntypeface from Microsoft Word documents while others, like memoQ, show only most\nbasic formatting (bold<\/strong>, italic<\/em>, underline), using single,\ncustomizable font face for all text. I actually prefer this approach, since\nit\u2019s easier to focus on content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s list\nthe actual benefits of working with a CAT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Focus\/ergonomics <\/strong>\u2013 Regardless of the fonts, in case of most CAT tools the source text will be displayed as segments: each sentence separately, and you are supposed to type in the translation \u2013 depending on software or settings \u2013 to the right of source or below source text. This has three benefits: it helps you focus on a single sentence and makes it easy to find the current text to work on \u2013 it\u2019s usually in the middle of the screen, highlighted in some way. It\u2019s also really hard to forget to translate some part of the text: you\u2019ll get a warning if you\u2019ll try to export a translation that\u2019s not completed.<\/li>
  • Formatting <\/strong>\u2013 You will see more or less \u201cclean\u201d text (the amount of formatting depends on the software and your preferences). If the paragraphs are formatted in some complex way, you don\u2019t have to worry about that, software will use that formatting when you export finished translation. You can just focus on the translation, applying simple stuff like bold or italics along the way or using special tags for more complex formatting.
    Original source text formatting is usually displayed as a live preview in the CAT tool interface (but not in all such programs), and the preview is updated as the translation progresses.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    • Term bases <\/strong>\u2013 You can use term base (glossary) features to speed up your work and make it more consistent. Do you need to translate some place name? Add the source term and its translation to the term base (TB). If the name shows up in a source segment, it will be highlighted, and the translation will be shown somewhere in the CAT tool\u2019s user interface. You can then insert the translation quickly by double-clicking, using a shortcut key or just by starting to type it and using the predictive typing suggestion. Do you have a long, complex place\/person\/company\/product name? Add it to a TB to facilitate quick typing or insertion. Are you translating from English to some inflected language and there\u2019s some character in your novel whose gender you can\u2019t remember? Add the name to TB with note on gender. You can type it faster and see the gender info quickly.
      <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
      • Faster typing <\/strong>\u2013 Term base hits can be inserted very quickly, but this also works for short segments. Plus in some programs like memoQ or Trados Studio you can generate special predictive typing dictionaries that will suggest words or even multi-word phrases based on source segment content. This works best if you have large translation memories and languages which are not inflected.
        <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
        • Concordance <\/strong>\u2013 All CAT tools offer a concordance feature: simply select source word or phrase and use the corresponding keyboard shortcut or function button to look up how it was translated before. No more scrolling through documents to match source file with target. All instances in which the expression occurs are shown in one window, with context. This makes it much easier to ensure consistent translation of some particular phrase used by one of the characters, or just the opposite \u2013 ensure diverse translations if preferred.
          <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
          • Auto-concordance <\/strong>\u2013 It gets even better: short, repeated segments (like \u201che said\u201d) and their translations can be shown automatically. You can use this feature to ensure consistency or as a sort of thesaurus for increasing diversity, which is often needed in a literary context. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
            • Quotations <\/strong>\u2013 Does your author repeat statements made earlier? How well do you recall these? You don\u2019t have to look for the quote; the CAT tool will show you previous the translation automatically. And even show the differences if the author changed something (deliberately or accidentally).<\/li>
            • Comments <\/strong>\u2013 Do you use comments to note something for later? No problem! You can use the commenting feature in your CAT tool and perhaps assign one of various comment categories (e.g. information, warning, etc.) for different purposes. Later you can filter to find the segments with comments quickly and even export those comments (all of them or just a selected category) to the target document.<\/li>
            • No sentence is lost <\/strong>\u2013 Once you confirm a segment (usually with Ctrl-Enter), it gets marked as confirmed in a translation editor, but it\u2019s also stored in a translation memory (database). Some programs save the file at the same time (in others this happens at pre-defined time intervals). Even if your computer crashes or there\u2019s a power outage, the translation is safe \u2013 you can always restore it from the translation memory. This provides another level of safety\/backup for your work.<\/li>
            • Progress tracking \/ improved productivity <\/strong>\u2013 A CAT tool will show your progress based on the number of segments, words or characters. I already mentioned the analysis feature and real time progress information. But working with segments has an additional benefit: you can use them for a variant of the Pomodoro<\/em> technique, where instead of time, you focus only on your translation for a given number of segments. For me in literary texts it\u2019s usually 50 \u2013 when I start working, I ignore emails and other distractions until I\u2019ll translate 50 segments. Then I take shorter or longer break (for Facebook, preparing tea or loading the washing machine) and start another batch. The number can be different depending on the complexity of your source text, but this technique allowed me to improve my productivity considerably. Of course, you don\u2019t have to use a CAT tool for this; you can do this based on pages instead of segments, but I find it easier with segment numbers. <\/li>
            • Filtering for words\/phrases <\/strong>\u2013 You already know that it\u2019s easy to check how something was translated before, but what if you changed your mind and you want to use a different translation? Use Find and replace…<\/em> or filter the text based on a source or target expression and edit the selected segments containing the words you need in context. Please note this feature is not available in all CAT tools, only those which use an editor with a \u201ctable\u201d interface.<\/li>
            • Built-in\/optional web search tools <\/strong>\u2013 You won\u2019t find this in every tool, but the good ones have it. Do you need to run a Google\/Bing search or use some web dictionary? Once you configure built-in\/optional web search feature, you can just select a word or phrase and use shortcut key to look up that text on multiple web sites at the same time.<\/li>
            • Automated fuzzy matches correction <\/strong>\u2013 This doesn\u2019t happen very often in literary text and it\u2019s may not be something you rely on, but sometimes a fuzzy match (sentence stored in TM similar to your current one) can be \u201cfixed\u201d automatically to create a correct translation. And it may even be something worth keeping without rephrasing.
              <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

