What Is Computer-Assisted Translation?

Computer aided translation (CAT) is similar to CAD (Computer Aided Design), which can help translators complete translation work with high quality, efficiency and ease. It is different from the previous machine translation software. It does not rely on the automatic translation of the computer, but completes the entire translation process with human participation. Compared with human translation, the quality is the same or better, and the translation efficiency can be more than doubled. CAT automates the heavy manual translation process and greatly improves translation efficiency and translation quality. Computer-aided translation is a broad and imprecise term covering a range of tools, from very simple to more complex. ^[1]

During the translation process, there are a large number of repeated or similar sentences and fragments. Even the simplest sentences using manual translation need to be written again. CAT technology has an automatic memory and search mechanism that can automatically store user-translated content. When a user translates a sentence, the system automatically searches for sentences that have been translated by the user. If the user has translated the currently translated sentence, the previous translation result is automatically given; for similar sentences, translation references and suggestions are also given .

CAT is a software with self-learning function. It will learn new words, grammar and sentence patterns as users use it, saving users more time. CAT is also equipped with the enhanced tool CAM (Computer Aided Match), which can convert users' previously translated materials into reusable memories. In this way, users do not need to repeat previous labor, thereby improving translation speed and accuracy.

The core of CAT technology is

For CAT technology, another important component is terminology management. Broadly speaking, any vocabulary appearing in translation can be saved as a term if it is necessary to reuse it, and the saved term set becomes

There are three main ways a good CAT system can always improve the translation you use:

1. the term. In translation work, we often use long lists of terms specific to the discipline or subject area in question. This can be a tedious job, walking back and forth to make sure you use the correct terminology wherever possible. CAT can automate this process, immediately marking every instance of applicable term-as long as the list of terms is provided electronically!

2. consistency. It happened to the best of us: Spending a lot of time doing the work in lengthy document translation, you suddenly changed your mind about a phrase or word and started translating differently in the middle. This is not necessarily wrong, but in discrete work, consistency is very important. The CAT system can easily mark inconsistencies with your choices, allowing you to easily correct them.

3. Proofreading. Some people may think of this as quality control, but it is really proofreading: the CAT system can automatically scan your work and identify your mistranslated numbers, simple typos or incorrect punctuation. You can be the most outstanding translator in the world, but if your job is full of simple mistakes, you will not get a second job, and the CAT system can help. ^[4]