"Introduction to CAT tools" webinar - summary

Last month at MD Online we launched an exciting new project –  free webinars aimed at enhancing the translation skills of our translators. The first online training is prepared for translators who want to find out the best ways to apply CAT tools in their work.

At MD Online we pay a lot of attention to the quality of the translation we deliver. We use CAT tools (Computer Aided Translation tools, especially SDL Trados, MemoQ, and SmartCat) on an everyday basis to make sure we can meet even the shortest deadlines while keeping the highest quality and consistency of translation. CAT tools allow us to create databases and enable to deliver texts tailored for the needs and requirements of our clients with terminology and wording which is always consistent. Not only throughout one text but also in the whole series of them.

Computer-Aided Translation can be categorized as Machine Aided Human Translation, which means that the translation is done in 100% by a human translator with the aid of the computer program which reminds its user about the correct word choices for translation and, in case a similar text occurred in the past, prevents the translator from translating similar sentences multiple times.

Our first webinar ? Introduction to CAT tools?  was divided into three parts.

  1. Theoretical part in which was presenting the advantages of CAT tools
  2. Practical part in which the basic functionalities of CAT tools were explained
  3. Discussion in which the translators could ask for further clarification and share their ideas on CAT tools.

30 translators from all over the world participated in the training. After the event, we sent follow-up questionnaires to the participants to find out what part of the training they enjoyed and on what we should work more.

The most valuable part, according to the participants was the practical part in which we showed the translators who do not yet have much experience with CAT tools, how to start the first project in the program. This part included some tricks of the trade, including how to troubleshoot issues that may arise in the early stages of using the software.

We are pleased to say that the training webinar was a success and 100% of participants declared the willingness to attend the next webinar. The training was described by 77% of participants as very informative. We are very happy that translators not only enjoyed our CAT tools webinar and that they found the information we shared, useful.

Currently, we are preparing the second webinar in which we will cover the topics connected with Translation Memory.

Visit our website and follow us on social media to get information about the next event.

If you could not participate in the first training, you can visit our YouTube channel where we post videos on translation-related topics.

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