Cat tools in teaching specialized translation for civil protection

Abstract

The paper explores the integration of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools into teaching specialized translation for civil protection. Translators in this field work with documentation from international organizations, such as operational guidelines, emergency response protocols, technical manuals, and safety recommendations, which demands high terminological accuracy and consistency across documents. CAT tools do not replace the translator, unlike machine translation systems. Instead, they help students build professional competencies in terminology management, translation memory use, quality assurance, and post-editing, while strengthening informed translation decision-making. The paper argues for authentic professional materials as the basis for translation tasks, including the IAEA Nuclear Safety and Security Glossary, the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual, and NATO documents on CBRN defence. As a practical example, it describes tasks on the MateCat platform: creating a project glossary, working with translation memory matches, and using quality assurance functions to detect terminological inconsistencies. Corpus analysis in Sketch Engine is proposed as a complementary resource for examining terms in context and building reliable termbases. The approach brings classroom instruction closer to real-world translation practice and prepares future translators for work in security-related contexts.