A new site of interest to translators is Translators Training, run by Jost Zetzsche (who writes the translation technology e-newsletter The Took Kit) and Intrawelt, a language services and e-learning company.
Translators Training offers “unbiased, objective information about translation tools,” which is something that’s certainly needed in our industry. Translators Training seems to have gone beyond the standard tool features comparison and asked tool providers to give concrete examples of how their tools perform various functions. For example, Translators Training offers a series of presentations in which various tools are used to translate the same Word document so that the viewer can see the exact steps involved. There are other presentations that seem equally useful, as well as a comparison table of 13 leading translation environment tools. Jost also has a video blog on the site, and it’s definitely worth a look; the site’s liberal use of videos is a very helpful touch.
Translators Training offers free previews of its content, but to see the full version you have to purchase a subscription for 34.99 euros per year. If you’re in the market for a translation tool and are looking at spending big bucks for one of the market leaders, this could be a very worthwhile investment. Or if, because of the site’s information, you decide that a less-than-market leader tool will do the job, it’s an even better investment. If you’re just browsing out of curiosity, it’s probably an ambitious amount to spend just to take a look, but I admire the fact that Translators Training says up front (in the “how do I…?”) section that it’s not a free site. I didn’t purchase a subscription since I’m happy with the non-market leader tools that I use, but I think that Translators Training fills a much-needed niche in the industry!
It’s a great tip; thanks for mentioning it.
It’s a little disappointing to see the price so high: with today’s exchange rate, that’s $50 (USD), which is more than half the price of the less-than-market leader tool that I use. 🙂
It’s kind of like a “Consumer Reports” for translators, it sounds like–although Consumer Reports is a nonprofit and you can subscribe to its Web site for $26. I’ll be interested to hear feedback from someone who can afford to subscribe!
Hello MT,
I’m sorry that we disappointed you with the price. My name’s Paul and I helped develop TranslatorsTraining. I don’t want to leave a comment here “marketing” our site – all I wanted to say is that if you’re interested, I’d like to offer you a free one-year’s subscription. No strings attached. Just go to the website, click the “contact us” tab and send us an email. We’ll figure out how we can verify that you are “MT” – maybe Corinne can double-check your email address – and I’ll set you up.
Hope to hear from you.
Kind regards,
Paul
Always we are open to new ways to improve our skills in translation, and to find new tips to be a better translator. Thanks for your info 🙂
I got a look at the site the other day, and I agree that this is a good investment for someone in need of an overview of the basic functions of common CAT tools and possibilities for handling pre-segmented Trados jobs (Word + TTX) with other tools. I think my subscription was actually an administrative error when Jost confused a book purchase with a subscription to the site, but I’m glad of the error, because now I have a clear idea of what is offered and know exactly the sort of users to whom I can recommend it.
The long-term value of the subscription will depend on what other content is added in the future; I can see OCR basics or advanced conversion techniques for complex PDFs and a number of other themes as being useful to translators and sufficiently marketable.
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