On the importance of organisation...

23/5/2017

Sometimes it’s hard to keep on top of everything. We always have a lot going on: very long lists of emails to answer, people waiting for us, the phone ringing and just things to do - working as PM is also this. For how much you try to be organised, there is always that new project or query that pops up and makes everything else slide on the bottom of the list for the day.

What I found particularly challenging when I first started managing my own projects and clients, is that every day I would find myself in front of this never-ending list of emails all related to different projects, coming from translators, clients and colleagues. I have experimented several techniques, like sorting out one email at a time, so that I did not have to make a list. Then, I tried to go through them all at the same time and then check them again putting together a list; however, I found that some of these, let’s call them, techniques made me feel every more anxious and less organised.

So, after experimenting and failing and experimenting again, I finally discovered what works for me in order to organise my email inbox and set my tasks for the day! My strategy now consists in having my trusted diary next to me and going through my emails, writing down a task only when needed. Therefore, if it’s a quick email that I need to reply to, I will just do it, but if I need to check 3000 words, I will add a task to the list. Please don’t think that my lists look all beautifully written (see Instagram *coughs* fake *coughs* diaries); they actually look like a mess, but the important thing is that they make sense to me!

This all may seem very silly to you, but understanding that LISTS ARE GOOD has been crucial to me. To do this you do not need anything fancy, so no fancy and expensive glittery diaries (maybe with some unicorns :)), no super rose gold pens or anything like that. You will only need a pen (that works, possibly) and a piece of paper to put down what needs to be done for the day.
Another important part that I wanted to focus on is that I had to learn how to prioritise tasks throughout the day, i.e. understanding what needs to be done first and what can be done later or even tomorrow. This is one of the most important sides of project management, as well as, time management. You need to understand what’s more urgent otherwise you will have clients chasing deliveries, translators waiting to start and a general sense of anxiety (at least for me).

HOW TO ‘REFRESH’ A LANGUAGE

10/5/2017

We all know that learning new languages is always exciting, but we also know that keeping them alive is not always easy if we don’t get to practice them every day. That’s why, even though I had previously studied Spanish for five years and got a DELE certificate in Spanish, last year I decided to start ‘refreshing’ my Spanish.

This opportunity came around when I started working as a PM and the company where I work now offered to pay for my course. Being Italian, this is a very interesting option, as it is quite rare that companies offer to pay for your education or personal development in Italy. Therefore, I welcomed this new chance to know more about the Spanish language and culture without thinking too much about it.

I re-started learning Spanish last year in September and I felt quite nervous about getting down to practice it again, but week after week, I felt more comfortable and confident about it. This has a lot to do with the fact that Spanish and Italian are very similar and they share part of the vocabulary, while for English native speakers, learning Spanish could be a bit more of a challenge.

In any case, the Spanish course has been like a breath of fresh air for me compared to the Masters course that I finished not long ago. I really enjoyed it and it had a positive impact both on my mind and on my work. I now feel more free and confident both checking and translating from Spanish as well as sure that my knowledge of that language is up to a high standard. Also, re-learning this language has allowed me to have more flexibility in terms of thinking and considering different perspectives.

I would recommend to anyone to attend a language course, if their daily schedule allows them to.
It opens your mind and provides much more flexibility and happiness (at least to me).

The 'magical mystery' world of the Subtitling projects workflow

23/4/2017

When looking around on the internet to find inspiration and suggestions regarding how a subtitling project can be structured, I only managed to find very confused instructions and even more confused workflows. At uni, we talked about ‘templates’, ‘corporate videos’, etc., but none of these very clear terms were mentioned in blogs online.

For this reason, I thought of writing down a way to provide subtitles, which is very simple and linear, at least from my point of view. First of all, to implement this workflow, you will need to know how to work with subtitling programmes, as well as, having a decent understanding of subtitling theory and practice.

1 - THE SCRIPT
The first step can be skipped if you already have a script at your disposal. However, if you don’t, which is what happens in most cases, you will need to write it down, or extract it through a programme such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is in fact very useful for many other things as it has a variety of functions.

