Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters

Reader survey


Corinne McKay

Your questions about working with agencies?

I’m currently working on an e-book about finding, marketing to, and working with translation agencies. It’s nearing completion, and I’d like to add a section with reader questions. Here’s what to do if you’d like to submit a question for me to answer in the e-book:

-Write your question in the comments section on this post. I’d like them to go in the comments so that you can see if someone else has already submitted the same question you’re thinking of.
–Important! Let me know if it is OK to use your name. Write “OK to use my name” or “Don’t use my name” after your question.
-If I select your question for the reader questions chapter, you’ll receive a free copy of the e-book when it’s ready.

Thank you!


Corinne McKay

Reader survey: the best and worst things about your CAT tools

In preparation for the  second edition of How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator, I’m revising the chapter on translation technology. I’d like to include some “best and worst” observations from translators who use various translation environment tools, so if you are interested in having your comments included (anonymously) in this chapter, please submit them. They can be short: for example I would say:
Wordfast: Best: Excellent documentation, fast, friendly support, love the three years of unlimited upgrades. Overall, I find Wordfast Classic very intuitive to use, and the two-toned interface is easy on the eyes. Worst: I waited years (sounds dramatic but it’s true!) for their new platform-independent version so that I could finally run Wordfast on an all open source system, only to find out that Wordfast Pro does not recognize Microsoft Office-format files that were created in or have ever been opened in OpenOffice. I just don’t get it: a Linux-specific version of a program that requires Microsoft Word (and doesn’t say that up front)?
OmegaT: Best: Free! Simple! Fast! And a great user community. I love OmegaT. Worst: Can’t produce Trados-style uncleaned files without a lot of tinkering. And the tags inside the segments… I know, the tags are there for a reason, but when I’m translating a file that’s been created using OCR software and is thus full of formatting tags, they’re annoying.

Anyone else?