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Poll: Do you use voice recognition software?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Aug 7, 2008

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you use voice recognition software?".

This poll was originally submitted by Julianne Rowland

View the poll here

A forum topic will appear each time a new poll
... See more
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you use voice recognition software?".

This poll was originally submitted by Julianne Rowland

View the poll here

A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
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Maria Isabel Pazos Gómez
Maria Isabel Pazos Gómez  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:50
German to Spanish
+ ...
But I would like to... Aug 7, 2008

Unfortunately the software is very expensive and I have no clue if it works with Trados. One of my long- term projects....

Mabel


 
Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:50
French to English
No, but ... Aug 7, 2008

I'm thinking about it!

 
Laureana Pavon
Laureana Pavon  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 15:50
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...

MODERATOR
I've also been thinking about using voice recognition Aug 7, 2008

It will be interesting to hear what other translators who already use this type of software have to say, the pros, cons, etc.

 
Joan Berglund
Joan Berglund  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:50
Member (2008)
French to English
Other - tried but not sure what I think Aug 7, 2008

I tried using an older version of DNS, 6.0 I think. My sister gave this to me when I mentioned I was thinking about buying the newest version, she thought it worked fine. She used to do transcription for translators by shadowing with DNS, but then everyone either bought their own, or switched to typing in CAT programs, so she didn't need it anymore. I wasn't that happy with it, it introduced a lot of mistakes, some of which were hard to catch proofreading, like putting "s" on the end of words... See more
I tried using an older version of DNS, 6.0 I think. My sister gave this to me when I mentioned I was thinking about buying the newest version, she thought it worked fine. She used to do transcription for translators by shadowing with DNS, but then everyone either bought their own, or switched to typing in CAT programs, so she didn't need it anymore. I wasn't that happy with it, it introduced a lot of mistakes, some of which were hard to catch proofreading, like putting "s" on the end of words or randomly switching "a" to "the" or vice-versa. I was finding mistakes still in 3rd and 4th revisions. I even had a client mention she saw a couple things, which is when I gave it up. I am not sure if the problem was because it was an older version, or because my mike wasn't that great -- the very best off-the-rack at Staples -- I would love to hear from people that have used older and newer versions of the program. I think it is on verison 9 now. Has it improved significantly in accuracy? What should I expect to pay for an adequate microphone? Btw, it does work with Wordfast, I imagine it works with Trados as well, just not sure if it works good enough.Collapse


 
Jorge Blanco
Jorge Blanco  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 12:50
English to Spanish
+ ...
Yes, I've been doing for years with excellent results Aug 7, 2008

I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking (last version, 7.0) for several years now, and I can tell it is an excellent program. If you speak clearly enough and have a good quality microphone that has been certified by Nuance (the maker of DNS), such as those from Plantronics, you can reach high levels of voice recognition, in the range of 97%-99%, but the cost you have to pay is to have a very powerful PC (3.02 GHz+ processor and 1 GB+ of RAM), particularly so when using it with Office and SDL ... See more
I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking (last version, 7.0) for several years now, and I can tell it is an excellent program. If you speak clearly enough and have a good quality microphone that has been certified by Nuance (the maker of DNS), such as those from Plantronics, you can reach high levels of voice recognition, in the range of 97%-99%, but the cost you have to pay is to have a very powerful PC (3.02 GHz+ processor and 1 GB+ of RAM), particularly so when using it with Office and SDL Trados 2007, since such combination takes a heavy toll on the computer's resources. Thus, presently I use it only for very large projects with a tight deadline. I haven't bought the newest versions (9.0, 10.0) because I'm going to give a try to Window's Vista built-in voice recognition anytime now.

[Edited at 2008-08-07 14:22]
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Williamson
Williamson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:50
Flemish to English
+ ...
DNS expensive? Aug 7, 2008

DNS expensive??? TradosSdlx is bl..dy expensive, but the multilingual version of DNS (Dutch, French, English, German) v.9.0 costs
200 euros. Vista Updates came for free. A good practice for interpreting too.

[Edited at 2008-08-07 14:40]


 
Interlangue (X)
Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 19:50
English to French
+ ...
Yes Aug 7, 2008

Occasionally. Requires a lot of self discipline.

[Modifié le 2008-08-07 15:01]


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:50
Member
English to French
Yes Aug 7, 2008

Still v.8. I have yet to find a program that doesn't not work with it (I had an issue with MemoQ, but apparently solved after Windows reinstallation)
One of my best business investments with TO3000. And Trados.
Philippe


Yaotl Altan
 
Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:50
Dutch to English
+ ...
Yes Aug 7, 2008

If you take the trouble to train it properly, it's a very worthwhile investment.

