| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | The need for speed Thread poster: Reed James
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| In the long term: eliminate all doubt, research it until its dead. | Oct 28, 2006 |
One thing I hate about correcting stuff written directly in my target language (English) written by my non mother-tongue customers, is that I find myself staring at the text asking myself, "Does he really mean that, or is he making a common mistake?". And I am wasting time. I hate it because, all I can to is ring her/him and ask
When translating, though, if I have a doubt I research it, research it and research it until the doubt is a dead and what is left is dead certainty. That wa... See more One thing I hate about correcting stuff written directly in my target language (English) written by my non mother-tongue customers, is that I find myself staring at the text asking myself, "Does he really mean that, or is he making a common mistake?". And I am wasting time. I hate it because, all I can to is ring her/him and ask
When translating, though, if I have a doubt I research it, research it and research it until the doubt is a dead and what is left is dead certainty. That way I don't waste time staring at the screen in doubt. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Reed James
Chile
Local time: 18:10
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | Could you share the macros? | Oct 28, 2006 |
James Davis wrote:
When I come to open the file in Word, I click on another macro 'files' and this creates two new files: bestCustomer_06_10_28_theTranslation_eng.doc which is the target file and bestCustomer_06_10_28_theTranslation_log.doc and this is very important not just for speed but also for planning work and knowing whether you can meet a deadline or not. In the log file I put my mouse away and go into keys only mode and hit alt-L which runs a macro which prints the date and time, the number of characters words and paragraphs in the file (actually I only look at the characters, but when I wrote it I thought I'd put the rest in anyway).
Then I open the bestCustomer_06_10_28_theTranslation_eng.doc file and translate for an hour (doesn't have to be an hour). I then go back to the log file (I always keep it open), I delete the text I have translated and press Alt-L again and it gives me the date, time and the new figures for characters, words, etc. and I can see how much I have done.
[Edited at 2006-10-28 15:42]
Jim,
I like the log idea. I do something similar with text analysis data. Would you be willing to share your macro(s) with me? Thanks.
Reed
| | | | maryrose 
Local time: 07:40
English
+ ...
| using autocorrect | Oct 29, 2006 |
Marie-Helene Hayles wrote: Daina Jauntirans wrote:
I prefer to use Autotext over Autocorrect in Word. With Autotext, if I want to write "computer-assisted translation" repeatedly, for example, I would set up "cat" as the shortcut. Then when I want to write the word, I simply type "cat" and press F3.
Autocorrect, on the other hand, seems dangerous to me, because if I chose the abbreviation "cat" for "computer-assisted translation," the system would always expand "cat" to "computer-assisted translation" even if I meant to write about my pet cat. You have to be more selective about the shortcuts you choose and keep an eye on it more.
Not entirely sure that it applies to me, although maybe that's because I automatically avoid shortcuts that are also a real word...
I'm an avid autocorrect user because I find it quick and easy. One way to avoid a common word expanding into a translation term when you don't want it to is to follow the shortcut with a / or a symbol you find easy to type. That way you won't get "memorandum and articles" when you just want to say "me", because your shortcut is "me/". Silly example, but you get the idea.
Of course, as Marie-Helene says, the other way is simply to avoid real words in your shortcuts.
Cheers
maryrose
| | | | | Let's share Some at least | Oct 29, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote:
Jim,
I like the log idea. I do something similar with text analysis data. Would you be willing to share your macro(s) with me? Thanks.
To be honest I wrote the log macro in an old language years ago. Word Basic. When I updated to the latest edition of Office Word 2003, the one after Office 2000, Word automatically converted it to the new macro language, which is VBA and it didn't do a good job. It gives the time, but not the date. So I'll see if I can fix it and share it. Is this still on topic? I think so the need for speed depends, amongst other things on macros.
Reed
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| Auto corrects! Who has the best? | Oct 29, 2006 |
I use auto corrects, but maybe I should use more.
Bo -> Board of Directors
For Italian Translations
leg -> Legislative decree (leg is a word, but I haven't had problems with it yet, alternatively legi)
| | | | | The macro is served | Oct 29, 2006 |
Hi Reed This here is the output from the I use for measuring speed macro:
*********************************************
29-10-2006 11.14
Number of characters without spaces: 514
Number of characters with spaces: 640
Number of words: 126
Number of paragraphs: 9
Place your cursur here and run the macro
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven�... See more Hi Reed This here is the output from the I use for measuring speed macro:
*********************************************
29-10-2006 11.14
Number of characters without spaces: 514
Number of characters with spaces: 640
Number of words: 126
Number of paragraphs: 9
Place your cursur here and run the macro
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
******************************************
Then when you've done some translating, well just delete what you have translated and run it again:
************************************************
29-10-2006 11.14
Number of characters without spaces: 514
Number of characters with spaces: 640
Number of words: 126
Number of paragraphs: 9
29-10-2006 11.18 SPENT ONE MINUTE IN BATHROOM
Number of characters without spaces: 172
Number of characters with spaces: 214
Number of words: 42
Number of paragraphs: 3
Place your cursor here and run the macro
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
This is the text to count because it is what I haven’t translated yet.
