What is computer-assisted translation?
Computer-aided translation (CAT) refers to the use of professional translation software tools designed to make the translator’s job more accurate and less time consuming. It is not the same thing as machine translation. All the translation is done by a human translator. CAT tools are various software programs that are now being more-commonly referred to as Translation Environment Tools (TEnTs). There are two main types of databases included in most TEnTs: translation memories and termbases. When first installed, the databases contain no data. As the translator works, each source-language sentence is stored in the translation memory along with the translation entered by the translator. If the same source sentence appears later, the TEnT will display the previous translation from its memory. Since repetitive translation of the same sentence is eliminated, TEnTs are especially useful for documents that are frequently updated. Similarly, the translator can enter terms and their translation
