ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Render unto Dragon....

Berni Armstrong — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 00:23:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Berni Armstrong
Post title: Render unto Dragon....

that which it is good at. And render unto your fingers all of the rest. (It shouldn't be either/or... but rather fingers plus !)

They may not be the best programmes yet for technical translation, but for us generalist dogsbodies it is the bee's knees. Really!

I have used Dragon 7 for about six months now and it and I are getting to know each other better.

It has improved my daily word output by about 35% (even taking into account the times you have to go back to revise wrongly recognised words (often homonyms, etc).

But above all this is the fact that I no longer get shoulder pain in my right shoulder from mouse abuse and I can maintain a more comfortable ergonomic position in my chair and therefore get less health related problems from longer hours at the PC.

There is still room for improvements with Speech recognition, but it is already a valuable tool that I would recommend anyone to explore further.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Dragon and DejaVu

Heike Kurtz — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Heike Kurtz
Post title: Dragon and DejaVu

after an operation (Carpal tunnel syndrome) some years ago, I was not allowed to type for a certain time and so I bought Dragon Naturally Speaking.

It works fine with DejaVu, dictating ist just as easy as in any Word document. The only problem I experienced: I bought the edition where you cannot save your own commands, i.e. I still had to type the Shift/down arrow combination to go from one segment to another or the "f" keys for certain functions. Should you want to use it with TM, I recommend the slightly more expensive version where you can edit your own commands.

Moreover, as I am not a native speaker of English, dictating english texts is agony: I always thought my spoken English was not so bad, but DNS simply does not "understand" me...

As long as I work in my native tongue (German), Dragon writes the text as I speak with very few problems. I even tried speaking very fast - it worked.

However, I stopped using it for 2 reasons:

- when I translate, I need silence. I can talk _or_ think, but not both at the same time
- I type very fast (about 200 chars/min on the average) and DNS just does not reach this speed, also because you have to correct things every now and then and this is rather time-consuming

Both factors combined (slower thinking + slower writing) made me give it up. But I will certainly use it again after my second operation (other arm) :-(

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | DNS and CAT tools

Marie Belliot-Niget — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:35:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Marie Belliot-Niget
Post title: DNS and CAT tools

[quote]Katharine Prucha wrote:

Are there problems using DNS with CAT tools or is it fairly straight forward? I've been thinking seriously about trying it - but haven't simply because I haven't had the time to do so.
Thanks! [/quote]

Hello,

I'd also be interested in getting feedback from people who combine DNS (or other voice recognition software) with Wordfast or Trados (incl. TagEditor)...
Thanks!

[Edited at 2007-02-01 08:38]

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Thanks Astrid!

Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:25:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Post title: Thanks Astrid!

[quote]Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
That's exactly my point. Dragon does not do this kind of thing very well (let alone very fast), for example:
Astrid [/quote]

Yes, I suspected so. We have to move a lot in each segment and have to go back and forth numerous times in each file. We also have to open and close many files with every job. If I had to order by voice to scroll down a page or to move the cursor it would take me a lot more. Of course I see the qualities of such a software in non-tagged, straight, unformatted, paragraphed text.

And of course if I had a physical impairment that would not allow me to use the keyboard fast enough, I'd definitely go for a voice recognition product.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Exactly my point

Astrid Elke Witte — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:01:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Astrid Elke Witte
Post title: Exactly my point

Hi Tomás,

That's exactly my point. Dragon does not do this kind of thing very well (let alone very fast), for example:

"....(see orders in Case 138/80 Borker [1980] ECR 1975, paragraph 4, and in Case 318/85 Greis Unterweger [1986] ECR 955, paragraph 4, and judgments in Case C-111/94 Job Centre [1995] ECR I-3361, paragraph 9, and Salzmann, paragraph 14, Lutz, paragraph 13, and Case C-165/03 Längst [2005] ECR I-5637, paragraph 25)."

And the translations I do are full of this sort of stuff.

Astrid

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Take this!

Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:04:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Post title: Take this!

Fair enough, folks, but let me ask you how well would I cope with DNS to translate this:

"For ProtocolName, a number of different input and output units are available from ManuFacturer, see table below [xr "Figure 19" 15] on [xr "page 56" 16] and chapter [xr "2 Specification of Variants and Options" 17]."

...or this:

"Digital 24 VDC I/O (DSQC[hs]328A or DSQC[hs]652)"

This kind of text is about 70% of all our work, and we have to use Trados and S-Tagger; the items in brackets should be left as is and we must work around them, which in the case of a keyboard means a lot of use of the arrow keys.

Anybody out there with experience in such scenario? How do you move around the text with a voice recognition software?

