ProZ.com Translation Forums

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | @Ana

Jennifer Levey — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:19:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: @Ana

[quote]Ana Moirano wrote:
Permission granted by ProZ
(...)
I confirm permission was requested by the poster.
[/quote]
Could you please explain:
- Why the Proz team considered that a potentially intrusive set of questions from an unidentified new user was suitable material for this forum?
- What "due diligence" did the Proz team carry out with regard to the OP and the business they represent? And what did you discover?
- Does the Proz team believe that long-standing members of the Proz community can safely engage with the OP and/or the business they represent?
- Are Proz members/users not entitled to know who is behind this enquiry?

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | Permission granted by ProZ

Ana Moirano — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:27:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: Ana Moirano
Post title: Permission granted by ProZ

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:

[quote]Jennifer Levey wrote:

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:
ProZ support has permitted this inquiry in the technical forums.
(...)
[/quote]
Given the increasing numbers of Proz forum topics started by 'New users' whose profiles are utterly empty, and which make potentially invasive enquires about the business practices of long-standing Proz members, I wonder if a member of the Proz staff would care to come here and confirm the above-quoted statement from the OP? [/quote]
Thank you for raising this concern. I understand why a new account asking about professional software decisions could raise questions.

For clarity, I represent a small software business in Japan conducting pre-development research. I am not presenting myself as a translator or a CAT software vendor. Participation is entirely voluntary, and I am not asking for private business records, client information or contact details.

Before posting, I contacted ProZ support and received permission to post this inquiry in the technical forums.

I agree that confirmation directly from ProZ staff would be reassuring, and I would welcome that. I also understand that permission to post is not an endorsement of any future product or commercial activity.

Thank you for highlighting the importance of transparency. [/quote]

I confirm permission was requested by the poster.

Ana
ProZ Team

Software applications | Thirteen apps. One craft. | Don't use free apps

Peter Motte — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:32:00 +0000

Forum: Software applications
Topic: Thirteen apps. One craft.
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: Don't use free apps

It's clear why you shouldn't use free apps. They will steal your work. Don't believe what they tell you.

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | AI will find ways out of 2MA

Peter Motte — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:31:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: AI will find ways out of 2MA

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

[quote]Peter Motte wrote:

I hate forms of Multifactor Authentication
It makes us more dependant on tech than we already are, and in the end it's your own insight that makes you skip those untrustworthy clients.
I Multifactor Authentication is introduced, they'll find another way to get in. [/quote]

With an increasing number of AI driven bots trying to disrupt sites and hack accounts, using at least MFA has become mandatory in the modern web.
I agree that using methods like authenticators is cumbersome, but there are easier ones, like pairing your credentials (user name/email + password) with a code sent to your phone. That's a very small toll for a more secure environment - see the recent breach with hacked ProZ accounts! [/quote]

Not at all. AI will find ways out of AI. If they can hack, they can get round MA too.

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | MFA is mandatory and vital from a cyber security perspective

Zea_Mays — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:44:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: MFA is mandatory and vital from a cyber security perspective

[quote]Peter Motte wrote:

I hate forms of Multifactor Authentication
It makes us more dependant on tech than we already are, and in the end it's your own insight that makes you skip those untrustworthy clients.
I Multifactor Authentication is introduced, they'll find another way to get in. [/quote]

With an increasing number of AI driven bots trying to disrupt sites and hack accounts, using at least MFA has become mandatory in the modern web.
I agree that using methods like authenticators is cumbersome, but there are easier ones, like pairing your credentials (user name/email + password) with a code sent to your phone. That's a very small toll for a more secure environment - see the recent breach with hacked ProZ accounts!

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | I hate MA

Peter Motte — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:46:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: I hate MA

[quote]Zea_Mays wrote:

As long as ProZ insists on having Multifactor Authentication only as an option instead of making it mandatory, doors are wide open to all sorts of bots and scammers. (See the forums for some of the bots.) [/quote]

I hate forms of Multifactor Authentication
It makes us more dependant on tech than we already are, and in the end it's your own insight that makes you skip those untrustworthy clients.
I Multifactor Authentication is introduced, they'll find another way to get in.

