Spoken or written input, do they produce the same results? Thread poster: Reed James
|
|---|
Reed James
Chile
Local time: 02:43
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
Hello. Often when reading a source text or proofing a target text, I like to use Text to Speech or read the document out loud. This helps me to digest the information and get a better feel for sentence length and semantics than just reading it.
Does anyone have more information about the differences between spoken and written input? Thanks.
Reed
| | | | Hipyan Nopri 
Indonesia
Local time: 12:43
Member (2005)
English to Indonesian
+ ...
I always read the text voicelessly and never read it aloud. Certainly, reading aloud takes longer time than reading voicelessly because the former tends to be slower than the latter. As a result, it is not efficient, particularly for long texts and urgent jobs.
I am still confused about your question - the differences between spoken and written input.
What exactly do you mean? Do you mean the possible different results between translation from an audio (source) text to a wri... See more I always read the text voicelessly and never read it aloud. Certainly, reading aloud takes longer time than reading voicelessly because the former tends to be slower than the latter. As a result, it is not efficient, particularly for long texts and urgent jobs.
I am still confused about your question - the differences between spoken and written input.
What exactly do you mean? Do you mean the possible different results between translation from an audio (source) text to a written (target) text and that from a written (source) text to a written (target) text?
If so, I think there will be no difference in the final results. The potential differences are in difficulty level and time to complete the translation. Audio text translation will be more difficult and consequently take longer time to complete than written text translation. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Reed James
Chile
Local time: 02:43
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | The translator's perception of information | Nov 27, 2006 |
Hipyan Nopri wrote:
I am still confused about your question - the differences between spoken and written input.
What exactly do you mean? Do you mean the possible different results between translation from an audio (source) text to a written (target) text and that from a written (source) text to a written (target) text?
I just mean the way the translator perceives the source and target texts. Nothing to do with actual formats. If you have something read aloud to you, do you processes it the same way as if you were to read it silently? Do you remember it better?
I, for one already have a conclusion or two. I think that it is a good idea to process information both aurally and visually. I like to give my eyes a rest and let Text to Speech do the reading of a source text while I am doing something else. I find that if I use a certain voice for certain types of texts (e.g. "Mike's" voice for contracts and "Barbara's" voice for general correspondence) I remember the text better.
I also think that analyzing the same text, both written and spoken, they tell you different things about its wording.
Reed
| | | | | input/depends, output for sure | Nov 27, 2006 |
Hi Reed,
Good question!
I will tend to read a source text aloud if the original text's tone, rhythm, alliteration etc... are as essential as the words and have to be adapted in order to craft a faithful, yet culturally appropriate, translation.
On the other hand, I will do my final proofread by reading the translation aloud, from a hard copy, because it is the best way to catch the last bugs that may be lurking in the text!
Cheers,
... See more Hi Reed,
Good question!
I will tend to read a source text aloud if the original text's tone, rhythm, alliteration etc... are as essential as the words and have to be adapted in order to craft a faithful, yet culturally appropriate, translation.
On the other hand, I will do my final proofread by reading the translation aloud, from a hard copy, because it is the best way to catch the last bugs that may be lurking in the text!
Cheers,
Patricia ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Patricia Rosas
United States
Local time: 22:43
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam | hope there is some research to backup our personal experiences | Nov 27, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote:
If you have something read aloud to you, do you processes it the same way as if you were to read it silently? Do you remember it better?
... I think that it is a good idea to process information both aurally and visually. I like to give my eyes a rest and let Text to Speech do the reading of a source text while I am doing something else. I find that if I use a certain voice for certain types of texts (e.g. "Mike's" voice for contracts and "Barbara's" voice for general correspondence) I remember the text better.
I also think that analyzing the same text, both written and spoken, they tell you different things about its wording.
Reed
Reed,
This is a great question, and I hope someone knows of some research that has been done on it.
I'm curious about the Text to Speech tool. The Word tool generates a voice that is so "tinny" that the rhythm, phrasing, alliteration, and sometimes even the meaning of the words are lost. Dragon won't read aloud text, will it? Do you have another program you use?
When you are "doing something else" are you able to attend to what you are hearing? I tried that on some background reading I needed to do (from a .pdf), but I found that multitasking meant that I didn't hear a lot of the document as I was distracted by other things.
I always try to take the time to read aloud the final translation--it makes such a difference in terms of catching typos as well as awkward phrasings. But I think I need to do the reading aloud and not leave it to a machine.
Thanks for asking this good question!
Patricia
| | | | Reed James
Chile
Local time: 02:43
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
TOPIC STARTER | Hearing voices | Nov 27, 2006 |
Patricia Rosas wrote:
Reed,
This is a great question, and I hope someone knows of some research that has been done on it.
I'm curious about the Text to Speech tool. The Word tool generates a voice that is so "tinny" that the rhythm, phrasing, alliteration, and sometimes even the meaning of the words are lost. Dragon won't read aloud text, will it? Do you have another program you use?