[Edited at 2007-01-31 21:05]

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | voice recognition

Suzanne Blangsted (X) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:53:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Suzanne Blangsted (X)
Post title: voice recognition

I would like to explain my "yes".

I use the Dragon quite often but not always, as it is not that easy to use with the Danish language (yet), but I have used the Dragon for my English text at least 10 years, and I love it.

I have arthritic hands with bone spurs and cysts, so keyboarding is at times very painful for me. This is where the Dragon is the darling of my daily routine.

I recommend to everyone that (s)he get acquainted with voice recognition and take the time to teach him/herself (tedious as it may be) to use the software.

I should mention that I use the professional edition (medical, etc.)

[Edited at 2007-01-31 20:56]

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | No, but I intend to

vixen (X) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 20:43:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: vixen (X)
Post title: No, but I intend to

I answered 'Other' because I bought DNS 8 last week, but have not had time as yet to install it and play/work with it.

After a few hectic projects, I found I had strained my right arm, both from typing and using the mouse. So when I saw that DNS was on offer, I jumped at the chance to give it a go.

I'm happy to see that quite a few people in this thread have had positive experiences using this software.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | What about with CAT tools?

Katharine Prucha — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Katharine Prucha
Post title: What about with CAT tools?

Are there problems using DNS with CAT tools or is it fairly straight forward? I've been thinking seriously about trying it - but haven't simply because I haven't had the time to do so.
Thanks!

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | DNS - very efficient

Marie-Céline GEORG — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:10:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Marie-Céline GEORG
Post title: DNS - very efficient

Hi all,
I also had technical problems at the beginning - the microphone was faulty - but now I'm very satisfied of Dragon.
It's more useful with "literary" texts, i.e. with lots of complete sentences, but it works quite well with more technical texts - lists of words, etc.
I use it on a four-year old computer with RAM boosted to 1 GB and it is reasonably fast.
As for abbreviations, I've trained DNS to a few of them so that I dictate "Trafic O N G" and get "TRAFFIC" (with both F and all caps) or "OE société " to obtain the abbreviated name of a company without mistakes because it's so short.
I've also noticed that it learns technical terms quite rapidly and even if I have to correct it at the beginning, it becomes more and more accurate.
Although I type very fast without looking at my fingers, I tend to make a lot of typing mistakes and use the backwards key quite often, so my typing speed is still lower than my thinking speed - I'd say that Dragon makes me about 30% faster now.
I wouldn't give it back now!

Marie-Céline

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | It's no slower :-)

Charlie Bavington — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:39:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Charlie Bavington
Post title: It's no slower :-)

I don't use it with every job. It seems to work best with texts that "flow". It's less good with bullet points and suchlike. I also don't use it with texts that include a lot of technical nonsense, mainly 'cos I haven't managed to train it properly, I think :-)

But it makes for variety, 'cos typing IS very boring work, and it's certainly no slower, even allowing for going back and correcting errors. If it saves time on a job, I consider that a bonus; I primarily use it simply to avoid having to type every single word of every single job! (CAT tools notwithstanding)

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Speed?

Angela Dickson (X) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:13:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Angela Dickson (X)
Post title: Speed?

How many words per minute can the average person produce with Dragon? I type pretty quickly (70-80 words per minute) - in fact, it's my thinking speed that holds me up, not my typing.

I'm wondering whether it might be worth the investment though, just in case RSI sets in (I've been lucky so far). Any thoughts?

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Windows Vista and Dragon?

Williamson — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:05:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Williamson
Post title: Windows Vista and Dragon?

The more you use it, the better Dragon gets. But as with all good things Microsoft includes these in their next version of the OS and the Office-package. Even windows vista has voice-recognition included. This voice-recognition is used for giving commands.
Office 11 also had such a feature. I have been looking for it in Office 12, but I don't find it
Does anybody have any idea if Windows Vista and Dragon are compatible.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | certainly not while translating

Brandis (X) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:53:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Brandis (X)
Post title: certainly not while translating

Halo! that part comes later. But rough transcription / keyword translation or so I do sometimes. Mostly this software is not required, because I have large TMs and other resources. It is however interesting to implement this technique in book translations, one could train the voice data base. Best Brandis

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Time saving

Yaotl Altan — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:25:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Yaotl Altan
Post title: Time saving

I have been saving a lot of time using DNS thus enhancing the number of clients and my income.

Yes, it's a little slow at the beginning because it needs training and feeding but then it becomes really fast. I've reached a 30% - 35% time decrease when translating very technical documents.

My RAM is 512 MB and it works pretty good. Of course, 1 GB or more is recommended.

:)

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | I voted: other...

Giovany Rodríguez Monsalve — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:19:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Giovany Rodríguez Monsalve
Post title: I voted: other...

I would like to know more about that special software because I don't know it very well.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | books...