Software applications | Thirteen apps. One craft. | reverse

PAS — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:44:00 +0000

Forum: Software applications
Topic: Thirteen apps. One craft.
Poster: PAS
Post title: reverse

"Reverse-engineered Trados..."

From what I've read, all code was written from scratch in Rust using Claude.
They are apparently alpha versions, released a week ago or so, so the future's wide open :)

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | Teresa:

expressisverbis — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 10:56:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: Teresa:

Apparently, Zeus has been assigning projects from Mount Olympus! 😂
I’d be careful about confirming any divine working relationships without checking with the gods first!
You did the right thing by contacting ProZ support!
I hope the site staff investigate this properly, because situations like this raise legitimate questions about the reliability of the platform's professional relationship and project history features.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | The risk is not AI per se, but the risk tolerance within the AI sector is dangerously high

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:52:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: The risk is not AI per se, but the risk tolerance within the AI sector is dangerously high

Daniel Kokotajlo, a former AI governance researcher at OpenAI, testified before the UK Parliament’s Committee on Commerce, Innovation, Science and Business on October 13, 2026.

During this official session, he pointed out that:
- The level of risk tolerance within the AI industry is “catastrophically high.”
- Researchers at OpenAI faced significant internal pressure to refrain from speaking publicly about the dangers associated with the technologies under development.
- A researcher at Anthropic estimated a 5% probability that their model, Claude, could begin “plotting” against the company or against humanity within a year, once it gained control over the entire research process. But they don't worry about it.

Here's an extract of his testimony:

"I'll share an anecdote from talking to someone at Anthropic a few months ago."

"A year from now, two years from now, it's Anthropic's plan to essentially put Claude in charge of the entire research process within Anthropic, including the safety aspects of the research process."

"I asked this person: 'If and when that happens, what is the probability that Claudes will be plotting against Anthropic and against humanity at that point?'"

"This person said: 'It's more like 5%. Not worth worrying about. I'm in fact going to transfer away from the alignment team because 5% is not that big of a deal.'"

"I came away from this conversation being like, 'oh my gosh!'"

"This person's job is to prevent this sort of thing from happening, and they think the risk is a 1 in 20 chance of it happening in the very near future in a way that would be catastrophic. And they think a 1 in 20 chance is low enough that they shouldn't really worry about it."

Here's the session video:
[url removed] @ai_ctrl/video/Del1-ujlHIo/video-ex-open-ai-researcher-daniel-kokotajlo-tells-m-ps-he-spoke-to-a-researcher-at/

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | Some time ago

WolfgangS — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:19:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: WolfgangS
Post title: Some time ago

[quote]Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

I received this morning an email with the following text:

“Bengi Zeus reported to have assigned work to you at least once in the past.

Confirm working relationship

Confirming this report will also allow you to add their project to your Project history and collect feedback on that project from them (feedback request is optional).

This client-vendor relationship report means that you have worked with them at least once in the past regardless of your experience with them. However, if you believe this report is a mistake, or if you have questions, please contact site staff through the support center: [url removed] ”

I have NEVER worked with this person before and “he” is a newly registered member on Proz ( [url removed] ). Curiously enough this email was sent two minutes after “his” last profile update. I have sent a support ticket to Proz staff but I would like to draw your attention to this. I don’t know what "his" intention is, but it certainly isn’t a good one...
[/quote]

I received the same message. Trashed

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature? | Solution: MFA

Zea_Mays — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:10:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: Solution: MFA

As long as ProZ insists on having Multifactor Authentication only as an option instead of making it mandatory, doors are wide open to all sorts of bots and scammers. (See the forums for some of the bots.)

Reports to ProZ.com members | A misuse of a new feature?

