Re: translation and wiki docs

Subject: Re: translation and wiki docs
From: David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:57:30 +0200


Sally Derrick asked:
> Have machine
> language plugins improved enough lately that I could review and accurately
> incorporate these comments? I admit it has been years since I've even
> thought about those but, at the time, a 10-foot pole was not long enough to
> make the experience palatable.;-)
>
> Sally
>

Sally,

Machine language translation quality has improved greatly in the past
few years. That said, much depends upon the input text--the "GIGO"
principle is very applicable here.

Over the past dozen years, I have sent and received some thousands of
letters using machine translation and have learned that if I use
relatively simple sentence construction and avoid most colloquialisms,
the output is usually quite understandable. Since many people are not
very skilled at that kind of writing, the results can vary substantially.

One caveat: in many technical areas, your translation engine must have a
translation dictionary that has the terms you use commonly in your
industry. One company that seems to have a fairly good selection of
software and specialized dictionaries is Promt: http://www.promt.com/

(When I say "thousands" of letters, I am not exaggerating. My wife is a
native Russian speaker, and prior to relocating full time to Ukraine in
2008 we were too much apart, and as a practical matter using machine
translation eliminated many potential misunderstandings as well as
creating a few.)

David



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


Previous by Author: Re: Graphics Resolution Confusion Once Again
Next by Author: "Frame Light?" was: RE: Framemaker Viewer? Floating Licenses?
Previous by Thread: Re: translation and wiki docs
Next by Thread: Special characters, such as TM, in web page titles


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads