Low cost technology for translators

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Valerie Simpson
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1 University of Wolverhampton School of Humanities, Languages and Social Studies 17 November 2004 Low cost technology for translators João Esteves-Ferreira In collaboration with Carmen Zucchetti and Clare Keller with the support of Tradulex network of translators 1

2 The past : Typewriter almost a century old Electric typewriter just over 30 years old PC appeared less than 20 years ago The present : Every professional translator has at least one computer An Internet connexion Several types of software... But they have had to learn by trial and error what was useful to them 2

3 Students objectives at University : 1. Learn the realities of the profession 2. Acquire basic computer literacy 3. Learn essential translation tools 4. Be aware of what is basic and commonplace 5. Keep abreast of changes 3

4 1. Realistic considerations It is possible, although unfeasible, to translate without electronical tools because of financial constraints Traditionally, quality was the key element Nowadays, the cost component is a key factor Frequently, the time factor is crucial when choosing a translator Quality Time Money SPEED AND QUALITY WHILE PAYING LESS 4

5 The paradox of commercial translation (1) MORE MONEY = MORE QUALITY (2) MORE MONEY = LESS TIME (3) MORE TIME = MORE QUALITY => LESS TIME = LESS QUALITY (4) MORE MONEY = LESS QUALITY or LESS MONEY = MORE QUALITY 5

6 Category of tool usage Faster execution times (dictation, OCR, Internet) Improved quality (terminological or documentary databases, Internet) Shorter deadlines and improved quality (money?) (TMs, Internet) 6

7 Type of tool usage Electronic translation systems (TMs, concordancers, MT) Terminology tools (lexicons and glossaries, databases, extractors) Translation related tools (dictation, OCR, alignment, web or other search tools) Web resources (sites, glossaries, databases) 7

8 2. Basic literacy Basic computer knowledge Word processing Electronic mail Help tools Online searches 8

9 Basic computer knowledge File organisation Logical labelling Distribution among directories Index creation Quick information retrieval Two freeware programmes: Windows Explorer Google Desktop 9

10 Fast typing Basic formatting Columns and tables Word processing Added value of a good layout LOW COST SOFTWARE: MS-Works, StarOffice, Open Office An address : 10

11 Create a professional image Basic settings Antivirus Managing attachments 11

12 Help tools PDF reading: Acrobat Reader (free) File coding and decoding Free software : Quick Zip ( FTP (File Transfer Protocol) : Ace FTP (free) 12

13 Online searches What to search for? How to search? Browsers Search syntax (Boolean search and other) Meta-search engines 13

14 Online searches Search engines : AltaVista ( Biwe( All the Web ( - Excite ( Google ( - Hot Bot ( Teoma ( Meta-search engines : DigiSearch ( Dogpile ( ixquick ( Metacrawler ( - Search ( Mamma ( - Ithaki ( and... Copernic ( 14

15 3. Unavoidable technology Electronic translation systems - translation memories by segments - corpora translation memory - machine translation Terminology tools - terminology databases - terminology extractors - full text search engines - lexicons and glossaries, forums and lists 15

16 Translation memories by segments A translation memory by segments is a database which stores all your translations, together with their equivalents in the source language, while you are translating. As you are working, the memory creates a series of structures with the linguistic information, which will allow the electronic medium to retrieve similar segments later and suggest them as a model for a new translation. As a rule, they «should» improve terminological consistency, reduce costs and save time. 16

17 Translation memories by segments Widely known : Trados ( - USD 895 Déjà Vu ( - USD 603 a SDLX ( - USD 595 a Inexpensive : Metatexis ( - USD 36 a 138 Other possibilities : Wordfast ( - EUR 90 Glossy ( - USD 49. Demo versions. Academic programmes 17

18 Translation memories by segments Disadvantages: Learning time Database creation time Alignment difficulties Cost Cognitive difficulties And an important advantage :... The market demands them! 18

19 Translation memories by segments Overcoming the disadvantages: Learning time > basic education Database creation time > alignment Alignment difficulties > + Tools and TMX standard Cost > cheap and compatible software Cognitive difficulties > memories by corpora... The market demands them! > use them... 19

20 .. technology for translators Translation memories by corpora A translation memory by corpora stores a large number of reference texts in two idioms, aligns them and indexes them. When processing a new text, the indexer shows the various occurrences of a given expression in the corpus and the corresponding expression in the other language. The translator can then introduce the preferred translation in the text. Identification of existing expressions and their introduction in the new text can be automated. As a rule, they provide a global vision of reference texts, offer better terminological consistency, reduce costs and save time. 20

21 .. technology for translators Translation memories by corpora - Multitrans ( - USD 900 to USD 2,300 free demo for 30 days: - Isiref ( - Personalised software, individually priced Web demo: 21

22 .. technology for translators Translation memories by corpora Pros - Macrostructure vision - On the fly alignment - Use as bilingual indexer - Other pros of memories by segments Cons - Price -New - Learning - Limited market coverage 22

23 Machine translation systems A machine translation system translates from one natural language to another, taking account of the grammatical structure of both languages, and using certain rules for transferring the grammatical structure of the source language into the target language, without human intervention. Software:

24 Terminology tools Terminology databases Terminology extractors Full text search engines Lexicons and glossaries, forums and lists 24

25 Multiterm Terminology databases SDL Termbase Low cost software: Lingo EUR 55 DicoMaker USD 35 Free software: Dictionary Generator - Babylon Builder

26 Terminology extractors. Multitrans ( Xerox XTS ( Term Extract ( - USD 990. Terminology Extractor ( - USD And also: SynchroTerm - free ( +Tools ( - free 26

27 Full text search engines. DTSearch ( - USD 199. Logiterm Pro ( - USD 183. Super Text Search ( USD 29 And also.... Cat View ( free and... Windows Explorer or Google Desktop 27

28 . Where to find them. How to create them Lexicons and glossaries Forums and lists. Which to choose. How to subscribe. Entry filters 28

29 4. Common tools PDF converters PDF > Word : SolidPDF ( -50 USD) Word > PDF : Kinati 2PDF ( - free) Word counter : Translator Abacus (free) Text comparer : Diego-Comparador (free - only.txt) Text analyser : Lexicool (free) Alignment tool : + Tools ( -free) 29

30 Common tools OCR - Included in most scanners - FineReader Professional (EUR 119) - Readiris Pro (EUR 123) Speech recognition - IVOS (USD 40) 30

31 Speech synthesis Common tools AgentReader (EUR 16,50) - SodelsCot Standard (EUR 21) Online dictionaries browsers - Firefox (free) : - tools4translator (free): 31

32 QUESTIONS? 32

There's More Than One Way to Skin a CAT. (c) International Writers' Group, LLC,

There's More Than One Way to Skin a CAT CAT Tools Computer Assisted Translation tools: all tools that aid in the translation process Project management applications Term extraction tools Xerox XTS, LogiTerm,