Hi Patricia
I use Cepstral (www.cepstral.com) and NeoSpeech (www.neospeech.com) voices, and though they are not perfect, they are surprisingly good!
When you are "doing something else" are you able to attend to what you are hearing? I tried that on some background reading I needed to do (from a .pdf), but I found that multitasking meant that I didn't hear a lot of the document as I was distracted by other things.
I do not pick up all of the information I hear while "doing something else". However, I hear enough to get a general idea. After listening to it once, or maybe twice, I then sit down and digest the document word for word. I don't believe in doing things in one fell swoop.
I always try to take the time to read aloud the final translation--it makes such a difference in terms of catching typos as well as awkward phrasings. But I think I need to do the reading aloud and not leave it to a machine.
When you read something aloud, do you find that concentrating on the reading process takes away from understanding the actual content?
Thanks for your answer.
Reed
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:43
Flemish to English
+ ...
| The dragon can read... | Nov 27, 2006 |
Dragon v8.0 reads text aloud in a male and a female voice
| | | | Patricia Rosas
United States
Local time: 22:43
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Yes, it interferes | Nov 27, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote:
When you read something aloud, do you find that concentrating on the reading process takes away from understanding the actual content?
Reed
Yes, it does interfere with absorbing the content. But that's why, like you, I do things in often prolonged stages. After translating, there's proofing (cross-reading), then reading (silently) for content and meaning, and then reading aloud to get out the final infelicities and (pray God) the typos...
The more time that I can allow to elapse between each step, the more effective I find the step to be.
And that is why your initial question interests me: There seems to be "noise" in my head when I'm too close to a text, making it difficult to see/perceive what is actually written on the paper. If I try to collapse all the steps into a short span of time, I see things in the written copy that aren't really there (for example, a dropped "of") or I ignore things that are there but shouldn't be (a repeated word, a "there" for a "their," etc.)
I'm all for experimenting with "listening" to a text to see if it changes my perceptions of it. (And I'm just plain curious about the research that must have already been done about this and related questions)...
[Edited at 2006-11-27 16:39]
[Edited at 2006-11-27 16:40]
| | |
|
|
|
Patricia Rosas
United States
Local time: 22:43
Spanish to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Where I can find that option? | Nov 27, 2006 |
Williamson wrote:
Dragon v8.0 reads text aloud in a male and a female voice
I just bought v9.0 (the standard version, I believe), and I can't find a way to get it to read. Could you let me know what you do to run it, and also if your version is professional rather than standard?
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:43
Flemish to English
+ ...
Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred v8.0
Goto Dragon Naturally Speaking tab>Advanced> Read aloud (4th option from the bottom).
It may be that you have to open the Wordpad, but reading aloud also works with word 2003.
--
Are there any significant differences between Version 8.0 and 9.0. I have spend time training v8.0 and would not like to repeat the experience with v9.0. I know that it's possible to upload speech files, but if the differences between both versions are min... See more Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred v8.0
Goto Dragon Naturally Speaking tab>Advanced> Read aloud (4th option from the bottom).
It may be that you have to open the Wordpad, but reading aloud also works with word 2003.
--
Are there any significant differences between Version 8.0 and 9.0. I have spend time training v8.0 and would not like to repeat the experience with v9.0. I know that it's possible to upload speech files, but if the differences between both versions are minimal, it is not worth the time. ▲ Collapse
| | | | juvera
Local time: 05:43
English to Hungarian
+ ...
| Your key sentence. | Dec 3, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote:
I think that it is a good idea to process information both aurally and visually....
I also think that analyzing the same text, both written and spoken, they tell you different things about its wording.
Reed
I am referring to the first sentence above. Some people are "aural". others are "visual", and some have no preferences.
I confess, I don't have a reading tool, and I would only digest the overall concept when listening to a reading in my own home, alone.
I would have to remind myself dozens of times to concentrate and not to regard it as a background noise, because I would get terribly bored with it.
On the other hand, looking at the text means absorbing the content, the structure, the overall feel of the whole.
Letting the job rest overnight, having time to absorb it, reading it on paper etc. gives me the extra I need to notice, clarify and correct my perception and mistakes.
That's the view of a "visual" person, and while it is a good idea to learn to use and develop the side which doesn't come naturally, it is also obvious, that the refinement of the given natural ability is easier and gives better results.
It is like being right or left handed, or ambidexterous, if you are lucky.
Having said that, sometimes I wonder, should a "visual" person do this kind of work, based on a media which is primarily expressed in sound? Well, I guess, I must have developed my "other" side sufficiently during my lifetime, because I also interpret, but there I have the visual surrounding, the people talking, or at least a piece of paper to anchor the flow of words to visual images, and I have to interact, which makes me concentrate.
Cheers
Judith
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Spoken or written input, do they produce the same results? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