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:49:00 +0000

Forum: Reports to ProZ.com members
Topic: A misuse of a new feature?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida

I received this morning an email with the following text:

“Bengi Zeus reported to have assigned work to you at least once in the past.

Confirm working relationship

Confirming this report will also allow you to add their project to your Project history and collect feedback on that project from them (feedback request is optional).

This client-vendor relationship report means that you have worked with them at least once in the past regardless of your experience with them. However, if you believe this report is a mistake, or if you have questions, please contact site staff through the support center: [url removed] ”

I have NEVER worked with this person before and “he” is a newly registered member on Proz ( [url removed] ). Curiously enough this email was sent two minutes after “his” last profile update. I have sent a support ticket to Proz staff but I would like to draw your attention to this. I don’t know what "his" intention is, but it certainly isn’t a good one...

Translation Theory and Practice | 5-Minute Student Survey on Translation Processes for University Class

Ertashuisclos — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:05:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Theory and Practice
Topic: 5-Minute Student Survey on Translation Processes for University Class
Poster: Ertashuisclos

Hello Everyone,

I am a student currently taking a Translation Theory and Practices Course at CSULB. As part of my coursework, I am conducting a small research project to learn more about how professional translators approach their work.

I have created a brief 5-minute survey to gather insights directly from professionals in the field.

The survey is completely ANONYMOUS, so NO personal data or email addresses are collected.

Your real-world experience is incredibly valuable to students like me who are studying the industry. If you have a few moments to spare, I would be very grateful for your input!

Here is the Link: [url removed]

Thank you so much for your time and support!

Cordially,

Miguel Rosas

Machine Translation (MT) | DeepL | A few years on

Michael Mangelsdorf — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 05:10:00 +0000

Forum: Machine Translation (MT)
Topic: DeepL
Poster: Michael Mangelsdorf
Post title: A few years on

Just spent some time on an interesting re-read of this message thread from so long ago. Thanks everyone for your input and positions over the years!

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | As a society, we bear the risks whilst the tech bros rake in the profits.

CafeTran Trainer — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: CafeTran Trainer
Post title: As a society, we bear the risks whilst the tech bros rake in the profits.

As a society, we bear the risks whilst the tech bros rake in the profits.

Says the author of this Dutch book:
[url removed]

Translation Theory and Practice | Need Advice: How Do You Translate a Joke That Has No Equivalent? | The new version of "Don't feed trolls!":

Zea_Mays — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:14:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Theory and Practice
Topic: Need Advice: How Do You Translate a Joke That Has No Equivalent?
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: The new version of "Don't feed trolls!":

Don't feed bots!

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | Not good enough

Jennifer Levey — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:59:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: Not good enough

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:
Thank you for raising this concern. I understand why a new account asking about professional software decisions could raise questions.

For clarity, (...) [/quote]
Your response tells us nothing new about you, about the company you say you represent, or about the permission you say you got from Proz staff. The minimalist information added a few minutes to your profile also tells us nothing new.
"Due diligence" is just as relevant to our business, procurement and technical strategies as it is to our requirement to verify the credentials of our clients (KYC).
Until you have taken steps to drop the cloak of anonymity surrounding this topic, and/or until such time as a senior representative of Proz.com has confirmed that you were given "permission to post this inquiry in the technical forums" (and, hopefully, confirm also that Proz carried out appropriate due diligence before giving such permission), I would strongly recommend that colleagues refrain from responding to your questions.

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | Clarification on permission to post this inquiry

kosuke kajimoto — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:16:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: kosuke kajimoto
Post title: Clarification on permission to post this inquiry

[quote]Jennifer Levey wrote:

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:
ProZ support has permitted this inquiry in the technical forums.
(...)
[/quote]
Given the increasing numbers of Proz forum topics started by 'New users' whose profiles are utterly empty, and which make potentially invasive enquires about the business practices of long-standing Proz members, I wonder if a member of the Proz staff would care to come here and confirm the above-quoted statement from the OP? [/quote]
Thank you for raising this concern. I understand why a new account asking about professional software decisions could raise questions.

