Computer-aided translation (CAT) is the use of software to assist human translators during the translation process. The translation is created by a human, and certain aspects of the process are facilitated by software - specifically the actual translation process itself...

How CAT tools work

Most CAT tools can translate a variety of source file formats in a single editing environment, integrate translation memories, and combine various utilities to increase the translation process productivity. CAT tools extract text from documents and present them as segments. These segments are worked on by a translator and stored in a database, known as translation memory (TM). TM benefits translators because they can reuse translations done before.

A CAT tool is nor a human translator, neither a machine translation tool.
It is a database-driven software program that facilitates translations to assist human translators during the translation process. The user controls the tool and is responsible for reviewing the translated output. The effectiveness of the CAT tool really depends on the skill of the translator using it. To fully utilize a CAT tool's functionality takes experience.

In recent years, with the breakthrough in AI technology, CAT tools can incorporate machine translation (MT) to generate draft translations. This enables the translator to focus on post-editing (PE) instead of translating from scratch. Machine translation (MT) can be added optionally with human intervention (e.g. pre-editing and post-editing). CAT tools are a convenient way to increase efficiency, consistency, reduce errors, and increase processing speed, especially for large-scale projects.

CAT tools that proved through experience

At idioma® we developed our own cloud-hosted translation platform called iQube.

All our expert translators work in iQube that is tightly integrated with our QA software CrossCheck®. All translation projects are produced through iQube undergoing mandatory QA checks for every segment. Translators from around the world work in idioma's translation platform via cloud-hosted servers. We make sure client data is securely protected.

Need to hire a translation service provider? We have 40 years of experience.
We use our in-house CAT tool to its fullest potential to provide excellent translations.
Contact us at info@idioma.com.