Tips 'n' Tools for Translators

Kilgray, the maker of memoQ, my main CAT tool, is going to be holding a series of virtual events that might interest you on Wednesday 28 May (just five days from now). In fact, this is their third "Virtual Conference" on Proz.com, and like past events, it's free for anyone to attend. All you have to do is register for it beforehand; you don't need to be a paying member of Proz.com to do so.



Here are some of the benefits of attending at least some of the events in Kilgray's view:

• learn first-hand about the firm's most recent development, memoQ 2014, which will be released after the conference [more on this in a moment]
  
   


• attend various sessions and download training videos [to watch at your leisure on your own PC]
  
   


• learn the ins and outs of memoQ
  
   


• hear about some useful tips & tricks
  
   


• chat with Kilgray’s support team
  
   


• take advantage of special offers on memoQ
  
   


• get some hints on how to become a well-employed translator [presumably from LSPs that employ memoQ] and on dealing with customers.

The programme of events includes various presentations (live and on-demand webinars), discussion panels and live chats with staff at Kilgray in which you can ask questions of your own about memoQ and the firm's other products for translators. The on-demand presentations are likely to be particularly interesting for intermediate and advanced users of memoQ:

The highlight at this conference, however, is definitely going to be the preview you can get of memoQ 2014, a revamped release which includes a number of new features and productivity enhancements. These include:

• project templates, which will save you a lot of time when setting up projects [this might sound old-hat to some, but it's new to memoQ]
  
   


• automated steps in a workflow, which can be set in your project templates to simplify certain operations during a project (e.g. pre-translation, X-translate or export to MQXLIFF or a two-column RTF)
  
   


• productivity improvements such as better tag handling, grammar checking (not just spelling checks) and presenting several documents in a single view
  
   


• automatic assignment of files to specific translators working on online projects
  
   


• the ability to process embedded files and localise images
  
   


• easier terminology import from third-party packages (Studio and STAR Transit)
  
   


• project-management integration with Language Terminal (tracking projects)
  
   


• and many other productivity boosters (e.g. a built-in stopwatch feature for gauging the time it takes you to edit assignments).

The Virtual Day is due to take place between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. GMT (12 noon to 7 p.m. CEST), but may run a bit longer because of the live chats. Those participants who attend it will be able to watch the recorded webinars again afterwards for a certain period of time.



More on memoQ 2014 in a later post; like memoQ 2013, this version really does seem to help translators and make many operations easier. (You can also read about memoQ 2014 on Kilgray's blog and Kevin Lossner's excellent Translation Tribulations.) As mentioned earlier in this post, the version is due to be launched after the virtual conference (in June).



Bye for now,



Carl



P.S. A free webinar dedicated to the new features that memoQ 2014 includes is going to be held by Kilgray on 11 June (at 3 p.m. GMT/5 p.m. CEST). All you need to do is register to attend it (click here).



As of 10 June, you can download a copy of memoQ 2014 from Kilgray's website. Try it out for free for 45 days or simply upgrade to it if you already have a current licence.



To hear what users of the new version have to say about its strengths and weaknesses, it's a good idea to follow the discussions about it in the memoQ user group hosted by Yahoo! (You need to sign up to use the list, but it's free and can be very informative.)

Proz.com is holding a virtual conference day for freelance translators today. The event is free – all you need to do is register as a Proz user (if you're not one already) and then log in to the Proz platform and register to attend the conference.

The event starts at 12 noon and is due to go on until 9.15 tonight. Presentations on various topics in English will be held at specific times throughout the day (see the programme here), while other presentations in other languages are available upon demand (just click on them and then they'll start).

Here are just a few of the subjects that are going to be covered today:

• How to use the Proz.com platform successfully
  
  


• EU terminology for medical translators
  
  


• Online marketing (this is actually a group discussion that you can take part in)
  
  


• CAT, machine translation and virtual interpreting – the use of technology in translation
  
  


• Time management (another group discussion)
  
  


• Human and machine translation
  
  


• Codes of ethics, standards of practice and national certification for translators
  
  


• Internet search techniques
  
  


• Speech-recognition software (group discussion).

If you've got a bit of time to spare, why not drop by and watch a presentation or have a say in a group discussion? It's a good opportunity for translators to learn more about subjects that concern them. Apart from being able to watch the free presentations, you can also benefit from big discounts on software for translators thanks to Proz's special promotion.

Have fun at the conference!

Carl

P.S. This event is actually the first of a series of educational events to be held by Proz.com this week: from Mon. 30 Sept. to Fri. 4 October. Click on this page for more details. Wednesday's event on working with CAT tools looks particularly interesting.