CAT tool that allow very simple lookup of dictionary words/expressions (Japanese => English)
Thread poster: locksleyu
locksleyu
locksleyu
United States
Japanese to English
Jan 23, 2017

I have been doing Japanese=>English translation for some time, primarily without using any CAT tools.

However, I've come to realize I end up spending a lot of time on basic word lookup. This is not only if a word is completely new, but when I want to double check the nuances or look for potential candidate translation words.

My process now is to highlight a word or expression, open up something like Dictionary Goo, and then search for it. Usually that is sufficient, tho
... See more
I have been doing Japanese=>English translation for some time, primarily without using any CAT tools.

However, I've come to realize I end up spending a lot of time on basic word lookup. This is not only if a word is completely new, but when I want to double check the nuances or look for potential candidate translation words.

My process now is to highlight a word or expression, open up something like Dictionary Goo, and then search for it. Usually that is sufficient, though in some cases I may need to use Google for supplimentary information

I have played around with a few CAT tools briefly, but it seems that the focus of many of them is on using a dictionary of previous translations (presumably from my own work). While I think this could be very useful, I just want to do simple dictionary lookup in a very efficient manner to shave the time used on this task.

There are so many CAT tools out there and it will take time for me to try them all, but if someone can suggest a tool that does this, I'd appreciate it.

One thing that would be cool is if there is a list of definitions shown on the bottom of the screen for all words, then I can quickly glance at that without highlighting every time. However, since Japanese doesn't have word boundaries this might be difficult to do.

There are various plugins for things like Chrome, but it seems that many of these don't work in Google Docs, which is where I generally do my work. Google Docs seems to support it's own plugins, but there don't seem to be any Japanese dictionaries.
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Rodolfo Raya
Rodolfo Raya  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:15
English to Spanish
Swordfish searches for terms on the web Jan 23, 2017

Hi,

Swordfish has customizable searches for terms on the web. It has Goo pre-configured, ready to use out of the box.

Highlight the term you want to look up and then select "Search Term on the Web" in "Terminology" menu or press "Shift + Ctrl + D" ("Shift + Cmd + D" if you use a Mac).

Regards,
Rodolfo


 
locksleyu
locksleyu
United States
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Interesting tool... Jan 23, 2017

Rodolfo Raya wrote:

Hi,

Swordfish has customizable searches for terms on the web. It has Goo pre-configured, ready to use out of the box.

Highlight the term you want to look up and then select "Search Term on the Web" in "Terminology" menu or press "Shift + Ctrl + D" ("Shift + Cmd + D" if you use a Mac).

Regards,
Rodolfo


Thanks much for this. I tried this tool and it seems it may help my workflow.

However, when I try to view a term using Dictionary Goo, it opens up another smaller window on top of the Swordfish interface. While this is slightly better than my current workflow (not taking into account the overall learning curve of the tool), I was hoping to find a tool where it shows the dictionary lookup on the same screen so I can avoid having to manage multiple windows at once.

Also, since it looks like you are the creator of Swordfish you might want to mention that in your answer (:

[Edited at 2017-01-23 21:36 GMT]


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:15
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
you might want to try CafeTran! Jan 23, 2017

locksleyu wrote:

Rodolfo Raya wrote:

Hi,

Swordfish has customizable searches for terms on the web. It has Goo pre-configured, ready to use out of the box.

Highlight the term you want to look up and then select "Search Term on the Web" in "Terminology" menu or press "Shift + Ctrl + D" ("Shift + Cmd + D" if you use a Mac).

Regards,
Rodolfo


Thanks much for this. I tried this tool and it seems it may help my workflow.

However, when I try to view a term using Dictionary Goo, it opens up another smaller window on top of the Swordfish interface. While this is slightly better than my current workflow (not taking into account the overall learning curve of the tool), I was hoping to find a tool where it shows the dictionary lookup on the same screen so I can avoid having to manage multiple windows at once.

Also, since it looks like you are the creator of Swordfish you might want to mention that in your answer (:

[Edited at 2017-01-23 21:36 GMT]


-> https://www.cafetran.com/

It currently has all kinds of built in (i.e., integrated into the UI) web search features, even some very interesting ones especially for accessing all of the Proz glossaries.

Full disclosure: I don't work for CafeTran, although I was very involved in its user community in the past (although I am currently using Déjà Vu X3).

Btw, if you have the new Proz.com "Professional (PLUS package)", you actually get a free licence to CafeTran thrown in, I believe.

Or … you could do it another way: run your web searches using either IntelliWebSearch (http://www.intelliwebsearch.com/ ) or Omni-Lookup (http://www.omni-lookup.de/ | formerly called "Multifultor"), the former opens yr search in the browser of your choice, the second in a dedicated (IE-based) window that pops up. By the way, Rolf Keller has been putting a lot of work into Omni-Lookup lately, and it is starting to look really interesting. In addition to searching online, you can also use it to search local .tbx/.tmx files, .xlsx files, and even your Windows Search index! Definitely something to keep yr eye on.

Happy searching!

Michael

PS: as far as I know, CafeTran also handles Japanese very well, which not all CAT tools do.

