When I started translating back in the mid-90s, Microsoft Word was pretty much my [non] CAT tool. Sure, there was Trados, but I didn't even know about it until a few years later. I either over-typed the translation, that is, translating on top of the Spanish in my case, and erasing it as I went, or placed a PDF and empty Word document side by side and typed into the Word document. Needless to say, I had to translate from the ground up-from scratch.
Now, with so many CAT tools and utilities, Word has taken a back seat. You can do everything you need to right inside the CAT tool. Quality control? Spell check? No problem.
Or is there a problem? Oh, yes there is! CAT tools do not check spelling anywhere near as well as Word does. Try it yourself. Export the translation from your CAT tool in Word format and do a spell check. If you have Grammarly*, or in my case Ginger, you can add another layer of QC and implement the changes in your CAT tool file.
The other plus of QC'ing in Word is that you can make the text as big as you want! I find Wordfast Pro's font size unfriendly, but in Word, I can allot the document a healthy space on my screen and zoom in until my eyes are comfortable with it.
I give you my Word!
*
I haven't tried it, but I think if you have the free version of Grammarly in your web browser and you view the document in Word online, it should help you correct any mistakes.
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