2 - THE PROJECT
In any case, going back to the workflow, once you have obtained the script in a way or another, you will need to prepare a time-coded file in English (or in the source language depending on where you are based or on the language of the video that you are subtitling). You can create this file through programmes like Swift, WinCaps or Spot, in which you normally create a project (just like in a CAT tool, if this reassures you… maybe it doesn’t :) ) and then you ‘link’ the video to it. This allows you to ‘work’ on the video creating your captions, even though you are actually not working on the video as you are working on the subtitling project, which if you have WinCaps, has an extension that is called ‘. w32’. At this point, you will need to import the script (in most programmes, there will be an ‘import’ button – easy), but before that, make sure that the project settings are correct, e.g. there can be maximum two lines per caption, the reading speed is adequate for the video you are subtitling, etc.

3- TIME-CODING + BURN-IN
After the script added to the project, you can start timing it in; you can do this manually, or you can time it in automatically and tweak it, depending on the functions available on your subtitling programme. At this point, you will have a perfectly working subtitling file, however its format will be a bit useless as it is. In fact, in most cases, you will need to export it to more useful formats such as ‘.vtt’ or ‘.srt’; otherwise, if you are required to, you will need to ‘hardcode’ the subtitles on the video. This process is also called ‘burn-in’ and it includes ‘attaching’ the captions on the actual video in order to be able to open a single file in any media player and directly see the subtitles on the screen. This technique is not very much used anymore and makes exchanging subtitled videos very heavy and time-consuming. Also, in order to implement this additional step, you will need to use another programme, such as Adobe Premiere Pro.

I would suggest this workflow to people that are starting out with subtitles, or that have multilingual projects to manage. However, I will be happy to know if anybody has any good suggestions to implement in this workflow to make it faster or more efficient. Also, I would like to add that personally, if I had to subtitle and translate a video only into a language, I’d rather do it manually, doing the translation myself, as I do enjoy it very much! :)

Bye now!

Marina

An insight into the Translation Project Manager role

22/1/2017

The role of the translation project manager is mainly overseen when thinking about the translation industry, probably because it is not fully understood. In fact, when first approaching translation studies, I didn’t even know that this position existed. For this reason, I thought of writing about what I actually do at work, giving an insight into this role. A blog post like this would have helped me a lot when I was starting out as PM, so I thought that it may help any other translation students to understand if that’s something that they may see themselves doing at the end of their studies.

During a normal day at work, I start checking my emails to see if there are any requests or if any freelance translators have delivered pending translations that were due over the weekend or on Monday morning. After that I usually prepare quote requests – in most of the cases this involves setting up a project in a CAT tool (mostly Trados) and checking if there are any Translation Memories available to attach to the project in order to obtain a word count to quote on, however this step is not always needed as subtitles or transcreation may be requested. For regular clients, for which the quote is likely to ahead, it is also useful to start contacting the regular or suitable translators for the project. This will save time for the turnaround of the project, when the quote goes ahead.

Writing emails takes a big part of the day, given that they are used to communicate both with clients, translators and revisers. They are in fact essential to be able to make a project workflow fast and effective. They are the main, if not only, mean of communication in translation projects and they allow PMs to be able to multitask in the most efficient way. How to word difficult emails is a sort of skill that most of the people develop with practice; they have the power to change an entire relationship with a specific client. As a PM, I need to make sure that I am polite enough (being Italian, I need to make sure I add a decent number of please :/) and that I phrase sentences in a neat and clear way, trying to get to the point.

During the day, it may also be the case that I need to check translations, depending on the ISO standard that the translation project needs to comply with, this may involve using Quality Assurance tools. Chances are that some files will need to be finalised and possibly be put back together to be able to deliver them to the client in the original format or maybe in the format that the client requested. Therefore, it is interesting to experiment with file formats such as XMLs, HTMLs, CVSs, InDesign files (blog post to come regarding this important file format that is a big number of translation project that I manage :)), etc.

Finally, team work among PMs and also between PMs and translators is key. It is very important to understand how to work as a team, as this will allow the best possible result, however when working in a foreign country, knowing how to approach people and what is okay and what’s not can make your life easier. In England, for example, saying “No, this is wrong” can be perceived as rude, however in Italy it could be perfectly acceptable, given that you are just expressing your opinion and that this may be in contrast with something else. Nonetheless, I believe that in different situations that same “No” could have saved time and money. Having said that, being flexible, communicative and understanding is key – in many situations customer care skills will prove to be extremely important not only when facing a client, but also when debating with a colleague.

