Electronic translation tools cannot replace translators. Until a program can be invented that has a brain of its own, quality translations will continue to be obtainable only from a trained translator. But having said that, new technologies have undoubtedly made a translator's job considerably easier in recent years.

For example, translation memory tools such as Trados and Transit help to guarantee terminological consistency, particularly in technical texts, while electronic dictionaries such as Wyhlidal and Multilex allow the right word to be found and inserted in a text in a matter of seconds.

In addition to this specialist software, I am equipped with all you would expect from a professional company working with documentation: the latest versions of Norton Antivirus, Winzip and Microsoft Office Professional, to name but a few. To speed things up a little, for some jobs I also work with Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software.