posted 12 May 2001 10:07            

quote:

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If you are not going to translate the same kind of repeat material for the same client all the time, then a TM system is a dubious investment.

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I have to disagree with you to some extent there. It does depend to a very large extent what kind of material you translate as to whether a TM system is worth the money. If you do lots of marketing text, tourist brochures and that kind of thing, I'd agree with you - although if one client comes back with lots of press releases, for example, that all carry the same end paragraph, it can save you messing around looking for the old one which you did x weeks ago, checking it against your new version and pasting it in. I suppose whether or not it's worth getting TM software for this depends on how much you spend on the TM software itself!

The big advantage comes with repetitive text, though. For instance, I've just completed a 12000-word job in 2 days. It was a technical manual and the first job of this kind I've ever done for this client. But there was so much repetition within the actual documents, and the TM saved me having to cross-reference and double-check all the terminology I'd used for consistency.

My point is that TM systems aren't always the indispensable pieces of kit they're said to be, but with the right text(s) to translate they can make life a lot easier and can improve consistency in your work, which in itself almost guarantees repeat business because project managers like translators who save them having to double-check every last little detail...

All very interesting! I wonder what other people think?

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apollo@translatortips.net

posted 14 May 2001 11:49            

Would anyone (i.e. a TM-hardened translator) out there be willing to organise such a course for those of us still hesitating to make this investment?

Are there other potential takers like me?....