[Edited at 2017-01-23 23:27 GMT] (see also: http://www.ab.auone-net.jp/~cafetran/ )

[Edited at 2017-01-23 23:29 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-01-23 23:58 GMT]


 
MikeTrans
MikeTrans
Germany
Local time: 15:15
Italian to German
+ ...
A good concordancer like XBench Jan 24, 2017

CafeTran is indeed a very complete CAT tool that goes far beyond the simple term search during translation, but if you are 'only' looking for term retrieval, then what you need is a good concordancer, or at least if I understand it from your description, an access to online dictionaries which also show context for the strings you look for. There are not many of them, Linguee is such one but it doesn't contain Japanese as a language. Try searching the web for an analogue online dictionary.
... See more
CafeTran is indeed a very complete CAT tool that goes far beyond the simple term search during translation, but if you are 'only' looking for term retrieval, then what you need is a good concordancer, or at least if I understand it from your description, an access to online dictionaries which also show context for the strings you look for. There are not many of them, Linguee is such one but it doesn't contain Japanese as a language. Try searching the web for an analogue online dictionary.
XBench 2.9 is a free concordancer that has a shortcut to recall word/phrases selections from almost any app and display concordance results (with complete context) from a database. It supports a large nr. of database formats, also Trados formats and TMX for import/export. It handles very well big databases and includes a QA checker. It has no direct pre-defined plugins for web searches, but there is a dedicated tab for them, you need to define the adress and it will do clipboard searches. Do so once you find a convenient web dictionary for you.
I cannot swear that the tool supports asiatic languages, but give it a try.

Mike

[Edited at 2017-01-24 01:56 GMT]
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Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:15
English to Indonesian
+ ...
A Mac, perhaps? Jan 24, 2017

The Mac operating system boasts an integrated, free dictionary, including for Japanese to English, and many more, you can evoke with one keyboard shortcut.



You can even add dictionaries yourself to the Dictionary.app.

For CafeTran, there's a blog in Japanese, and on the Cafetran forum, translators to and from Japanese are quite active.

Cheers,

Hans


 
locksleyu
locksleyu
United States
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
I'm using Mac OS X... Jan 24, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:

Or … you could do it another way: run your web searches using either IntelliWebSearch (http://www.intelliwebsearch.com/ ) or Omni-Lookup (http://www.omni-lookup.de/ | formerly called "Multifultor"), the former opens yr search in the browser of your choice, the second in a dedicated (IE-based) window that pops up. By the way, Rolf Keller has been putting a lot of work into Omni-Lookup lately, and it is starting to look really interesting. In addition to searching online, you can also use it to search local .tbx/.tmx files, .xlsx files, and even your Windows Search index! Definitely something to keep yr eye on.
[Edited at 2017-01-23 23:58 GMT]


Michael,

Thanks much for the answer. The two tools you mentioned that help searching look great but unfortunately it looks like they are both Windows only. I'm on MAC OS X. If you have any other suggestions for MAC OS X, let me know.


 
CafeTran Training (X)
CafeTran Training (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 15:15
Please describe Jan 24, 2017

locksleyu wrote:

I'm on MAC OS X. If you have any other suggestions for MAC OS X, let me know.


I'd need some clarification at this stage. Please describe what you want to do. Searching local glossaries? Databases? Online glossaries, etc.


[Edited at 2017-01-24 17:12 GMT]


 
locksleyu
locksleyu
United States
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
thanks Jan 24, 2017

Meta Arkadia wrote:

The Mac operating system boasts an integrated, free dictionary, including for Japanese to English, and many more, you can evoke with one keyboard shortcut.



You can even add dictionaries yourself to the Dictionary.app.

For CafeTran, there's a blog in Japanese, and on the Cafetran forum, translators to and from Japanese are quite active.

Cheers,

Hans


Thanks for this. I have actually been using this off and on, but there are two problems with this:

1) Shortcut for Mac OS X dictionary doesn't seem to work inside of Google docs

2) Even if I could get the shortcut to work, the dictionary that defaults is lacking, and I can't seem to add my own Japanese dictionary (even though you said it should work). I could only figure out how to add other languages, which isn't helpful.


 
locksleyu
locksleyu
United States
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
my flow Jan 24, 2017

CafeTran Training wrote:

locksleyu wrote:

I'm on MAC OS X. If you have any other suggestions for MAC OS X, let me know.


I'd need some clarification at this stage. Please describe what you want to do. Searching local glossaries? Databases? Online glossaries, etc.


[Edited at 2017-01-24 17:12 GMT]



My ideal case is to automatically show a list of all words/phrases, along with their definitions on some part of the screen (taking up half of the screen is fine). I can see advanced features here like limiting the words to only a certain vocabularyly level (could be based on the Kanji used or some other heuristic), or making certain words be filtered out.

If that is not possible, I simply want to be able to highlight a simple word and have that looked up in the same fashion.

My flow now is:
1) Highlight word
2) right click
3) cut and paste
4) switch to a tab with dictionary.goo.ne.jp
5) paste
6) click button to lookup
7) switch back to my translation document

I want to minimize the steps and time in the above process which occurs frequently.


[Edited at 2017-01-24 20:48 GMT]


 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:15
English to Indonesian
+ ...
The Automator Jan 24, 2017

locksleyu wrote:
My flow now is:
1) Highlight word
2) right click
3) cut and paste
4) switch to a tab with dictionary.goo.ne.jp
5) paste
6) click button to lookup
7) switch back to my translation document

I want to minimize the steps and time in the above process which occurs frequently.


You can automate that to a single step after selecting by creating an Automator Service (comes with OS X/macOS). I wrote this article quite some time ago, and I'm not sure if all apps I mentioned still work under macOS Sierra. I'm not going to re-write it, because you can integrate web searches in CafeTran.

Shortcut for Mac OS X dictionary doesn't seem to work inside of Google docs


As a Mac pur sang, I try to avoid products of that advertising company.

Cheers,

Hans


 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 21:15
English to Indonesian
+ ...
KBS settings Jan 25, 2017

locksleyu wrote:
1) Shortcut for Mac OS X dictionary doesn't seem to work inside of Google docs


You may have to change the keyboard shortcut for the Dictionary.app in  | System Preferences | Keyboard | Shortcuts | Services



Cheers,

Hans


 


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CAT tool that allow very simple lookup of dictionary words/expressions (Japanese => English)







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