| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: If a CAT tool has increased your revenues, it is because... Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez wrote:
If you believe using a CAT tool (or any software tool) has increased your revenues, you are either a salesman or a misinformed and gullible person.
Or just cannier than you, perhaps.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 19:04
English to Spanish
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| A canned response | Sep 6, 2016 |
Chris S wrote: Mario Chavez wrote:
If you believe using a CAT tool (or any software tool) has increased your revenues, you are either a salesman or a misinformed and gullible person.
Or just cannier than you, perhaps.
Put it another way, the time you think you saved in pretranslating sentences in a text is time you have to spend in revisions, or in reimporting a file or reexporting a file somehow corrupted in the process.
By way of example, I translated around 2000 words a day before I used any CAT tools. Guess how many words I translate these days? About 2000 words. The time I presumably save using a CAT tool is spent preparing, organizing or otherwise getting files ready for the CAT tool. Maybe canny translators like yourself can double the daily translation count but that's not exclusively because of using a CAT tool.
Some of us translators prefer to take our time to translate.
| | | | Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 01:04
Member (2006)
German to English
| What system do you use? | Sep 6, 2016 |
Mario Chavez wrote: Chris S wrote: Mario Chavez wrote:
If you believe using a CAT tool (or any software tool) has increased your revenues, you are either a salesman or a misinformed and gullible person.
Or just cannier than you, perhaps. Put it another way, the time you think you saved in pretranslating sentences in a text is time you have to spend in revisions, or in reimporting a file or reexporting a file somehow corrupted in the process. By way of example, I translated around 2000 words a day before I used any CAT tools. Guess how many words I translate these days? About 2000 words. The time I presumably save using a CAT tool is spent preparing, organizing or otherwise getting files ready for the CAT tool. Maybe canny translators like yourself can double the daily translation count but that's not exclusively because of using a CAT tool. Some of us translators prefer to take our time to translate.
I do not have to prepare anything. I get the files from my customer, import them, translate whatever, export tham and send them back to my customer.
It is extremely rare that I have any problems in-between - so this is once again a preference thing where telling somebody else that they are misinformed or gullible is not quite the fine art!
You have your preferences everybody else has theirs - you have had your "bad experiences", etc.
| | | | SteveMcD
Local time: 01:04
German to English
It seems there are people who forget what tools are really for. A tool, such as a hammer or a ratchet, is no different than a CAT tool. If you learn how to use it properly your work becomes easier and you become more efficient at doing your work. I don't use CAT tools because clients require them or because someone tells me I should. I use them because they are tools that, once learned, make my working life easier and more efficient. Given that, I can't really say that my CAT tool has increased ... See more It seems there are people who forget what tools are really for. A tool, such as a hammer or a ratchet, is no different than a CAT tool. If you learn how to use it properly your work becomes easier and you become more efficient at doing your work. I don't use CAT tools because clients require them or because someone tells me I should. I use them because they are tools that, once learned, make my working life easier and more efficient. Given that, I can't really say that my CAT tool has increased my income but I can say that it takes less time to turn out a quality translation than without it. There is certainly no doubt that it makes life easier (and saves loads of time) with the boilerplate product questionnaires I often receive from one company, for example. Whether I use the extra time gained to take on more work than if I did not use a CAT tool or just goof off is something I don't really track. Maybe that would be an even more relevant question for another poll. ▲ Collapse
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SteveMcD wrote:
It seems there are people who forget what tools are really for. A tool, such as a hammer or a ratchet, is no different than a CAT tool. If you learn how to use it properly your work becomes easier and you become more efficient at doing your work. I don't use CAT tools because clients require them or because someone tells me I should. I use them because they are tools that, once learned, make my working life easier and more efficient. Given that, I can't really say that my CAT tool has increased my income but I can say that it takes less time to turn out a quality translation than without it. There is certainly no doubt that it makes life easier (and saves loads of time) with the boilerplate product questionnaires I often receive from one company, for example. Whether I use the extra time gained to take on more work than if I did not use a CAT tool or just goof off is something I don't really track. Maybe that would be an even more relevant question for another poll.
As for consistency being a buzz word, it is lovely not to have to scroll back to the contents page of a document to see how you translated the title of each section. And even lovelier that, if you change said title later, when you review the document your CAT tool will remind you of that fact and even suggest the new title. And it's even lovelier that if that document is an annual report on company performance, for example, when you come to translate next year's report your CAT tool will suggest those same titles to you once again.
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Mario Chavez wrote:
If you believe using a CAT tool (or any software tool) has increased your revenues, you are either a salesman or a misinformed and gullible person.
That's quite an assertion to make. One might even say it was quite a rude thing to say.
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Requested by user. | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:04
English to Spanish
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| No rudeness intended | Sep 6, 2016 |
Georgie Scott wrote: Mario Chavez wrote:
If you believe using a CAT tool (or any software tool) has increased your revenues, you are either a salesman or a misinformed and gullible person.
That's quite an assertion to make. One might even say it was quite a rude thing to say.
Being opinionated or assertive doesn't mean being rude. So, I respectfully disagree with your assessment.
For those who use CAT tools (and I use more than one on a regular basis), my point is that their income increases (companies earn revenues, individual earn income) hinge on a number of factors and not just on a given CAT tool. If anyone thinks that the tool and not a combination of factors is behind the income increase, then that someone is a misinformed and gullible person.
I clearly explained my opinion with my own experiences as a user. However, I forgot to mention that a) I have worked in the software industry here in the United States for a number of years (I know their marketing tactics) and b) I have observed CAT tool software companies and spoke with their representatives over the years.