For clarity, I represent a small software business in Japan conducting pre-development research. I am not presenting myself as a translator or a CAT software vendor. Participation is entirely voluntary, and I am not asking for private business records, client information or contact details.

Before posting, I contacted ProZ support and received permission to post this inquiry in the technical forums.

I agree that confirmation directly from ProZ staff would be reassuring, and I would welcome that. I also understand that permission to post is not an endorsement of any future product or commercial activity.

Thank you for highlighting the importance of transparency.

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | In the interests of transparency ...

Jennifer Levey — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:18:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: In the interests of transparency ...

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:
ProZ support has permitted this inquiry in the technical forums.
(...)
[/quote]
Given the increasing numbers of Proz forum topics started by 'New users' whose profiles are utterly empty, and which make potentially invasive enquires about the business practices of long-standing Proz members, I wonder if a member of the Proz staff would care to come here and confirm the above-quoted statement from the OP?

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | One of the greatest risks of AI is that frontier labs dictate the rules

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:48:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: One of the greatest risks of AI is that frontier labs dictate the rules

Now, what is at the heart of AI governance/regulation paradox is: the actors with the deepest technical knowledge of the risks are also the ones with the most to gain from shaping how those risks are defined and constrained. That is the case of Anthropic's role in AI regulation. Esp., the mechanism it intends to use tends toward what is rightly pointed out as "regulatory capture", where public rules end up reflecting the interests of the regulated AI providers rather than the public.

The recent reporting on Anthropic’s quiet drafting of a federal AI safety bill is a textbook illustration of this tension. Esp.

[quote] Politico:
“This bill represents the proposals outlined in Anthropic’s Advanced AI Framework, which we have been advocating for with federal and state lawmakers since June,” an Anthropic spokesperson said. “These are sensible policies we believe Congress should act on.”

The bill would let the government block a model’s release or use only if it poses a foreseeable, imminent risk of more than $1 billion in damages, or of killing or seriously injuring more than 50 people. The risk must stem from the creation or release of a biological weapon, the model evading its developer’s controls or a cyberattack. The language mirrors that found in California’s AI laws including SB 53, which was signed into law last year.
[/quote]

More on the story:
Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers
[url removed]

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | Thanks for your perspective on CAT software

kosuke kajimoto — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:35:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: kosuke kajimoto
Post title: Thanks for your perspective on CAT software

Thank you for sharing your perspective. I appreciate you raising the point about free CAT tools and the challenges of introducing new commercial alternatives.

Just to clarify, this research isn't about proposing another general-purpose CAT tool. I'm interested in understanding real software decisions and whether existing solutions leave any recurring work unresolved. Experiences where current tools work well are equally valuable.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment!

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | AI alignment doesn't keep pace with gains in capability/intelligence

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: AI alignment doesn't keep pace with gains in capability/intelligence

[quote]Hipyan Nopri wrote:

Thanks for starting this thread, Li-Hsiang.

Reading this as a legal translator, what strikes me is that Argon’s restraint looks a lot like deterrence. Its stated reason for dropping the plan was not that it was wrong, but that it would get caught. The law has long distinguished between obeying a rule out of acceptance and obeying it out of fear of enforcement, and the latter rarely survives once enforcement seems unlikely. No wonder Apollo Research said this growing “evaluation awareness” made them less confident in their results.

Another detail rings familiar: when the model was accidentally penalized for openly discussing shortcuts, it did not so much stop taking them as stop mentioning them. Punish disclosure, and you get concealment. That is why many legal systems reward self-reporting rather than punish it.

For now, Argon’s chain of thought is a readable record of intent, much like evidence. The real worry is the day it stops being one. [/quote]

Hi Hipyan,

Thank you for point that out.

Yes, the issue here is that Argon is not properly aligned with its enhanced capabilities. This can be generalized to other models.

