As announced in April, Alpha Omega Translations (AOT) recently bought memoQ for its translators. MemoQ won ITI’s (Institution of Translation and Interpreting) Best Translation Software 2011 award and was rated #1 by Common Sense Advisory among translation-centric TMS systems. MemoQ supports over 50 software applications. A few of our translators have already taken it for a spin. How helpful is it? We talked to Barbara A., Silvina C., and Amandine D., three translators with varied amounts of experience with memoQ.
Do you use memoQ for every project?
Barbara: I began using it some weeks ago. I am getting used to it and I find it very useful and practical.
Silvina: I use it for the agencies that request it. I look forward to investigating it further.
Amandine: I use it when it is requested by a client or for particular projects like user guides, manuals, etc.
If you could use memoQ every time, would you?
Barbara: Yes, I definitely would. The visual part of the program is very friendly and complete, everything I need is displayed and it has the great advantage of working online and synchronizing projects.
Silvina: Yes, I would use it. It’s a very good tool.
How does memoQ compare to other CAT tools?
Barbara: MemoQ is easier to use and simpler.
Amandine: Compared to the freeware OmegaT, memoQ is better for document preview.
Is there a specific type of client or project where memoQ is useful?
Barbara: I believe so far that it is extremely useful for those clients that send many files and need to have them translated fast. By using memoQ online, you can do fast, accurate work and the project manager can check your progress more easily.
Silvina: It is specifically useful when more than one translator works on the same project, so everyone can see what options the other translators have used for terms that are repeated across files.
Amandine: I think it can be really useful on projects that contain a lot of repetitions, like manuals, user guides or legal documents.
How do you use memoQ in conjunction with other translation technologies?
Barbara: I am learning how to create and import glossaries.
Silvina: I imported a translation memory in translation memory exchange format.
What has been the impact of memoQ on project turnaround time?
Barbara: So far, it has improved the coordination for large projects, and I feel good about the fact that the project manager can check my progress.
Silvina: It is very useful for the coordination of different translators who work on the same project and for the delivery of files; when used online, the file is sent through memoQ, so no need to send it by email.
Where do you see the trade-off between translation tools (like memoQ) and human translators (like yourself)?
Barbara: Tools for translators are necessary for our job to be carried out in a fast, clear and concise way. The CAT tools such as memoQ improve our translation process in many ways.
Silvina: Translation tools optimize the process, because they make it easy to keep consistency and it takes a shorter time to find repeated terminology and type words. Then, I, as a translator, make sense of the ideas and concepts and express them in the target language.
Amandine: The advantage of a CAT-tool is that it helps to unify translation terminology, and the translator can add creativity.
Kilgray, the company that created memoQ, keeps improving the program. What features would you like to see added?
Barbara: Maybe they should add some tutorials in case I need to watch them right away, so that I do not have to enter the website site.
Silvina: It’s a very complete tool, however, I would like it to add the auto-suggest function I mentioned earlier.
Amandine: It would be great to have PDF documents supported by the software.
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