I hope this will be useful for anyone interested in translation project management! :)

#xl8 #t9n #translation

TRANSLATION QUALITY (?)

23/11/2016

After few months of experience in the “real” translation industry, I feel that I can discuss some hot topics that are usually subject of discussion in this market.

Lately, translation quality and efficiency have kind of attracted my attention, however quality has been a big issue for me, as I have been asked to judge translated texts few times by now. What somebody can consider a good quality piece, can sometimes be judged as simply acceptable or average by someone else. As commonly believed, translation is not a precise science and judging it is not always easy. Many LSPs perform suppliers’ quality assessments to ensure that their quality is constantly up to their standards, however at times that is not good enough either.

This topic is usually discussed in translation courses like the one that I attended in Leeds. However, I do think that what is said during the classes does not always reflect the method that professors used to mark our translations. In fact, during the marking stage, the concepts of “right” and “wrong” usually intervene, obscuring all the theories behind translation studies. I am not sure if what’s required is a higher quality translation or if markers would like students to use a different style from what is actually their own way of writing.

It is possible that “translation style” is valued more in the “real” translation market, rather than at university. It is actually respected more and a translation is only considered unacceptable when mistranslations and grammar errors are included in a text. Unfortunately, this side of the coin allows people that do not have any knowledge of translation studies to become translators after having another previous career. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, however when they do make mistakes, they simply justify them as “styles choices”. Their lack of knowledge regarding how to perform a translation or how to localise a product is therefore clear.

Overall, I believe that yes, universities should require a high level of translation as they are actually teaching techniques and important theories behind translating, nonetheless I also think that they should accept that students can have their own style and they are still shaping it. Therefore, it will take them years to define how they write as well as to become professional translators. Also, a basic knowledge of translation methods should be part of the background required to be a translator – even if you are an engineer and you speak two languages, you are not a translator.

What’s your opinion on quality in translation? Is there a way to ensure quality?

#TranslatingEurope Forum

6/11/2016

It took me a while to write this blog, but I finally I managed to find the time to sit down and resume my feelings and ideas about the Translating Europe Forum that was held on 27th and 28th of October 2016.

Everything simply started this summer, when my amazing professor Dragos Ciobanu kindly asked me if I was available for attending the forum... of course I WAS AVAILABLE! It had been incredible to know that I had been good enough to have the honour to represent the University of Leeds at such an amazing occasion.

To be honest I didn't know what to expect and most of all I didn't know what my role was in such an event.
Everything suddenly became clear when the whole thing started; as the email that I read endless times stated, it was an occasion for young professionals, professors and translation stakeholders to get together and know more about where the translation market is going, about which are the news and what could be done to improve the current situation both from a freelancer and a LSP's points of view. The most surprising bit was that students have been put on the same level of professors and professionals. I think that this approach helped us speak out loud a bit more and to actively participate at the discussions that have taken place.

This very positive and forward looking environment has been the perfect background to discuss the main points that everybody is talking about now:

MACHINE TRANSLATION, considering mainly statistical MT based on a corpus of texts. However, there are constant developments on neural MT and maybe a grammar-based MT.
MACHINE TRANSLATION + TRANSLATION MEMORIES, such as CASMACAT and MATECAT and how the two have been developed for different uses and with different goals in mind.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TERMINOLOGY, as monolingual and bilingual terminology extraction and how the two processes can be refined to obtain very high quality resources. Some sessions in particular offered reports that may allow LSPs to understand which tool could be more useful than others. Also, the speech about how IATE will be "transferred" to IATE 2 and how to effectively manage terminology has been one of the most interesting subject of discussion.
THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON TRANSLATORS and the question "Will technology replace human translators???". This issue has been discussed in several instances throughout the forum, however there is no meeting point. Some translators think the impact that technology is having now is considerable and in the future there will not be the need for human translators. Other (me included) think that we create technology for us and according to our needs, therefore we only need to make the most of it in order to make it work for ourselves.

Overall, this has been an amazing experience that has given me an insight of what being a young professional in a multicultural environment means, i.e. cool! I had to chance to know many new facets and aspects of the industry as well as meeting so many important and interesting people.

