Best free translation memory (TM) tool
Thread poster: Louise Souter (X)
Louise Souter (X)
Louise Souter (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:35
Spanish to English
+ ...
Apr 14, 2012

I am doing my MA dissertation on the use of free translation tools to translate business texts. I would appreciate any suggestions about/opinions on which free TM tool is best (in terms of features, ease of use etc).

Thanks


 
Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:35
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Wordfast Anywhere Apr 14, 2012

Hi Louise,

I suggest you include Wordfast Anywhere
http://www.freetm.com/
in your study. I've never used it for real work but the features of WFA must be hard to beat for any free CAT tool.

Regards,
Gerard


 
Helen Portefaix
Helen Portefaix  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:35
Member (2012)
English to French
TinyTM Apr 15, 2012

Hello,
Have you heard of TinyTM? http://tinytm.sourceforge.net
I know it is powerful open source TM, and that it's not tiny at all despite its name. I don't know what it's worth, I never acutally tried it because I was put off by how complex it was to get it running. As with so many open source applications, you don't stand a chance with the instructions and information given on the website unless you're a software developer
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Hello,
Have you heard of TinyTM? http://tinytm.sourceforge.net
I know it is powerful open source TM, and that it's not tiny at all despite its name. I don't know what it's worth, I never acutally tried it because I was put off by how complex it was to get it running. As with so many open source applications, you don't stand a chance with the instructions and information given on the website unless you're a software developer yourself - or an expert translator in IT & OS !
Hope this will help a bit with your dissertation.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:35
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Never actually tried it Apr 15, 2012

Helen Portefaix wrote:
Have you heard of TinyTM? I know it is powerful open source TM, and that it's not tiny at all despite its name. I don't know what it's worth, I never acutally tried it because I was put off by how complex it was to get it running.


To many people in the opensource world, the meaning of "powerful software" is that you must be powerful to use it

TinyTM is a TM server, and needs a client to work. Even if you do manage to get the server running, you still need a client that can connect to it (and they didn't write a client). The only client I know of that can connect to TinyTM is Virtaal (which is also opensource, but it is a CAT tool that *can't* do plain text, web or office document formats).


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:35
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Definition of "free" Apr 15, 2012

Louise Souter wrote:
I am doing my MA dissertation on the use of free translation tools to translate business texts.


How does your lecturer define "free"? Does he mean "opensource" or does he mean "don't have to pay for it"? If the latter, then there are many, many CAT tools that can be used with very few limitations without paying any money for it.

What does he mean by "business texts" -- does he mean "Microsoft Office 2010 documents"?


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 14:35
Spanish to English
+ ...
Define all criteria Apr 15, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:

Louise Souter wrote:
I am doing my MA dissertation on the use of free translation tools to translate business texts.


How does your lecturer define "free"? Does he mean "opensource" or does he mean "don't have to pay for it"? If the latter, then there are many, many CAT tools that can be used with very few limitations without paying any money for it.

What does he mean by "business texts" -- does he mean "Microsoft Office 2010 documents"?


My thoughts exactly. I'd need more information. For example if the question is really only about TM (Translation Memory) or does it include MT (Machine Translation)...

AFAIK there isn't any free TM package that is easy to install, simple to learn/use and bug-free. I use WF Classic myself, which I think is comparatively cheap, but am highly suspicious of WF Anywhere, especially after a blip a couple of weeks ago when my Classic suddenly stopped working because the WF server was down, although it is supposed to be standalone (i. e., you can use it whether or not you are connected to internet). I just don't understand how it can be "free", there must be a catch. For example, not in translation but in general, I subscribe to a proxy service to be able to watch foreign TV channels; it costs about 5 euros a month. I could have the same service free, but with so many pop-ups and other advertising gimmicks that it becomes more bother than it's worth, and I imagine the scenario be similar in TM freeware.
Call me I'm old-fashioned, but I'm afraid I harbour a deep mistrust of anything to do with "clouding" and "sharing" my TMs, glossaries and translated files, not to mention the benefits of my experience, with a formless mass somewhere in cyberspace.

[Edited at 2012-04-15 09:45 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-04-15 09:45 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-04-15 09:45 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-04-15 09:46 GMT]


 
hazmatgerman (X)
hazmatgerman (X)
Local time: 14:35
English to German
@asker: Intriguing Apr 15, 2012

subject. Perhaps you want to share how far your own research has already progressed, such as
- which programs are included, and which are excluded?
- what are the parameters for defining key terms as some colleagues have already mentioned?
- how is "use" defined - temporal percentage, depending on text register or what?
regards


 
Hannah Keet
Hannah Keet  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:35
German to English
+ ...
OmegaT Apr 15, 2012

There is also OmegaT (http://www.omegat.org/en/omegat.html), which in my short experience in using it was very complicated and wasn't able to do as much as paying CAT tools can.

 
Theo Bernards (X)
Theo Bernards (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:35
English to Dutch
+ ...
Take your pick! Apr 15, 2012

Across is free of charge for freelance translators and barring a few minor problems (not able to handle PDF being the biggest in my daily practice) I am very happy with it. OmegaT is free but I wasn't fond of it at all, and Wordfast Anywhere is also a good choice. there is also the Google Translator Kit, but who on earth would want Google to get their beady fingers on highly confidential material, so I have never tried it.

Currently I am working on a project in SDLX Lite and I must
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Across is free of charge for freelance translators and barring a few minor problems (not able to handle PDF being the biggest in my daily practice) I am very happy with it. OmegaT is free but I wasn't fond of it at all, and Wordfast Anywhere is also a good choice. there is also the Google Translator Kit, but who on earth would want Google to get their beady fingers on highly confidential material, so I have never tried it.

Currently I am working on a project in SDLX Lite and I must say, it does the job for what I am using it for. Don't know if that is completely free, I was offered to download it through an agency portal.
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Louise Souter (X)
Louise Souter (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:35
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Clarification Apr 17, 2012

Thank you for your replies so far.

Neilmac: I am only interested in Translation Memory not Machine Translation.

By 'Free' I mean without paying for it (due to financial constraints).

By 'business texts' I mean Word (2007/2010).

My dissertation is still at the proposal stage by my plan is to create a translation memory then ask one group of (student) translators to translate a short text using this memory while another group translates the same
... See more
Thank you for your replies so far.

Neilmac: I am only interested in Translation Memory not Machine Translation.

By 'Free' I mean without paying for it (due to financial constraints).

By 'business texts' I mean Word (2007/2010).

My dissertation is still at the proposal stage by my plan is to create a translation memory then ask one group of (student) translators to translate a short text using this memory while another group translates the same text without using the TM.

My supervisor has suggested I look at the following:

http://www.globalization-group.com/edge/2010/07/free-translation-memory-tools/

So far I prefer Wordfast Anywhere since it is quite well known and I already have experience with Wordfast Classic.
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TinyTM Apr 30, 2012

Has anyone in fact tried TinyTm recently? It seems that the project has not been updated for several years now. Is it still active?

 
Beatriz Medeiros
Beatriz Medeiros
Brazil
Local time: 10:35
French to Portuguese
+ ...
MT, TM and Cat tools Nov 18, 2017

I use Memsource only because the enterprise I work for, use it. Memsource works with Microsoft with feedback and I receive the MTs depending on the project.
Personally, I prefer Wordfast although their MT is somewhat small in my area.


 


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