Fishing for terminology Thread poster: Reed James
|
|---|
Reed James
Chile
Local time: 12:26
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
When I have a spare moment, or when I am doing research for a translation job, I like to "fish" for terms within a set number of texts to see if they pop up, and in what context.
Does anyone else out there do that? What are some good legal and/or business texts to add to such an index? Thanks.
Reed
| | | | Henry Hinds 
United States
Local time: 10:26
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
I'm not sure if I understand your process. When the need arises I do a fair amount of "fishing" for terms on Google using a method that is not very systematized but merely adapated to the circumstances.
Could you explain a bit more about your process?
| | | | | Examine32 by Aquila | Jul 11, 2006 |
Good day!
To search through your files on HD, it may be reasonable to try Examine32 by Aquila providing strings of text in which the term is found. For more info, pls visit http://www.examine32.com.
With respect,
rbd
| | | | Reed James
Chile
Local time: 12:26
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | Further explanation | Jul 11, 2006 |
Henry Hinds wrote:
I'm not sure if I understand your process. When the need arises I do a fair amount of "fishing" for terms on Google using a method that is not very systematized but merely adapated to the circumstances.
Could you explain a bit more about your process?
Henry,
Sure, I'd be glad to. Google is a great tool for searching as long as you are fairly certain you know what you are looking for. As we all know, there are several terms with multiple translations, all which are readily found in a single Google search. Take the Spanish word "enfermedad". In English it means both "disease" and "illness". Therefore, if you are looking for a translation for "Enfermedades Cardiovasculares", you're going to find both "Cardiovascular Diseases" and "Cardiovascular Illnesses" if you do a Google search for them.
The other thing about Google, is that a number of links shown for any search are irrelevant or misleading. I always assume that when I use any resource, I've been working all day and it is 11:00 p.m. as a sort of worst case scenario. I think that when you have to sift through irrelevant information, you're taking time away from your translation.
This is why I am constantly "fishing" for terms as well as structure and content even when I'm not working. I figure that there is always something that I need to save for later; many times I'm right about this. I follow the news and Spanish either on the radio or on television. I do a quick mental check on what the newscaster is saying to see if I understand and if I can successfully translate it into English.
However, it would be much better to have written documentation from which to build a corpus, which is exactly what I have begun to do. I use dtsearch, a spartan but effective text search application that will search through the whole hard drive in a matter of seconds.
So far, I've saved documents in English that happen to be the originals or back translations of jobs sent to me. (Yes it is incredible but true! Sometimes you can find almost word for word translations of what you already been asked to translate.)
So, back to my initial question: what are a few documents that are readily accessible online that you would use as a reference library for business and law?
Reed
| | |
|
|
|
Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 18:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Reed D. James wrote:
However, it would be much better to have written documentation from which to build a corpus, which is exactly what I have begun to do. I use dtsearch, a spartan but effective text search application that will search through the whole hard drive in a matter of seconds.
....
So, back to my initial question: what are a few documents that are readily accessible online that you would use as a reference library for business and law?
Reed
Business and law and vast fields...basically any search has to be focused, and will be based on the 'type' and 'genre' of text you want to translate.
You refer to paper documentation as the basis for a corpus. What about a corpus of digital texts?
For example, I have a corpus of medical texts (respiratory medicine), saved to my desktop, and if I wanted to decide - for a respiratory med translation - whether 'illness' or 'disease' was more typically used as well as the circumstances in which each was used, I would do a search in my specialist corpus using my special corpus analysis tool.
If you wanted to play around a bit with corpus analysis, try WEbCorp: http://www.webcorp.org.uk/, especially teh advanced options (see the online guide for an explanation)
Here you can get the kind of output that might help you decide whether you should use 'illness' or 'disease'.
[Edited at 2006-07-11 16:23]
| | | | | One good source is... | Jul 11, 2006 |
... http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
A vast amount of various documents (legal, technical etc) translated into many languages. Enter the term, choose bilingual display and search for the term in the document. The source and target texts are displayed in the same window. An indispensable source of reference, simple to use and efficient.
Marius Reika
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Fishing for terminology | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