If you want to know more about the event, please click on this link:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/translatingeurope_en

If you would like to have a look at what's been tweeted just look for the ash tag #TranslatingEurope

Life update & nuovo lavoro

20/9/2016

È passato un po' di tempo dall'ultima volta che ho scritto un post, devo ammetterlo, ma sono successe molte cose positive nel frattempo.

Il Master è finito e io non sono neanche riuscita a parlare di metà degli argomenti che erano sulla mia lista. Tutto ciò perché ho trovato un lavoro. Ebbene sì, il volontariato e il duro lavoro hanno dato i loro frutti.

Ma arriviamo al punto, il mio nuovo lavoro è una posizione di Translator Project Manager presso l'agenzia di traduzione Andiamo! Language Services, qui a Leeds, in West Yorkshire. Naturalmente questa notizia arriva un po' in ritardo dato che ho cominciato il 13 di giugno, ma questo è un dettaglio. Il lavoro è molto interessante ed effettivamente copre tutti i vari step del workflow della traduzione; oltre a questo, mi permette di esplorare diversi tipi di progetti, tra i quali voice-over, sottotitolaggio, trascrizioni, localizzazione, ecc... In sostanza mi da un'idea generale di come gestire tipi diversi di progetti e di come riuscire ad approcciarmi in maniera più professionale ai clienti e non solo. Sembra essere un'opportunità fantastica sia per l'azienda per avere conoscenze nuove, ma anche per me, per sviluppare le mie capacità in questo ambito e chissà imparare qualcosa di nuovo che potrà essermi utile una volta per conto mio.

Tutta questa fantastica descrizione del mio attuale lavoro è per dire che, dopo aver fatto il Master in Applied Translation Studies all'Università di Leeds, mi sento molto preparata per affrontare le diverse sfide che sto incontrando. Infatti dall'inizio ho potuto dimostrare che le mie conoscenze tecniche, ma anche nel servizio clienti, erano all'altezza della posizione. Un esempio ne è il corso opzionale di sottotitolaggio che ho seguito nel secondo semestre; è stato estremamente utile non solo perché sono riuscita a come dire "salvare" un progetto, ma anche perché mi sono veramente divertita a giocare con i time-code e a usare il software per la creazione di sottotitoli.

Un altro punto a favore del ruolo che sto ricoprendo, e dell'azienda in cui lavoro, è la possibilità di essere supportati economicamente per imparare una nuova lingua straniera o addirittura migliorare una lingua che si conosce già. Nel mio caso, il corso di spagnolo avanzato comincia fra un paio di settimane, quindi vedremo come sarà riprendere questa lingua dopo vari anni di silenzio assoluto.

Insomma, il ruolo di Project Manager sembra fare al caso mio per il momento, l'unica pecca è che non ho mai l'opportunità di parlare o scrivere in italiano. È anche vero che bisogna aver la voglia di crearsi le opportunità, quindi probabilmente riuscirò ad avere anche questa opzione più avanti.

Per concludere penso senza aver frequentato il corso all'Università di Leeds, questo lavoro non sarebbe neanche potuto essere un'opzione da considerare, perciò parlerò dei diversi pro e contro in un altro post. Per ora, aggiungo qui sotto il link dell'ultimo video che è stato girato nel corso dello scorso anno accademico; da un assaggio di come studiare a Leeds sia e di quanto i corsi offerti siano interessanti e moderni.

Ciao for now!

Marina

Come entrare nel mondo della traduzione?

19/3/2016

Nel corso di questo Master mi sono più volte chiesta come la gente faccia a vivere solo di traduzioni. Credo sia una domanda lecita, dato che in Italia sembri essere praticamente impossibile.
Quindi, ho ripensato alle discussioni in classe e ho letto vari articoli nel fantastico mondo dell'internet e sono arrivata alla conclusione che fresca fresca di università non potrò mai vivere come traduttrice freelance.
I motivi sono molti e tra questi ho considerato:
- non ho una clientela fissa che mi permetta di avere lavoro costantemente;
- non ho l'esperienza necessaria per essere affidabile per i miei probabili clienti;
- non ho l'esperienza per riuscire a produrre delle traduzioni ottimali;
- non ho un mentore che possa aiutarmi nel punto 3;
- non saprei gestire la mia giornata in maniera produttiva (forse, ci devo riflettere).