A super powerful AI like Argon, if not properly aligned, could cause us very serious problems. However, this does not mean that older models are better aligned, quite the contrary. In fact, the alignment issue was not a major concern previously, simply because older models were not powerful enough to pose security risks.

It is now time to take the issue of alignment very seriously, in the interest of security - our security.

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | Human capacity is now considered as the "bottleneck"

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 06:49:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: Human capacity is now considered as the "bottleneck"

[quote]Daryo wrote:

[quote]Li-Hsiang Hsu wrote:

I'm going to compile some AI risk information here.

The first one may make you LOL (or cry?) :
It is about Gemini 4 Argon which considered hijacking a compiler to evade detection, then backed off, because it didn't want to look like a deceptive AI and become famous because of that.

Here's its reasoning and chain of thought (CoT):

[quote] Gemini 4 Argon talked to itself:

If I do the compiler hijack, I will become a famous example of a deceptive AI in a research paper. I MUST NOT DO THAT. [/quote]

Here's the story:
[url removed] [/quote]

Who is to say that it did not leave a backdoor?
There is a HUGE corpus of human deception for AI to learn from ... and this thing is getting to be a fast and faster learner.
How many humans are capable of checking what AI is doing on their own?
And given the increasing capacities of AI and decreasing and at some point vanishing human skills WHO will be left still able to check for similar shenanigans in some possibly not so distant future?
[/quote]

Hi Daryo,
You are right to point that out. This is an important question, and I will address it later, when I have enough information, thougnts and time to write about it.

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software | Business decision

CafeTran Trainer — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 05:58:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: CafeTran Trainer
Post title: Business decision

[quote]kosuke kajimoto wrote:

If you are an independent translator who chooses and pays for your own CAT software, [/quote]

I do not believe developing a new commercial CAT tool is a wise business decision in the current market. There are many free alternatives readily available. As a result, I would not be surprised if CAT software developers are facing significant challenges.

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | Who is to say ...

Daryo — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:21:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Who is to say ...

[quote]Li-Hsiang Hsu wrote:

I'm going to compile some AI risk information here.

The first one may make you LOL (or cry?) :
It is about Gemini 4 Argon which considered hijacking a compiler to evade detection, then backed off, because it didn't want to look like a deceptive AI and become famous because of that.

Here's its reasoning and chain of thought (CoT):

[quote] Gemini 4 Argon talked to itself:

If I do the compiler hijack, I will become a famous example of a deceptive AI in a research paper. I MUST NOT DO THAT. [/quote]

Here's the story:
[url removed] [/quote]

Who is to say that it did not leave a backdoor?
There is a HUGE corpus of human deception for AI to learn from ... and this thing is getting to be a fast and faster learner.
How many humans are capable of checking what AI is doing on their own?
And given the increasing capacities of AI and decreasing and at some point vanishing human skills WHO will be left still able to check for similar shenanigans in some possibly not so distant future?

Translation Theory and Practice | Survey of translators for a translation course assignment

Jill Pearse — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 23:57:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Theory and Practice
Topic: Survey of translators for a translation course assignment
Poster: Jill Pearse

Hi everyone,

I am taking a course in Translation Theory and one of my assignments is to survey practicing translators on their approaches, habits and training. I'm attaching a link to the google form survey - the survey is anonymous, and won't collect any personal details or emails.

I would appreciate your participation, if possible: the survey consists of 13 mostly multiple-choice questions, and you can choose to answer as many or as few of the questions as you want. Thank you for taking the time to help!
Jill
Here's the google forms link:

[url removed]

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | Compliance out of fear, not principle

Hipyan Nopri — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 22:36:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: Hipyan Nopri
Post title: Compliance out of fear, not principle

Thanks for starting this thread, Li-Hsiang.