Patricia Rosas — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:10:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Patricia Rosas
Post title: books...

[quote]Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:

Hi Patricia,

Yes, it is the latest version of Dragon, but you should just try and see how long it takes you to get it to do three lines of legal abbreviations/references correctly! For me, it is a whole lot faster typing them! Perhaps you translate a different sort of document.

Astrid [/quote]

Hi, Astrid,
You're right. I do social science prose and some art-related material, with abbreviations appearing only occasionally. Still I wonder if you couldn't use the feature they have for spelling individual letters of the alphabet? I haven't played with it, because I don't need it. Sorry it turned out to be a disappointment for you...
Patricia

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | It's too time consuming to make it do 3 lines of legal abbreviations correctly

Astrid Elke Witte — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:48:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Astrid Elke Witte
Post title: It's too time consuming to make it do 3 lines of legal abbreviations correctly

Hi Patricia,

Yes, it is the latest version of Dragon, but you should just try and see how long it takes you to get it to do three lines of legal abbreviations/references correctly! For me, it is a whole lot faster typing them! Perhaps you translate a different sort of document.

Astrid

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | punctuation not a problem

Patricia Rosas — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:43:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Patricia Rosas
Post title: punctuation not a problem

[quote]Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:

I would have to find out how to make it do all the different punctuation marks, abbreviations, etc. successfully. I believe that takes a lot of time, to find out what to do and then train it to do that, and I simply have not had that amount of free time on my hands to date. I tried using it just to do the words inbetween (any "straight pieces"), but legal documents are so full of abbreviations for names of laws and references, etc., that it was just thoroughly impractical.

Astrid [/quote]

Astrid:
Can you tell us what software it is? Is it Dragon you're talking about? It punctuates for you, but if you have a list, for example, then you would say: apples comma oranges comma strawberries ...

There are a lot of features that I haven't explored yet, but as I noted I got through a 10,000 word translation in about 2/3 of the time that it would normally have taken me to type it.
Patricia

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | Dragon Naturally Speaking is VERY EASY to use ....

Patricia Rosas — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:40:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Patricia Rosas
Post title: Dragon Naturally Speaking is VERY EASY to use ....

Unlike Cristina, my experience with voice recognition software has been fabulous!

I just did a 10,000 word translation, and it sped up my output. When I first got the software, it only took me about an hour to do the "training." Now, during each session, I spend a few minutes training it to recognize a few odd words (including Spanish names). It also self-trains by scanning all of one's e-mail messages, and once I had it do that, its performance level went up.

I did find that I had to alter the way I read the text, but I think it is an improvement. When keyboarding, I tend to start typing before I've even read to the end of the sentence. With Dragon Naturally Speaking, I read the entire sentence, think about possible phrasings, choose one, and then speak it aloud.

I'm using Word, with the "compare side by side" feature running, and when I'd get to a string of foreign names, I would simply copy and paste them into the main document.

Now, I will admit that there were several places where the software put in something inane, and I didn't catch it until I was proofreading, but it stuck out like a sore thumb -- much easier to spot than the sort of errors that I might have made keyboarding.

So, I would recommend this to everyone! My hands and back are so happy as I slump back in my office chair!

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | I got as far as buying it...

Astrid Elke Witte — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:37:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Astrid Elke Witte
Post title: I got as far as buying it...

... and it appeared to be really slow. Then I got my usual computer guy to come and try to "fix it up", but he said it uses an awful lot of computer power and is not really made for computers of the generation from 2-3 years ago. He then came again and brought an extra gigabyte of RAM, which he put inside my computer. That helped to make it a more normal speed (though not really fast), however it really needs two gigabytes of RAM. He said that 2 GB slabs of RAM to add to an older computer were too expensive.

That was in November, but I have still not used it, because I would have to find out how to make it do all the different punctuation marks, abbreviations, etc. successfully. I believe that takes a lot of time, to find out what to do and then train it to do that, and I simply have not had that amount of free time on my hands to date. I tried using it just to do the words inbetween (any "straight pieces"), but legal documents are so full of abbreviations for names of laws and references, etc., that it was just thoroughly impractical.

Astrid

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate? | I would like to

Cristina Heraud-van Tol — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: Cristina Heraud-van Tol
Post title: I would like to

For the moment, this type of software doesn't convince me. The program confuses words and you have to spend hours training it to get accustomed to your own voice.

But I agree that when you are tired of typing, it can offer you a great rest, and why not... fun? I just wanted to know if many people are using this and if they manage to get the results they really want.

Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?

ProZ.com Staff — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:58:41 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: Do you use voice-recognition software to translate?
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

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

This poll was originally submitted by Cristina Heraud-van Tol

View the poll here

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