Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you talk or dictate to yourself while working? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you talk or dictate to yourself while working?".
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| | | David Wright Austria Local time: 16:25 German to English + ...
since I dictate all my translations into a dictation device. Otherwise I tend to use words of allegedly anglosaxon origin as a work, but these are addressed solely to my computer! | | | Allison Wright (X) Portugal Local time: 15:25
Of course I talk! Not incessantly- about 80% silent. Most remarks are directed at the text/the computer. Then there are the occasional grunts or giggles, and expletives and exclamations of pure joy. And sometimes, a "Yes!" I have mentioned singing before, although my better performances are normally achieved whilst making coffee, or doing housework. Do I dictate to myself? No, my alter ego and I have a democratic relationship based on the principles of equal rights and justice, and... See more Of course I talk! Not incessantly- about 80% silent. Most remarks are directed at the text/the computer. Then there are the occasional grunts or giggles, and expletives and exclamations of pure joy. And sometimes, a "Yes!" I have mentioned singing before, although my better performances are normally achieved whilst making coffee, or doing housework. Do I dictate to myself? No, my alter ego and I have a democratic relationship based on the principles of equal rights and justice, and freedom of speech. Seriously though, words are linked to sounds. I will often read out a sentence or two to "hear it", whether to check punctuation or general cadence. If it sounds better using the accent of the source language, then I know there is still more work to do on the translation.
[Edited at 2012-07-22 08:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | neilmac Spain Local time: 16:25 Spanish to English + ...
Doesn't everyone? Apart from the occasional sotto voce mumble to check something, or when I'm using speech recog SW and dictating, I sometimes read parts out to make sure they flow right and have the tone/feel I am aiming for. I tend to imagine informative texts as spoken in a sort of BBC narrator voice - my ideal would be Sir Michael Hordern, Steven Fry or David Attenborough, although I can't actually imitate them, and have to make do with a pashable Shir Shean Connery. | |
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Ty Kendall United Kingdom Local time: 15:25 Hebrew to English Rewind 10 days to another anonymous poll...... | Jul 22, 2012 |
July 12th "If you work at home and are alone during the day, do you usually chat with someone?"
[Edited at 2012-07-22 09:00 GMT] | | | Nicole Schnell United States Local time: 07:25 English to German + ... In memoriam
neilmac wrote: I sometimes read parts out to make sure they flow right and have the tone/feel I am aiming for. I tend to imagine informative texts as spoken in a sort of BBC narrator voice Especially when I have to work with moronic CAT tools that force me to wrap my text around a gazillion tags, preferably tags in the middle of a word. Reading my text out loud is the only way to make sure that I actually sound like a German instead of a repetitive robot. Edited for proper quotation marks
[Edited at 2012-07-22 09:14 GMT] | | |
I do talk to myself at times and to my computer quite a lot! The last quality check I do before delivering a translation is to read it out aloud! | | |
I say the words "quietly" under my breath as I type - a bit like those people who mouth the words of a book as they read. This, together with the noise of the keys clicking away, is enough to drive my husband mad. When I work at night he has to put white noise on in the bedroom to mask my "excessive noise"!!!!!!! I love the sound of the keys clicking at night. It's so peaceful. | |
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| When talking to yourself becomes a problem | Jul 22, 2012 |
Talking to yourself is not as problematic as it may seem at first (please see above)... It is when you start answering yourself you know you do have a problem. | | | Thayenga Germany Local time: 16:25 Member (2009) English to German + ...
Alexander Kupriyanchuk wrote: Talking to yourself is not as problematic as it may seem at first (please see above)... It is when you start answering yourself you know you do have a problem. Hi Alexander, this could indeed be a real problem. Thank you for the | | |
Talking to yourself is a sign of mental health. At least, that's what my mother says. And I believe her... Translating full-time is a mostly solitary pursuit. You've got to keep yourself company and occasionally you've got to scold the software - you know, let it know who's boss. And then there are the lousy source texts that must be chided, and the tired fingers that have to be goaded into making fewer typos, and so on and so forth. And obviously, when my small son is ... See more Talking to yourself is a sign of mental health. At least, that's what my mother says. And I believe her... Translating full-time is a mostly solitary pursuit. You've got to keep yourself company and occasionally you've got to scold the software - you know, let it know who's boss. And then there are the lousy source texts that must be chided, and the tired fingers that have to be goaded into making fewer typos, and so on and so forth. And obviously, when my small son is playing loudly with a friend in the next room, or he and his dad are in the office discussing something while I try to meet a deadline, if I don't read my work aloud I will produce garbage. And then there's just the reassuring sound of my voice when I've been at it for hours... much as I'm sure a castaway might keep her bearings... ▲ Collapse | |
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sometimes ... | Jul 22, 2012 |
Well, always, but not continuously. Of course everyone has aha moments or will occasionally verbalize a current problem they are working on. I think reading out a confusing sentence is common too. The time that I consciously force myself though, is a final, final proofread. For most projects, I set the repeat rate in the text to the maximum speed I can keep in the text and still digest everything, then read along with the cursor. This a) allows me to "hear" it even when speaking so... See more Well, always, but not continuously. Of course everyone has aha moments or will occasionally verbalize a current problem they are working on. I think reading out a confusing sentence is common too. The time that I consciously force myself though, is a final, final proofread. For most projects, I set the repeat rate in the text to the maximum speed I can keep in the text and still digest everything, then read along with the cursor. This a) allows me to "hear" it even when speaking softly, and get a feel for sentences and b) ensures that I cannot speed up too fast or skip sentences when proofreading. This way, the moment I'm not 100% on task I know. If it's a really important project, I might do this at the painstaking "speech speed" to be extra careful ... if I know that one or two missed plurals or one or two less than ideal conjugations or sentence constructions would (gasp!) not be a big deal for the file. Is it a final report that constitutes the culmination of years of hard work for a team of researchers on an issue of public policy concern? Speech speed is well warranted. Has the client already expressed that quality is not so important, either by pushing hard on price or by asking for a nearly unrealistic turnover? The cursor repeat rate is set to the maximum speed on my last read through the document if I bother to proofread it that one last time. The only problem is that I often work in public spaces so I'm sure some people thinking I'm a little wonky as I do it. If I cared much that would be a problem for me, but I'm happy enough to leave those folks to the oddity of undue preoccupation about other people's oddities ▲ Collapse | | | Mario Chavez (X) Local time: 10:25 English to Spanish + ... My first reaction was: HUH? | Jul 22, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote: July 12th "If you work at home and are alone during the day, do you usually chat with someone?"
[Edited at 2012-07-22 09:00 GMT] Since trying to contact the developer responsible for the poll character length is useless, I'll stick to the topic. Perhaps the author of the poll meant to say "Do you talk out loud to yourself while translating, or do you dictate your translations while working? If my assumption is correct, these are two very different topics. Apples and oranges. If I were to answer the first one, I'd say talking to oneself as a way of reflecting, repeating, reminding or visualizing something is a very healthy habit (don't overuse it, though). I usually speak out a word or phrase that is challenging, curious or unknown, only to be followed by an "I found it!" after some research. However, no one would want to know what I tell myself out loud whenever I encounter polls like this one. | | | Mario Chavez (X) Local time: 10:25 English to Spanish + ... What would the Three Stooges say? | Jul 22, 2012 |
Nicole Schnell wrote: neilmac wrote: I sometimes read parts out to make sure they flow right and have the tone/feel I am aiming for. I tend to imagine informative texts as spoken in a sort of BBC narrator voice Especially when I have to work with moronic CAT tools that force me to wrap my text around a gazillion tags, preferably tags in the middle of a word. Reading my text out loud is the only way to make sure that I actually sound like a German instead of a repetitive robot. Edited for proper quotation marks [Edited at 2012-07-22 09:14 GMT] I know what Curly would say: Soitanly! | | | 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 » Poll: Do you talk or dictate to yourself while working? CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
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