Detto ciò, in questa situazione sembrerebbe ideale il trovare un lavoro in-house in qualche agenzia di traduzione o in qualche azienda internazionale medio-grande che abbia bisogno di traduttori. Potrebbe essere stato fattibile 20 anni fa', ma ora no.

Nelle varie Professionalisation Talks all'Università di Leeds, occasioni che vedono esperti del settore parlarci dell'industria della traduzione e non solo
(se siete interessati date un'occhiata al link https://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/news/article/4447/ninth_cts_professionalisation_talk-video_games_localisation), è diventato sempre più chiaro che anche se laurea che sto facendo è in traduzione, questo settore offre molte più possibilità lavorative.

Quindi, dopo aver provato a fare la project manager nel progetto del corso di CAT e dopo aver ascoltato la talk di Sue Fortescue, manager di Translators Without Borders, ho deciso di provare a lanciarmi in una nuova sfida, ovvero fare volontariato presso questa NGO nel ruolo di Volunteer Project Coordinator. Ho cominciato da circa un mese, ma questa esperienza mi ha già dato molto. In particolare ho imparato a mantenere la calma meglio, anche quando arrivano 10 file e devo gestirli da sola, a risolvere i problemi facilmente e ad approcciarmi a persone di diverse culture in maniera sempre gentile e adatta alla situazione.

Anche il lavoro è di per sé interessante perché consiste nel gestire i documenti necessari per aiutare i rifugiati in Europa. In questo processo, i documenti che dovranno poi essere pubblicati nel sito www.newsthatmoves.org vengono tradotti dai traduttori volontari che fanno parte dell'associazione in lingue come il greco, farsi e arabo.

È un lavoro che da soddisfazione perché permette di accumulare esperienza e abilità, facendo del bene per le altre persone. Perciò lo considero un bel punto di partenza per qualsiasi persona che stia cercando un modo per entrare nell'industria della traduzione e che ami aiutare gli altri.

Se qualcuno fosse interessato ad un'esperienza del genere presso questa associazione, ci sono molti altri ruoli liberi che aspettano persone interessate e positive.
Qui sotto c'è il link in cui è possibile fare domanda (basta seguire le indicazioni :)).
http://translatorswithoutborders.org/Volunteer-Opportunities

Come sempre, spero che la mia esperienza possa essere utile. Fatemi sapere che ne pensate!

Marina

DVX3 vs. SDL Trados Studio

19/3/2016

Come promesso nel post precedente, ma con un po' di ritardo, riporto qui sotto un breve saggio che ho scritto. Tratta diverse caratteristiche di DVX3 e di SDL Trados Studio sotto il punto di vista dell'efficienza, prendendo in considerazione sia il punto di vista di un traduttore freelancer che quello di un project manager.

Spero possa essere utile a qualcuno anche se è scritto in inglese!

Original by: Marina Brunello

Comparison and discussion on the most relevant functions of DVX3 and SDL Trados Studio designed to increase the efficiency of professional translators and PMs in large projects.

Introduction
Computer Aided Translation tools (CAT tools) are designed to help operators in the translation sector to work more efficiently (Bowker, 2002: 4). The first CAT tools were designed in the 70s, but were available for public use during the 90s; soon after they made their way and became a market themselves. Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to examine two of the most used programmes, DVX3 and SDL Trados Studio 2015 (called respectively DVX3 and Trados in this essay) to critically discuss the functions designed to increase the efficiency of professional translators and Project Managers (PMs). I will consider the main objects that undergo modifications in and out CAT tools, namely content, Translation Memories (TMs) and Terminology Databases (TDs).
Efficient is defined as “achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense” (Oxford Dictionaries); in the translation field this can be expressed as trying to increase productivity without wasting time to achieve a result. According to a research carried out by Proz website in 2003 (Tabor, 2013), 93% of CAT tools users think these programmes can help to increase productivity. The diverse functions of CAT tools are key for professional translators and PMs: they can either have a long learning curve or facilitate an intricate process. Also, they are a crucial factor when making a purchase, because different CAT tools are designed for different professionals.