Not expensive - less than EUR 200 - which you can recoup in the first few days in terms of increased productivity anyhow.

You need to be able to dictate at a good speed to see the benefits though. If you are a stop-start-need-to-check-a-dictionary-for every-second-word type of translator, it's not for you.

I'm lucky in the sense that I was already used to dictating English tran
... See more
If you take the trouble to train it properly, it's a very worthwhile investment.

Not expensive - less than EUR 200 - which you can recoup in the first few days in terms of increased productivity anyhow.

You need to be able to dictate at a good speed to see the benefits though. If you are a stop-start-need-to-check-a-dictionary-for every-second-word type of translator, it's not for you.

I'm lucky in the sense that I was already used to dictating English translations of Afrikaans legal documents back at my law firm in SA for my two secretaries to type up - and believe me, DNS is far more accurate than they ever were!

Also works seamlessly with Trados.

[Edited at 2008-08-08 09:39]
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Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:50
Dutch to English
+ ...
Version 10 Aug 7, 2008

Joan Berglund wrote:

I think it is on verison 9 now. Has it improved significantly in accuracy?


Still on Version 9 myself, but Version 10 is now available.

Version 9 (Preferred) is very accurate - you do need to take the time to train it properly though.


 
Erzsébet Czopyk
Erzsébet Czopyk  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 19:50
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
just begun Aug 7, 2008

saw by the colleague, tried, just ordered.
Seems it is a very good investment...I hate typing ;-(
Cheers, Liza

[Módosítva: 2008-08-07 16:58]


 
Jorge Blanco
Jorge Blanco  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 12:50
English to Spanish
+ ...
I agree absolutely with Philippe et al. Aug 7, 2008

Philippe Etienne wrote:

Still v.8. I have yet to find a program that doesn't not work with it (I had an issue with MemoQ, but apparently solved after Windows reinstallation)
One of my best business investments with TO3000. And Trados.
Philippe


I have also yet to find a program that says NO! to DNS

The increase in productivity with DNS, of course, depends on how fast and clearly you can dictate and how many dictionary or Internet-search stops you make. In my case, I had two advantages: I received basic training in simultaneous interpretation at the beginning of my translation studies, which proved very helpful when I choosed to pursue translation, and the fact that my mentor in medical translations, Dr. José Rafael Blengio, initiated me into dictating with audiocassettes back in 1982, for the transcriptionist to type my recordings into the computer. When VRS made its debut (back then, for handicapped people), I immediately embraced it and recover up to 1/4 of my income.

Regarding costs, I also agree with the colleagues that the expense made in this program (or for that matter, in the full SDL Trados suite, TO3000, or ProZ membership) is a small price to pay IF you have a successful translation business, since you will recover it promptly. I mean, would you use a taxi if his/her driver doesn't make any necessary investments, such as taking it to the carwash, having all mechanical parts in good functional condition, etc.? Believe me, it's worth the expense but you must speak clearly to the mike!


Yaotl Altan
 
Patricia Rosas
Patricia Rosas  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:50
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam
DNS 10 Aug 7, 2008

For those of you considering buying voice-recognition software, do wait a few weeks because Nuance is releasing Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. They claim it is greatly improved over version 9.

I ADORE DNS! (And I just upgraded to DNS 10.) It has sped up my translation work enormously, and it saves my wrists. The accuracy is not 100%, but if it balks at certain words (I'm doing a Spanish to English translation with tons of Nahuatl words, for example, and I don't want to train it to
... See more
For those of you considering buying voice-recognition software, do wait a few weeks because Nuance is releasing Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. They claim it is greatly improved over version 9.

I ADORE DNS! (And I just upgraded to DNS 10.) It has sped up my translation work enormously, and it saves my wrists. The accuracy is not 100%, but if it balks at certain words (I'm doing a Spanish to English translation with tons of Nahuatl words, for example, and I don't want to train it to recognize those), then I just type those in.

The only other negative thing that I can say is that sometimes it gets quirky and interprets my dictation as commands--even when I'm in the "dictation only" mode. I've discovered that shutting down and restarting the computer is all it takes to get back to normal.

Other than that, I am very pleased with the product.
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Yaotl Altan
 
Amy Duncan (X)
Amy Duncan (X)  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 15:50
Portuguese to English
+ ...
For Mac? Aug 7, 2008

I posted a forum topic about this recently, but nobody answered....maybe someone will now. Is anyone here familiar with MacSpeech (a DNS product)? I am a Mac user and would like to try voice recognition software.

Amy


 
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Poll: Do you use voice recognition software?






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