Which CAT tool handles numbers best?
Thread poster: Oliver Dirs
Oliver Dirs
Oliver Dirs  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:56
Swedish to English
+ ...
Jul 21, 2020

I use Memsource (mostly the web-based version). It's good at most things, but it's let down by the way it handles numbers, e.g. in financial reports; 99% hits are often just random numbers that are nothing like the source. Of even greater concern is when 99% hits are the same number but with or without the minus sign in the source! And it's rather erratic at working out comma separators in thousands and decimal points. This can make checking unnecessarily time consuming. I used to work in MemoQ ... See more
I use Memsource (mostly the web-based version). It's good at most things, but it's let down by the way it handles numbers, e.g. in financial reports; 99% hits are often just random numbers that are nothing like the source. Of even greater concern is when 99% hits are the same number but with or without the minus sign in the source! And it's rather erratic at working out comma separators in thousands and decimal points. This can make checking unnecessarily time consuming. I used to work in MemoQ and I seem to remember that was better with numbers even a few years ago. As a translator I want to focus on the text, not the numbers; I expect that side of things to be pretty automated in 2020.

So what CAT tools deal with numbers best?

Thanks,
Oliver
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Michael Davies
Michael Davies  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 16:56
Member (2009)
Danish to English
+ ...
Which CAT tool handles numbers best. Jul 21, 2020

I have been a user of SDL Trados Studio for several years now - I currently use Studio 2019 - and am generally satisfied with its handling of numbers when translating between Danish and English (in either direction)*.

Occasionally it gets it wrong and needs manual intervention - so one cannot completely leave it to automation, but this is, in my view - and given the type of texts that I translate (including, e.g. Annual Reports including, i.a a financial section) - acceptable.
... See more
I have been a user of SDL Trados Studio for several years now - I currently use Studio 2019 - and am generally satisfied with its handling of numbers when translating between Danish and English (in either direction)*.

Occasionally it gets it wrong and needs manual intervention - so one cannot completely leave it to automation, but this is, in my view - and given the type of texts that I translate (including, e.g. Annual Reports including, i.a a financial section) - acceptable.

(*The use of ',' and '.' in Danish texts is reversed compared to English).

/Michael
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expressisverbis
 
Oliver Dirs
Oliver Dirs  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:56
Swedish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Which CAT tool handles numbers best. Jul 22, 2020

Thanks for the reply Michael. I translate a lot of interim and annual reports as well, so a CAT tool that can handle numbers more reliably could save me a lot of time over the course of time. I've avoided SDL Trados in the past because of the cost but maybe it's time to have another look. Memsource is good but it could be a great CAT tool if a bit more attention to detail was paid to it. Might have another look at WordFast (incl. the web-based WordFast Anywhere). That's the tool I started out on... See more
Thanks for the reply Michael. I translate a lot of interim and annual reports as well, so a CAT tool that can handle numbers more reliably could save me a lot of time over the course of time. I've avoided SDL Trados in the past because of the cost but maybe it's time to have another look. Memsource is good but it could be a great CAT tool if a bit more attention to detail was paid to it. Might have another look at WordFast (incl. the web-based WordFast Anywhere). That's the tool I started out on 12 years ago and it was always v. user friendly. I imagine it's come on leaps and bounds since then.Collapse


 


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Which CAT tool handles numbers best?







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