Content focus
To understand how these programmes can help translators to be more efficient in their job, creating a new project from scratch gives a pretty clear overview. The two programmes taken into account seem quite similar, however the idea behind them is based on different concepts. They both can create a fully structured project, however, in the wizard ‘New Project’. Trados gives the option of creating a project (a .sdlproj file) that can contain even just one file. In this way once PMs create projects they can directly send packages to translators. Unfortunately, in DVX3 adding files is only possible after a project has been created in full (a .dvprj file) and, as shown in, newly-created projects result empty. This means that PMs need to spend additional time adding files. As a result, Trados seems to better ensure efficiency because its features can save time that would otherwise be spent on setting projects.
In the usual project management workflow, after negotiations have taken place, some functions of CAT tools become essential. Although PMs try to avoid this task, it is possible that while managing extensive translation projects, big files need to be divided into small sections in order to have them translated as quickly as possible, by several translators. With regard to files in Word or in other easy-to-use formats, the splitting can be done manually, however for HTML files, CAT tools seem to be a valuable ally. Managing a project completely in DVX3 may be an advantage at this stage; it offers the option Divide and Dispatch, which creates packages of different formats of similar length, from an existing project. However, the exact same project needs to be opened in DVX3, otherwise the programme will not recognise the returning files and it will be impossible to have a functioning target file.
As for Trados, a similar function is completely absent. The SDL XLIFF Split/Merge application is available on the SDL website, nonetheless it has to be purchased. Even though it seems absurd that such a simple and essential function is not included in a renowned programme, there are a few solutions for this problem. Regarding HTML files, it is necessary to use a HTML editor (for example NotePad++) and to have a little knowledge of HTML encoding. PMs will only need to split the body (the main text, not the format tags) and paste the split parts of the text into other copies of the same file that will have the exact same tags before and after the body.

Another possible solution could be based on interoperability, as described by Bowker (2002: 125) and ensured by CAT tools developers. This concept is ensured through using the XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF). For this reason, PMs needing to split files should be able to use the above-mentioned function of DVX3, work on the split files in Trados and finally remerge them in DVX3. Sadly, this process cannot take place because interoperability is occasionally unrealistic as DVX3 can refuse any file format coming from Trados. This situation is quite frequent in this sector and it may be argued that CAT tools should meet more the translators and PMs’ needs. They should offer a ‘complete package’, i.e. full workability for professionals, with no need for them to use additional programmes that are not in their competence area.
PDF files are mentioned in many translation magazines as source of problems when working with CAT tools, luckily I had the opportunity to try to use them in my short experience as PM. When tested, both the aforementioned programmes did not “react” in the hoped way. DVX3 initially accepted the PDF files into projects, however the Preview instantly showed that the format had been altered: some lines were not positioned in the right place, the original capital letters were not maintained and some parts of the text had not been imported. These changes are clear: the export (on the right) of the source file (on the left) is not correct and to have a fully functional target file alteration and editing are necessary.