              There are\nalso other useful features, like: being able to generate a Microsoft Word file\nwith source and target texts in a table for quick verification in the word\nprocessor\u2019s environment; auto-correction lists; the ability to use monolingual\nreference files; quality assurance functions; and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

              So is it\nall roses? As with any software, there are some limitations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              • Sentence-based translation <\/strong>\u2013 As mentioned before, with CAT tools we are working with segments, which are mostly sentences. But in literary\/creative translation we need to consider the larger context, usually a whole paragraph or more, and the stylistic impact on a reader. Context and style are, of course, important in technical translation but are often weighted differently.. Breaking text up into sentence-level chunks makes it easier to focus on the current segment, but at the same time a bit harder to think about whole paragraph. But it\u2019s not like the rest of the text is hidden \u2013 just the opposite, current segment is highlighted element with previous and next segments plainly visible, so it\u2019s just a matter of adjusting how you look at things. You can also easily change the segmentation to paragraph-based, but this may negate some of CAT benefits (e.g. it\u2019s easier to miss a sentence). Quite often you will also have to change sentence length \u2013 joining two or more source sentences (segments) into one in translated text or splitting longer sentences into shorter ones. This is actually quite easy: if you need to change long source sentence into two shorter in translation, simply write those two sentences into a single target segment. If you need to merge several short sentences into one, you can either join the segments so the software will show two or more sentences in a single source segment (translation table \u201ccell\u201d), or just translate fragments in proper segments. They will comprise a single sentence in output target file. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                \"\"

                <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

                If you need to split text into separate paragraphs, you will have to use some placeholder symbol (I use \u201c\\\\\u201d) and use Find and Replace in Microsoft Word after exporting the translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

                And once you finish your translation, do the final proofreading of the exported target file in Microsoft Word, not in the CAT tool. This will help you see paragraphs and larger blocks of text, not sentences, in an overview which makes it easier to polish the text.
                <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                • Learning curve <\/strong>\u2013 You can grok the basics of CAT tool functionality with several hours of online webinars\/training courses and a little practice, but you have to be prepared for some frustration and a steep learning curve, especially if you never used any such tool before and need to learn new concepts. Different programs offer different levels of complexity, and while general workflows are the same, implementations differ. When working with literary texts you won\u2019t need all the features of a modern CAT tool, and some of the features mentioned above (such as web search) require some work for configuration.<\/li>
                • Cost <\/strong>\u2013 Let\u2019s face it: CAT programs are professional software, and they are priced accordingly. Will your productivity improve enough to justify investment of several hundred euros? Maybe, with time. And maybe not. But you can start with free software, like Open Source OmegaT, free to use SmartCAT (read the EULA carefully) or Wordfast Anywhere, try subscription programs, e.g. Memsource or experiment with trial versions of commercial tools like memoQ (my favorite, with a 45-day trial period) or SDL Trados Studio. But remember the old adage: you get what you pay for. I don\u2019t want to knock the free tools, but you do get more with commercial desktop software.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                  So, let\u2019s summarize. Can CAT tools be used in literary\/creative translations? Definitely. Will they help? Yes, in many ways. Enough to invest in commercial tools? You have to decide for yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  Full disclosure:<\/strong> I’m not employed by any software company and I don’t get comission on any sales, but as a certified trainer, I do run commercial memoQ trainings.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  If you deal with literary and creative translation only, you have probably never used any special translation-related software other than dictionaries (and a word processor), but you may have heard of \u201cComputer Assisted Translation\u201d tools or CATs for short. These were developed with technical translation in mind, and their main premise is to \u201cnever translate the same sentence twice\u201d, which makes a lot of sense in the world of repetitive instruction manuals, but can this be useful in literary translation? Let\u2019s see, but please note that this text does not touch the subject of machine translation (MT).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,1],"tags":[55],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":973,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions\/973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wasaty.pl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}