************************************************
It's pretty easy to see that I've translated about 345 characters without spaces (its a history thing, that's how I measure myself) in 4 minutes. I often put little notes in capitals.
There are two macros sub log and sub MAIN. The first calls the second. Naturally I accept no responsibility. You use it at your own risk. The risk is mainly that of catching a virus because you have to lower your virus protection in word in order to be able to run Word.
Most of the other macros I have are connected to mysql, where I keep my translation memory. I've tried TRADOS, but I returned to my own. You would need to install mysql to use them, which is very complicated and they are very complicated, I mean there is no instruction manual.
For people who don't know much about them. Open Word, press alt-f11 and paste it into the module newMacros, which you will find under normal. Then to run it tools->macros-> select the macro 'log_' and then run it. Obiviously its much easier if you associate a key stroke with it. I have put it on alt-l. I use it a lot.
Well here's the macro:
Sub log()
'
' log Macro
' Macro registrata il 29/06/2006 da James DAVIS
Dim atStart As Boolean
atStart = False
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory, Extend:=wdExtend
If Selection.Characters.Count >= 2 Then Selection.Cut Else atStart = True
Application.Run MacroName:="log_.MAIN"
Selection.MoveUp Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
If Not atStart Then Selection.PasteAndFormat (wdPasteDefault)
End Sub
Public Sub MAIN()
Selection.Font.Size = 12
Selection.InsertAfter Chr(13)
Dim Today
Today = Now
thedate = Day(Today) & "-" & Month(Today) & "-" & Year(Today) & " " & Hour(Today) & "." & Minute(Today)
Selection.InsertAfter thedate
WordBasic.FileSummaryInfo Update:=1 'Aggiorna statistiche del documento
Dim dlg As Object: Set dlg = WordBasic.DialogRecord.DocumentStatistics(False) 'Crea un record di dialogo
WordBasic.CurValues.DocumentStatistics dlg 'Inserisce i valori nel record
mycharacters = Chr(13) & "Number of characters without spaces: " & (dlg.Characters - 14) & Chr(13)
mycharactersSpaces = "Number of characters with spaces: " & (ActiveDocument.Characters.Count - 20) & Chr(13)
myWords = "Number of words: " & (dlg.Words - 2) & Chr(13)
myParagraphs = "Number of paragraphs: " & (dlg.Paragraphs - 1) & Chr(13)
Selection.InsertAfter mycharacters
Selection.InsertAfter mycharactersSpaces
Selection.InsertAfter myWords
Selection.InsertAfter myParagraphs
End Sub ▲ Collapse
| | | | | the need for speed | Oct 31, 2006 |
thanks everyone. You all share a great knowledge.
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To add a comment from a completely different angle, I find that far and away the biggest influence on my working speed is my degree of familiarity with the subject area. I can work fast on texts from longstanding clients whose territory I know well. By contrast, a document that comes from an agency from an unknown client always takes longer to get to grips with and is slower to work through. So I would suggest that the greatest increase in speed is likely to come from choosing who your clients a... See more To add a comment from a completely different angle, I find that far and away the biggest influence on my working speed is my degree of familiarity with the subject area. I can work fast on texts from longstanding clients whose territory I know well. By contrast, a document that comes from an agency from an unknown client always takes longer to get to grips with and is slower to work through. So I would suggest that the greatest increase in speed is likely to come from choosing who your clients are and what sort of work you agree to take on in the first place. ▲ Collapse
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Adam Warren
France
Local time: 00:10
Member (2005)
French to English
| My semi-automation experience | Oct 31, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote:
Hello. I would just like to know how some of you have increased your daily output without cutting corners. I for one have benefited greatly from macros and speech recognition software. However, I know that there are more solutions out there which I have not tried. Thank you.
Reed
Hullo, Reed.
I use a mix of Abbreviated entries (the F3 key!), Trados and MutliTerm. Trados takes much of the drudgery out of maintaining consistency, but I find MultiTerm really accelerates the pace of work. Recurring or standard terms can be injected into the text, and concomitantly, I can store terms directly from the work I'm doing, using the MultiTerm toolbar.
