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This has doubled my work performance! Have you tried dictation?
Thread poster: Dylan J Hartmann
Dylan J Hartmann
Dylan J Hartmann  Identity Verified
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...

MODERATOR
Sep 25, 2016

I had always felt sceptical using dictation software in the past and hadn't even tried it until now.

Owing that these circumstances are very particular, I can state that dictation would certainly not be suitable for most of the tasks that I receive. However, when facing a 10k word skincare survey response translation, where all of the content was fairly basic responses to simple questions and they were all in spoken, rather than formal language, dictation seemed absolutely appropria
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I had always felt sceptical using dictation software in the past and hadn't even tried it until now.

Owing that these circumstances are very particular, I can state that dictation would certainly not be suitable for most of the tasks that I receive. However, when facing a 10k word skincare survey response translation, where all of the content was fairly basic responses to simple questions and they were all in spoken, rather than formal language, dictation seemed absolutely appropriate.

This post is just to put the idea out there, for those who haven't tried it.

My scepticism has been put to rest on this issue and I am now a dictation supporter (for certain, simple, spoken-response jobs)!

(OSX dictation on Wordfast Pro 4)
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Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 17:14
English to Thai
+ ...
Technology makes us work better Sep 25, 2016

DJHartmann wrote:

Owing that these circumstances are very particular, I can state that dictation would certainly not be suitable for most of the tasks that I receive. However, when facing a 10k word skincare survey response translation, where all of the content was fairly basic responses to simple questions and they were all in spoken, rather than formal language, dictation seemed absolutely appropriate.



I support the idea of Hartmann. Many latest tools make us work easier including the dictation software.
Let's seek one's weak point during working processes and induce new tools to improve our performance. Text-to-speech, speech-to-text, spell-checker, CAT, OCR, format converter, statement summary, grammar analysis, concentration enhancer, transcription into various languages, back translation and MT are typical tools (with no or low costs) to support human labor efficiently (with different degrees of success in different languages).
In particular, when translation fee rates dive, better performance will maintain our income levels, I think.

Soonthon L.

[Edited at 2016-09-25 02:05 GMT]


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 11:14
Member
English to Italian
Read about it, and tried it... Sep 25, 2016

Actually, I never read it doubles productivity, and after trying it myself (Dragon), I can say that in my case it didn't. In my opinion (and experience), it may be useful to let your hands rest and even to get a slight increase in translation speed, but that comes at a price, as in my case that also resulted in more "typos" (I noticed that during reread).

If speech recognition is not perfectly calibrated, and/or you're translating into a language with a lot of homophones, then I'm n
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Actually, I never read it doubles productivity, and after trying it myself (Dragon), I can say that in my case it didn't. In my opinion (and experience), it may be useful to let your hands rest and even to get a slight increase in translation speed, but that comes at a price, as in my case that also resulted in more "typos" (I noticed that during reread).

If speech recognition is not perfectly calibrated, and/or you're translating into a language with a lot of homophones, then I'm not so sure it's such a brilliant idea...
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Dylan J Hartmann
Dylan J Hartmann  Identity Verified
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...

MODERATOR
TOPIC STARTER
External mic + English Sep 25, 2016

My iMac's internal mic didn't quite pick up the words so well.

External mic was much better.

Secondly, this was into English.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Indispensable Sep 25, 2016

I have been using the MacOS Dictation software for about 1 year and find it really good. I first tried it out as a way to address my concerns about Repetitive Strain Injury caused by long periods of continuous keyboard/finger/wrist work. This had become a serious issue for me.

I was very impressed and I now use it regularly (for Italian and English although it offers a very wide range of other languages).

As a very poor, slow typist who makes lots of mistakes, I find
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I have been using the MacOS Dictation software for about 1 year and find it really good. I first tried it out as a way to address my concerns about Repetitive Strain Injury caused by long periods of continuous keyboard/finger/wrist work. This had become a serious issue for me.

I was very impressed and I now use it regularly (for Italian and English although it offers a very wide range of other languages).

As a very poor, slow typist who makes lots of mistakes, I find it speeds everything up and has totally removed my other concerns, which are a thing of the past now.

It is useful for short phrases or long sentences but not (of course) for lists etc. But I even find it useful working with descriptive entries in Excel and PowerPoint files. I mainly translate discursive texts, often with very specialised terminology, and am constantly surprised by Mac Dictation's ability to recognise and type what I've said, such as "UNESCO" "sustainable development" "archaelogical excavations" etc. It does have a few quirks but nothing major.

I agree that a good microphone is essential. I use this one:

http://www.plantronics.com/uk/product/blackwire-435

The big advantages of Mac Dictation over other applications are:

1. It's free.
2. It's completely integrated with the operating system, so there's nothing to go wrong.
3. It's as good as commercially available products; indeed in some ways it's better.

[Edited at 2016-09-25 15:49 GMT]
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Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
I still am sceptical Sep 25, 2016

DJHartmann wrote:
I had always felt sceptical using dictation software in the past and hadn't even tried it until now.

I have been trying it on and off for over a decade (think I first used it in 2002). Speed is not the issue for me, as I touch type and can batter out text more quickly than I can generate a translation. The issue is wrist and arm fatigue.

By coincidence I have been trying the latest version (15) of Dragon Naturally Speaking over the past couple of weeks. So far I am feeling the same way I always feel when I test voice recognition software.

That is, the level of recognition performance when dictating normal text is really impressive, while editing existing text is annoyingly error-prone. If it were simply reading into Word or Notepad it would be fine, but complex text in other applications that may not be fully supported (e.g. CAT software with tags) is a real hassle.

People I respect use voice recognition very successfully, so the problem likely lies in the way I work. I think it would need a major effort on my part to change my existing habits to use voice recognition successfully. I haven't properly committed to making that effort - yet...

Dan


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
can't live without it Sep 25, 2016

Dan Lucas wrote:

DJHartmann wrote:
I had always felt sceptical using dictation software in the past and hadn't even tried it until now.

I have been trying it on and off for over a decade (think I first used it in 2002). Speed is not the issue for me, as I touch type and can batter out text more quickly than I can generate a translation. The issue is wrist and arm fatigue.

By coincidence I have been trying the latest version (15) of Dragon Naturally Speaking over the past couple of weeks. So far I am feeling the same way I always feel when I test voice recognition software.

That is, the level of recognition performance when dictating normal text is really impressive, while editing existing text is annoyingly error-prone. If it were simply reading into Word or Notepad it would be fine, but complex text in other applications that may not be fully supported (e.g. CAT software with tags) is a real hassle.

People I respect use voice recognition very successfully, so the problem likely lies in the way I work. I think it would need a major effort on my part to change my existing habits to use voice recognition successfully. I haven't properly committed to making that effort - yet...

Dan



Agree it works WAY better with running text. However, I do use it all the time, and couldn't live without it.

I basically have Dragon constantly running in the background (DPI 15 now, but as far as I can tell 13 and 14 are exactly as good), but asleep, and can wake it up quickly by saying "Wake up!", or with a KBS. Sometimes I type, sometimes I dictate, depending on what's easiest at the time, or preferred.

It is a real pity though that SDL Studio doesn't offer Full Text Control (aka Speak-and-Say), so you could also edit yr dictation, and allow Dragon to earn from it. I've been told they are working on it, maybe. Of course, you can still say "Add new word", and train Dragon, which is basically the same thing.

Michael


 
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:14
Member (2015)
German to English
Doubled my speed in some instances Sep 25, 2016

I am also a very fast touch typist but have discovered that using DNS for certain jobs has considerably cut down the time a translation takes. Obviously it depends upon the kind of job in hand but I was very amazed to see the progress I made.

I did unfortunately upgrade from 12 to 13 to 15 in quick succession and don't find 15 to be as accurate as 13 for some strange reason and was sad to lose the ability to "spell that" and "correct that" in Studio. Hope Studio 2017 addresses this
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I am also a very fast touch typist but have discovered that using DNS for certain jobs has considerably cut down the time a translation takes. Obviously it depends upon the kind of job in hand but I was very amazed to see the progress I made.

I did unfortunately upgrade from 12 to 13 to 15 in quick succession and don't find 15 to be as accurate as 13 for some strange reason and was sad to lose the ability to "spell that" and "correct that" in Studio. Hope Studio 2017 addresses this.
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:14
French to English
hmm Sep 26, 2016

DJHartmann wrote:

I had always felt sceptical using dictation software in the past and hadn't even tried it until now.

Owing that these circumstances are very particular, I can state that dictation would certainly not be suitable for most of the tasks that I receive. However, when facing a 10k word skincare survey response translation, where all of the content was fairly basic responses to simple questions and they were all in spoken, rather than formal language, dictation seemed absolutely appropriate.

This post is just to put the idea out there, for those who haven't tried it.

My scepticism has been put to rest on this issue and I am now a dictation supporter (for certain, simple, spoken-response jobs)!

(OSX dictation on Wordfast Pro 4)



Since I share an office with a colleague, I have never tried dictation, I'd drive her mad!

However I do occasionally translate that sort of stuff. Cosmetics is one of my specialist subjects so I already have the terminology off pat, so it's just Jane Bloggs talking about her night cream, I find that my productivity doubles anyway. You just put what comes naturally, so if you do pay attention to making translations sound natural, it's very easy.

If I'm alone in the office I might just say some things out loud to see what they sound like, but that rarely happens. So I might very well try out some dictation software if I find myself working alone again, just to see what happens to my work. But I doubt that my productivity would double just because of the software.


 
Nora Diaz
Nora Diaz  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 03:14
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Dragon's scripting capabilities Sep 26, 2016

Dan Lucas wrote:

That is, the level of recognition performance when dictating normal text is really impressive, while editing existing text is annoyingly error-prone. If it were simply reading into Word or Notepad it would be fine, but complex text in other applications that may not be fully supported (e.g. CAT software with tags) is a real hassle.



With DPI15 you can create your own scripts to deal with seemingly complex tasks, such as adding tags in Studio. Have a look at this video for an example of three custom commands to 1) select a word/phrase, 2) add tags around a selected word/phrase and 3) capitalize a selected word/phrase: https://youtu.be/GezDirLJkDI

For editing text, the suggested best practice is to select a phrase, rather than a single word, and then dictate your correction.

Best,

Nora Díaz


 
Nora Diaz
Nora Diaz  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 03:14
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
An essential tool Sep 26, 2016

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:

I basically have Dragon constantly running in the background (DPI 15 now, but as far as I can tell 13 and 14 are exactly as good), but asleep, and can wake it up quickly by saying "Wake up!", or with a KBS. Sometimes I type, sometimes I dictate, depending on what's easiest at the time, or preferred.

It is a real pity though that SDL Studio doesn't offer Full Text Control (aka Speak-and-Say), so you could also edit yr dictation, and allow Dragon to earn from it. I've been told they are working on it, maybe. Of course, you can still say "Add new word", and train Dragon, which is basically the same thing.

Michael


I also keep Dragon running all the time and use either the voice command or F1 (remapped) to wake it up. It's easy to go from typing to dictation and viceversa, and it just keeps things interesting.

On the lack of full text control in Studio situation, I wouldn't hold my breath, I don't think that's going to change very soon, as it's not a trivial change, from what I understand, and judging from the number of participants in the SDL Community Speech to Text group, I doubt it's seen as a priority by SDL. But, while that used to be an issue for me, it isn't anymore, since DPI14 came out, giving us the ability to create our own commands.

And I agree with you, Michael, adding new words to Dragon's vocabulary and letting Dragon recognize a set of your documents works very well in lieu of the "Correct That" feature.

[Edited at 2016-09-26 16:15 GMT]


 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 05:14
German to English
+ ...
I haven't tried it Sep 26, 2016

Years ago some version of MS Word, I think, came with the feature, and we laughed ourselves silly at how the software interpreted our speech. I haven't gone near it since. I learned touch typing in high school and type fairly quickly, about the speed of speaking slowly, and what I type actually says what I mean it to say. I've been meaning to give it a try. To save my hands I invested in a good ergonomic keyboard, and looked at things like overall setup and posture.

 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Perhaps a mike problem Sep 27, 2016

Nora Diaz wrote:
For editing text, the suggested best practice is to select a phrase, rather than a single word, and then dictate your correction.

Thanks for the suggestions Nora. I am having problems even getting DNS to select things. I think the issue may lie with the microphone on my venerable Plantronics earphones.

I have ordered the Sennheiser SC 30 recommended by KnowBrainer and will go from there.

Regards
Dan


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
in which app are you trying to do so? Sep 27, 2016

Dan Lucas wrote:

Nora Diaz wrote:
For editing text, the suggested best practice is to select a phrase, rather than a single word, and then dictate your correction.

Thanks for the suggestions Nora. I am having problems even getting DNS to select things. I think the issue may lie with the microphone on my venerable Plantronics earphones.

I have ordered the Sennheiser SC 30 recommended by KnowBrainer and will go from there.

Regards
Dan


When you say you are having problems even getting DNS to select things, in which app are you trying to do so? Out of the box, Studio doesn't offer this functionality, only MS Word, memoQ, and a few other programs. It can be done in Studio, but you need to use, e.g., Nora's KnowBrainer command (see below), or the new version of Vocola, which now has a trick (which is under active development) to give any program Full Text Control.

Michael

Capture


 
SusieSmith
SusieSmith
United Kingdom
I wish translators would stop thinking like this Sep 27, 2016

Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) wrote:

DJHartmann wrote:

Owing that these circumstances are very particular, I can state that dictation would certainly not be suitable for most of the tasks that I receive. However, when facing a 10k word skincare survey response translation, where all of the content was fairly basic responses to simple questions and they were all in spoken, rather than formal language, dictation seemed absolutely appropriate.



In particular, when translation fee rates dive, better performance will maintain our income levels, I think.

Soonthon L.

[Edited at 2016-09-25 02:05 GMT]


Hold on a minute now!

Just because you have found a way to work more quickly is NO reason to charge less!

Rates will ONLY go down if translators agree to accept poor rates.


 
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