With Trados the process is slightly different: initially it accepted PDF files into a project and let the translators work on them easily; the segmentation and format of the text did not present issues. Nevertheless, while exporting the files into PDF two situations arose: in the first one the exported file was completely damaged and impossible to open; in the second one the final wizard of Trados reported two errors and the file could not be exported. Although the quickest solution seemed to be a manual merge of the files, a bit of research could have lead me to ABBYY SmartCAT. As stated in the magazine MultiLingual (2015), this programme is “the best PDF workaround offered among translation environment tools”: converting files into Word or .txt files is the quickest and safest way to work with PDFs, even if some editing is always necessary in the final target text. Sadly, this programme excluded HTML and XML formats from the range of convertible files, making it incomplete. On this matter, it is not clear if efficiency was one of the goals of software developers, or if they could not find how to deal with this format. With its latest version Trados included direct support for OCR-based (optical character recognition) importing of scanned PDF files, but it still needs improvements, as at the moment it takes longer to import certain files than to translate them.
Sharing files is always very important as “TM Systems can be networked, which means that several translators working on the same document or working for the same agency can share TMs, thereby maintaining consistency within the group” (Bowker, 2002: 117). Consequently, CAT tools should offer some sort of function that can let PMs share files easily. On one hand, DVX3 offers TEAMserver, a function that works through Déjà Vu licenses, assigned to translators, so that every member of the team can normally work in DVX3 and link their project to the TEAMserver databases. In this way TMs, TDs and text can constantly be updated, making the work smoother. Unfortunately, due to technical problems, this function did not work during the Project Management and PMs had to use the Divide and Dispatch function, which is limiting because it does not offer any kind of internet-based platform where files can be uploaded, but it still needs emails to share files. This process, in big scale projects can create confusion and is not efficient at all: it can be time-consuming and lead to errors while managing many translators. Besides, the system of licenses on which TEAMserver is based could be the perfect option to guarantee efficiency if it was considered reliable.
On the other hand, Trados partially solves the problem, offering the function GroupShare, namely “a multicomponent solution that combines SDL’s Translation Memory Server, Terminology Server and Project Server amalgamated within one environment” (Multilingual, 2015). However, its price is very high and not many agencies use it; it is very popular in bigger environments such as multinational companies or companies that can afford it and can justify its purchase. That been said, none of the programmes are optimal in this field, what they offer is partial and is not aimed at ensuring either efficiency or quality. As a result, many professionals tend to use web-based CAT tools such as MateCat or Wordbee that are oriented towards real time collaboration and a faster pace. In my experience using Google Drive has helped to minimize the amount of emails, making the process of delivering files, TMs and TDs instant. Also, it has been possible to respect translators’ privacy keeping their folders private, there they could upload deliverables and financial documentation so then their PMs could see them.

Translation Memories
The second part of this essay is aimed at discussing how TMs and TDs can be exchanged between professional translators and which programme is the most suitable to do so.
Translation Memories, defined as “a multilingual text archive containing (segmented, aligned, parsed and classified) multilingual texts” (Quah, 2006), are very important when translating with CAT tools as they can speed up the translation process while ensuring consistency. Even in this area the two CAT tools have different priorities: they both accept the Exchange format that allows translators and PMs to exchange TMs in the .tmx format, but in different ways. The most outstanding difference is how TMs can be accepted by these programmes. Trados is quite efficient from this point of view: although it does not accept the format .tmx directly, it can be converted into the .sdltm format. The other option is to create a new TM in .sdltm and populate it with the content of the already existing TM in .tmx. This is fairly convenient while setting a project because the translator will have a TM available that he/she already knows and in the most appropriate format.

Additionally, another plus side of Trados is the function Any TM, available when adding TMs to a project. It allows translators to work with any relevant TMs available for a specific language pair. For example, if a professional translator has a translation project from Russian (RU) to English (UK), with this function he/she can use a translation memory from English (UK) to Russian (RU); this can be very helpful as a base from which to start the translation.
Unfortunately, this function is not available in DVX3 and the locale of the languages selected determines for the language pair; adding other TMs that have a different locale or the language pair inverted seems impossible.

In fact in DVX3 things work slightly differently because the function that converts .tmx format into a format that is understandable for the CAT tool is not offered. The only option that a translator has is to populate an existing TM. The process is very simple and almost instant, as shown in the capture below. However, it is clear that having the chance of simply converting a TM into the required format, in some cases, can make things simpler, therefore it ensures efficiency.

Terminology Databases
From a professional translator point of view, terminology management is crucial as it can determine not only the quality of a project, but also how efficient a translator can be. Before analysing how programmes deal with it, terminology needs to be defined as “a codified collection of terms” that are “arranged by concept” (Quah, 2006: 104). This because if terminology is well organised into different subject areas, i.e. medical or technical, it will be easy to understand which one to use and add to a project or decide whether or not to overwrite it.
The terminology management tool that determines the main difference between DVX and SDL is SDL Multiterm. It is a programme that is included in the SDL suite and can be easily integrated with SDL Trados. This programme is concept-based rather than term-based; it creates entries for each concept and allows to enter terms that can explain a concept in multiple languages.
MultiTerm is also a very useful tool because can be used by many different figures in the language sector such as PMs, translators, but mainly terminologists to make the project workflow easier. As for DVX3, its own terminology management system is already integrated; this makes the programme more project-focused instead of being designed for sharing relevant files in the translation process.