I daresay other proprietary solutions produce similar results, and this is not intended as a "plug".
CAT solutions pay for themselves over the long term, and building up termbases can take time. Disciplining oneself to store terms and perform necessary maintenance on TMs while on a long job is worthwhile.
Termbase data structures should be kept as simple as possible, with few "bells and whistles": I have found that picklists for open-ended fields such as subject area or client can hamper flexibility, while these lists with pull-down menus are useful for fields with a limited number of possible entries (e.g. logical symbols to show whether a given term is "reversible", one to one, or one to many, or the only rendering: such is the "equivalence indicator" below).
The data structure I use has five fields:
Source; "Equivalence indicator"; Target; Context (client, subject); and Notes (things like qualitative comments: deprecated, recommended, collocation notes, cross-references, &c).
The task of getting MT to "eat" my copious "static" terminology resources has so far proved daunting. My main use of MultiTerm remains to store and retrieve things that actually recur in texts I am working on: converting my useful Word tables is probably a pipe-dream.
With an eye to the future, speech-recognition software can, it is claimed, be used in combination with CAT software - an intriguing prospect.
I hope this may help.
With kind regards,
Adam.
| | | | | Specialisation | Nov 1, 2006 |
Armorel Young wrote:
To add a comment from a completely different angle, I find that far and away the biggest influence on my working speed is my degree of familiarity with the subject area. I can work fast on texts from longstanding clients whose territory I know well. By contrast, a document that comes from an agency from an unknown client always takes longer to get to grips with and is slower to work through. So I would suggest that the greatest increase in speed is likely to come from choosing who your clients are and what sort of work you agree to take on in the first place.
"Agree" as they say in Kudoz, Armorel. However, when I first started, I accepted everything the agency sent me. It was either that or go home to mum and dad in England. After 25 years, I specialise in a very broad variety of areas and turn down the stuff I don't specialise in simply because I don't have time and must keep my regular customers (whom I specialise in happy).
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Reed D. James wrote:
I use Nuance's Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional version 8. I can assure you that it is the best thing out there on the market. I've also tried IBM's ViaVoice. Unfortunately, ViaVoice is no longer being produced, and it is somewhat outdated. I recommend the NaturallySpeaking Professional edition. I know it has a fairly high price tag on it, but within a month or so, you will most likely regain that money-- and then some in increased productivity and no more tired wrists from all that typing.
Hope that helps.
Reed
[Edited at 2006-10-27 02:02]
Reed, I have a 3-4 year old version of Dragon. I used it when I had tendont problems, but on *easy* translations it slowed me from 750+ words per minutes to about 500. It was giving about 90-97% accuracy I suppose, but required concentration on it, rather than translation. I know the software company got taken over more than once, it was Belgian I think. Is it faster now?
Oh by the way. With regard to automation and cutting corners. Generally speaking (and with the emphasis on TM and CAT rather than MT) automation takes the drudgery out of translating and allows you more time to concentrate on final touches, polishing and getting it just that little bit nearer to perfection.
[Edited at 2006-11-01 04:50]
| | | | | AutoCorrect vs. AutoText | Nov 1, 2006 |
Seems it's just a personal preference. Anyone wanting to cut time, just try both and see what works better for you. I don't mind pressing the F3 key after my shortcuts, because that's easier for me than coming up with more complicated shortcuts. Most often my short cuts are job-based anyway for company names, etc. that repeat. Here are a few others I use regularly:
fs - financial statements
cfs - consolidated financial statements
fy - fiscal year
sb - supervisory b... See more Seems it's just a personal preference. Anyone wanting to cut time, just try both and see what works better for you. I don't mind pressing the F3 key after my shortcuts, because that's easier for me than coming up with more complicated shortcuts. Most often my short cuts are job-based anyway for company names, etc. that repeat. Here are a few others I use regularly:
fs - financial statements
cfs - consolidated financial statements
fy - fiscal year
sb - supervisory board
d31 - December 31, 200 (you know what I mean if you translate financial stuff!) - substitute any common date
etc. etc. ▲ Collapse
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| Great point, James | Nov 1, 2006 |
James Davis wrote:
When translating, though, if I have a doubt I research it, research it and research it until the doubt is a dead and what is left is dead certainty. That way I don't waste time staring at the screen in doubt.
This is a great point. I prefer this, too. Even better: read the entire text beforehand and clear up all term questions first. Then make a WF glossary and translate away. Ideal situation, of course!
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » The need for speed | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
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