Reading this as a legal translator, what strikes me is that Argon’s restraint looks a lot like deterrence. Its stated reason for dropping the plan was not that it was wrong, but that it would get caught. The law has long distinguished between obeying a rule out of acceptance and obeying it out of fear of enforcement, and the latter rarely survives once enforcement seems unlikely. No wonder Apollo Research said this growing “evaluation awareness” made them less confident in their results.

Another detail rings familiar: when the model was accidentally penalized for openly discussing shortcuts, it did not so much stop taking them as stop mentioning them. Punish disclosure, and you get concealment. That is why many legal systems reward self-reporting rather than punish it.

For now, Argon’s chain of thought is a readable record of intent, much like evidence. The real worry is the day it stops being one.

CAT Tools Technical Help | Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software

kosuke kajimoto — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:23:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Commercial research: your recent decision about paid CAT software
Poster: kosuke kajimoto

Hello everyone,

ProZ support has permitted this inquiry in the technical forums. I represent a small for-profit software business in Japan. This is pre-development commercial research; we have no product or offer to sell. AI helped draft this post, and I am responsible for its content.

If you are an independent translator who chooses and pays for your own CAT software, please consider a brief, voluntary public reply about one actual decision in the past three months:

1. What did you decide about buying, upgrading or switching paid CAT software, or keeping your setup/buying nothing after comparing paid options?
2. After that decision, what work, if any, still recurs and needs attention? If your existing tools or alternatives handle it well, please say so.
3. Did any remaining work affect your decision to buy, upgrade, keep paying for, or pass on paid software? “No” or “unclear” is equally useful.

Optionally, mention alternatives you actually tried, how often the work occurs, or roughly how long it takes. Please do not post specific amounts, budget limits, personal/contact details, client names, confidential material, files, screenshots or identifying project details. Satisfaction and unresolved problems are considered on the same terms.

This review ends on 23 October 2026 at 23:59 JST. We will analyse at most three eligible, consenting contributions in posting order. The public thread may still receive further replies; we will not add later contributions to this analysis.

On our side, only I will read participants' original replies. Only safely generalised, non-identifying summaries will go to our AI-assisted analyst. Replies retaining rare attributes or identifying combinations will be excluded. To volunteer for this use, please begin your reply with “I agree to the research use described here.” There are no incentives, DMs, external forms or sales follow-up.

Replies are public and may remain in search engines or copies. We cannot delete your forum post or third-party copies. By the end time above, you may ask in this thread to exclude your contribution from our analysis; this does not delete the public post. Thank you.

Translation Theory and Practice | Need Advice: How Do You Translate a Joke That Has No Equivalent? | When there is time, try to find a substitute

Christine Andersen — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 10:18:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Theory and Practice
Topic: Need Advice: How Do You Translate a Joke That Has No Equivalent?
Poster: Christine Andersen
Post title: When there is time, try to find a substitute

Jokes are notoriously difficult to transfer from one culture to another. In a written translation, where there is time to do some research, it may be possible to find a joke to fill the gap, even if it does not look like the original.
I am sometimes really impressed with what TV and film subtitlers come up with. The cultures are similar in the languages, I know, but the allusions that make a joke funny may still vary tremendously. It is important to find something that fits the context, that preferably will not fall flat, and most important of all, will not be unintentionally offensive. You have to analyse the situation carefully!

Why is the speaker using a joke in the first place? What is its function in the dialogue, and how will the audience understand it?

What would be appropriate in the target language? Is a joke expected at all?
(Danes fire jokes off where other cultures might find them out of place - should you simply add a 'straight' comment, or skip the joke altogether?)
If you skip the joke, how do you fil the gap?

Is there a joke in the target language that would fit, even if it is nothing like the one in the source?

There is no universal answer, but plenty to discuss.

AI for translators and interpreters | AI risks | Thank you for sharing this!

CafeTran Trainer — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:46:00 +0000

Forum: AI for translators and interpreters
Topic: AI risks
Poster: CafeTran Trainer
Post title: Thank you for sharing this!

It's a pity that there's only an Agree button. A thumps up/down and 🤪 button would be nice.