However, DVX3 has LEXICON that allows translators to extract potential useful terms from a source text and translate them before moving to the editor interface. This process can take some time at first, but with the autosuggest function activated, suggestions pop up while translating, making it faster and consistent. In SDL such a function is only available as an additional application called MutiTerm Extract, that is not included in the suite.

These two ways of managing terminology are quite different: DVX3 is project-based, it is, therefore, relevant having TM and TD project-related. Although the use of the .tmx format and the option of exchanging TDs through .xls and .txt formats is available, it is clear what software developers goal is. On the other hand, except for absent splitting files function, SDL appears more focused on sharing: packages, MultiTerm and the fact that TMs can be converted into another format makes it more convenient to use in large scale projects.

Conclusion
Overall, it is hard to determine which programme is the most efficient. For PMs, only a combination of them could be suitable for managing big projects: DVX3 for contents as sharing files is fairly simple and all the functions are included; Trados for reference material, such as TDs and TMs. While for professional translators, Trados is indeed more efficient because it encourages collaboration between professionals within the same sector and because of Multiterm.
Finally, the function that I would suggest is an already integrated web-based platform on which to share files. PMs and translators could easily exchange files without damaging their structures (as happens with protected email networks). This function should not need the net of licenses proposed by DVX3, but should be based on a Social Media structure, where every user has a profile containing private or public content. It would improve efficiency as no time would be lost in sending emails or troubleshooting. In addition, as SDL MultiTerm demonstrated that it was such a useful tool, having the opportunity to integrate it with other CAT tools would be very helpful. Not only would it improve interoperability between CAT tools, but it will also boost efficiency in several environments.

Reference List
Bowker, L. 2002. Computer-aided translation technology: a practical introduction. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
Oxford Dictionaries. [Online]. s.v. Efficient. [Accessed 16 January 2016]. Available from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/efficient
Quah, C. K. 2006. Translation and technology. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Sikes, R. 2015. SDL Trados Studio 2015: Changing the value proposition balance. MultiLingual. 155, pp. 12-23
Tabor, J. 2013. CAT tool use by translators: what are they using? 28 March. Translator T.O. [Online]. [Accessed 20/12/2015]. Available from: http://prozcomblog.com/2013/03/28/cat-tool-use-by-translators-what-are-they-using/
Zetzsche, J. 2015. ABBYY SmartCAT: Promising new contender not quite where it should be for a fully-released tool. MutiLingual. 151, pp.12-14

Project Management

19/1/2016

L'opportunità di provare a lavorare come project manager in un ambiente, per così dire, protetto si è palesata qualche mese fa' quando mi sono offerta di partecipare al secondo progetto del corso Computer-Assisted Translation Tools del mio corso di laurea presso l'Università di Leeds.

Questa esperienza ha avuto sia lati positivi che negativi. Sono riuscita a capire come funziona effettivamente il workflow in un progetto di traduzione e a familiarizzare con SDL Trados Studio 2015, il che è molto importante dato che sono riuscita ad esplorare delle funzionalità di questo programma che altrimenti mi sarebbero rimaste sconosciute. Credo comunque che questo progetto si dimostrerà utile soprattutto nella mia futura ricerca di lavoro: avrò qualcosa in più di cui parlare, che non sarà solo traduzione pura, ma anche aspetti come il modo di porsi verso i clienti, la fatturazione, le trattative, l'atteggiamento da avere con i freelancer e in generale come avere un modo di lavorare il più professionale possibile.

I lati negativi, tuttavia, riguardano più che altro come collaborare con gli atri project manager. Essendo un progetto su scala internazionale, metà di noi si trovavano in Slovenia e alcuni freelancer erano in Francia, perciò tutte le comunicazioni erano molto più difficoltose.
Oltre questa "distribuzione spaziale", le scadenze ravvicinate nelle due settimane dedicate al progetto hanno fatto sì che tutto fosse più difficile e tutti fossero di fretta.

In ogni caso, ho apprezzato questa esperienza, mi ha insegnato molto e si è pure dimostrata utile nell'immediato, più precisamente nel redarre un saggio di 2500 parole dove ho dovuto comparare le diverse funzionalità di DVX3 e SDL Trados in grandi progetti.

Marina