A tool doesn't make you better, only marginally faster, and that depends on what you do for a living. A worker using a pickaxe to break down a slab of cement will be better off with a jackhammer, doing his work much faster and safer, however. The same analogy doesn't apply well to other endeavors, such as writing a novel or translating a technical manual.
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| That hole's big enough, Mario | Sep 6, 2016 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
Being opinionated or assertive doesn't mean being rude.
Thing is, Mario, being opinionated and assertive doesn't have to mean putting down those who don't share your opinion.
Here's my experience. Company A publishes four interim reports a year. The first page of text needs translating from scratch each time. But the next 15 pages of financial statements and accounting policies and notes rarely change except for the numbers. My CAT does the whole lot for me. I literally go and make a cup of tea while my feline friend beavers away and earns me £££££££. Manually typing or copying all that text like in the old days would take a day or more. The CAT does it in a few minutes.
I earn more with CAT, fact.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:04
English to Spanish
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Chris S wrote: Mario Chavez wrote:
Being opinionated or assertive doesn't mean being rude.
Thing is, Mario, being opinionated and assertive doesn't have to mean putting down those who don't share your opinion. Here's my experience. Company A publishes four interim reports a year. The first page of text needs translating from scratch each time. But the next 15 pages of financial statements and accounting policies and notes rarely change except for the numbers. My CAT does the whole lot for me. I literally go and make a cup of tea while my feline friend beavers away and earns me £££££££. Manually typing or copying all that text like in the old days would take a day or more. The CAT does it in a few minutes. I earn more with CAT, fact.
Chris, it's not my fault if you or others take offense at my opinion. Did I target someone by name, country, location, gender or other criteria? No.
A cannier professional like you could have just ignored my comment, walk to your kitchen and make another cup of tea.
As for your experience, I've had a similar one. A 10,000-word annual report became a 2,000-word report, and then disappeared altogether not because I wasn't making $$$$ with the time saved and with some of the repetitions, but because the client's customer realized the report had so much repeat text from past years that it wasn't worth the cost. Or they probably outsourced to a translator in an emerging country who is happy to charge $0.03 or $0.04/word for their trouble.
| | | | Ilan Rubin (X)
Russian Federation
Local time: 02:04
Russian to English
| Is that wise? | Sep 7, 2016 |
Chris S wrote:
Here's my experience. Company A publishes four interim reports a year. The first page of text needs translating from scratch each time. But the next 15 pages of financial statements and accounting policies and notes rarely change except for the numbers. My CAT does the whole lot for me. I literally go and make a cup of tea while my feline friend beavers away and earns me £££££££. Manually typing or copying all that text like in the old days would take a day or more. The CAT does it in a few minutes.
I earn more with CAT, fact.
I'm a big fan of CAT (I have and use Trados as and when needed) but I was once in a similar sort of situation: the day after translating a contract for a new, non-Russian speaking client (agency) they sent me another contract to translate urgently. I could have charged him about Euro 500 but looking at it I realized it was exactly the same as the previous one except the customer's name and details in the contract were different. So I told the client and said I would charge him Euro 50 to fix it. I think this is the best approach for all sorts of reasons.
I wonder what will happen if and when, Chris, your client twigs.
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ILAN RUBIN wrote:
I'm a big fan of CAT (I have and use Trados as and when needed) but I was once in a similar sort of situation: the day after translating a contract for a new, non-Russian speaking client (agency) they sent me another contract to translate urgently. I could have charged him about Euro 500 but looking at it I realized it was exactly the same as the previous one except the customer's name and details in the contract were different. So I told the client and said I would charge him Euro 50 to fix it. I think this is the best approach for all sorts of reasons.
I wonder what will happen if and when, Chris, your client twigs.
Yes, you have to be sensible and fair. They do get a discount, don't worry. But there's no reason for me to pass on the *whole* of my saving to the customer. I have to make a return on my investment.
This is, of course, an extreme case, mentioned only to counter Mario's entirely reasonable assertion that I'm gullible and misinformed, at which I mistakenly took offence.
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 20:04
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| I can't deny it, It would be a lie | Sep 7, 2016 |
I was practically forced to use a CAT. I was against it for a few years, but I had an in-house job in another area, and translation was my second source of income.
Then I was dismissed, at the age of 46, and I had no choice but to invest in my career as a full-time translator. As I mentioned before, I should have done that 20 years earlier.
I started participating in translator communities, and some friends convinced me to use a CAT. I tried one, and I never worked again without it.... See more I was practically forced to use a CAT. I was against it for a few years, but I had an in-house job in another area, and translation was my second source of income.
Then I was dismissed, at the age of 46, and I had no choice but to invest in my career as a full-time translator. As I mentioned before, I should have done that 20 years earlier.
I started participating in translator communities, and some friends convinced me to use a CAT. I tried one, and I never worked again without it.
I thankfully have a full schedule, and clients have to send me their requests at least three days in advance now. I am able to translate a lot more, with a LOT less researching than before the CAT.
For me, it is impossible to deny that both the CAT and the communities were gold mines in my professional life. All it takes is to imagine my job without the CAT and without the communities. I would be working a lot less, and making a lot less money.
So I have no doubt about my answer, no matter how reluctant I may be, influenced by concepts that may not apply to reality. The reality is very clear, and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. I have to thank Kilgray and ProZ every day, for these were, by far, the best investments I have made in the past years. ▲ Collapse
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