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Whistle while you (re)work...
Jan. 22nd, 2004 08:32 pmThe past hour has demonstrated the benefit of using translation memory products. The source file for my current job is a rewrite of something I apparently translated several months ago, with old sentences (and occasional old paragraphs) scattered all over the area and interspersed with new text. My goal for the day was to whittle the 11,000 (source) word job down to 7500 words, so that I can divide the job into 2500 word chunks over the next three days and have it ready to review on Monday for delivery Tuesday.
It turns out I was able to drive the mass of remaining words down to about 7100 without too much trouble, by recycling about 2000 words that had been done before, said text only requiring a once-over to make sure there really were no changes between then and now, and to perhaps improve the wording here and there. Without doing a detailed analysis, I wouldn't be surprised to find more text to recycle in my ever-growing translation memory file.
Things did not used to be like this. I remember that, in the first year I spent as a full time translator (after cutting all ties to Borland and IBM), I worked on no electronic Russian source texts. Everything arrived either by fax or by courier. Everything was illegible, the original having first been used as a doormat by an arthritic chicken with ink daubed on its feet, with the result sequentially copied to n generations until the text could barely be made out (and then copied one or two more times for good measure).
I recall wondering what use anyone in my position would have for a TM product, which assumes an influx of electronic originals to work with. How times change.
Fortunately, I progressed quite a way with yesterday's document by the time the client called this morning to tell me not to translate this one particular column of the table that was the document. Of course, it turns out the column in question contains about 80% of the text. I was happy to oblige, as it allowed me to start on the current 11,000 word job one day early.
My, but I can rattle on about my work, can't I?
* * * With 20 minutes left until mail pickup this afternoon, I decided I'd lolligagged long enough with regard to a couple of letters I'd been meaning to send, both to persons significantly younger than myself (a fact that has nothing much at all to do with anything at all, but still strangely worthy of mention). Neither did the letters (or their recipients) have anything to do with each other, for that matter.
One was to the child I decided to sponsor on New Year's Eve, a 10-year-old girl in El Salvador. I'd been debating (like an idiot, as the debate was entirely one-sided) as to whether to write to the child in Spanish, but in the end, I decided it was better to do something imperfect and spontaneous than to wait for all my ducks (what ducks?) to line up in a row. My note was not much more than that; a "Hi! Hope y'all are okay" kind of message. I can now go back to wondering what great stuff I'll include in my next missive.
My other epistolary effort for the day was the implementation of something that occurred to me quite a while back, when I read some of what LJ friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gardengnome was planning for her home school. (And if you're reading this, Nikki, there's an envelope on its way with the items I mentioned in my email from waylongtimeback.) I guess gardengnome's mention of finishing the first full year of home schooling finally tickled something in my head and got me off of dead center.
* * * Galina got back from Durango a little while ago. She'd gone there to have the car looked at, since she's planning to go to Houston after we sign the closing papers for the refinance, and the "CHECK ENGINE" light has been on in her car for an uncomfortably long time. The folks in Durango found something (I'm not sure what, but I suspect something electrical) and ordered parts, and Galina has to go back Tuesday to have them put the vehicle right (which means she won't leave until at least Wednesday...yay!)
I promised several edited files to my best Houston client tomorrow. Part of me wants to do them now and deliver them in the morning. Another, more feral part of me wants to go upstairs and unwind, rub someone's feet, and do the editing tomorrow. I think I shall respect my feral side tonight.
Cheers...
It turns out I was able to drive the mass of remaining words down to about 7100 without too much trouble, by recycling about 2000 words that had been done before, said text only requiring a once-over to make sure there really were no changes between then and now, and to perhaps improve the wording here and there. Without doing a detailed analysis, I wouldn't be surprised to find more text to recycle in my ever-growing translation memory file.
Things did not used to be like this. I remember that, in the first year I spent as a full time translator (after cutting all ties to Borland and IBM), I worked on no electronic Russian source texts. Everything arrived either by fax or by courier. Everything was illegible, the original having first been used as a doormat by an arthritic chicken with ink daubed on its feet, with the result sequentially copied to n generations until the text could barely be made out (and then copied one or two more times for good measure).
I recall wondering what use anyone in my position would have for a TM product, which assumes an influx of electronic originals to work with. How times change.
Fortunately, I progressed quite a way with yesterday's document by the time the client called this morning to tell me not to translate this one particular column of the table that was the document. Of course, it turns out the column in question contains about 80% of the text. I was happy to oblige, as it allowed me to start on the current 11,000 word job one day early.
My, but I can rattle on about my work, can't I?
One was to the child I decided to sponsor on New Year's Eve, a 10-year-old girl in El Salvador. I'd been debating (like an idiot, as the debate was entirely one-sided) as to whether to write to the child in Spanish, but in the end, I decided it was better to do something imperfect and spontaneous than to wait for all my ducks (what ducks?) to line up in a row. My note was not much more than that; a "Hi! Hope y'all are okay" kind of message. I can now go back to wondering what great stuff I'll include in my next missive.
My other epistolary effort for the day was the implementation of something that occurred to me quite a while back, when I read some of what LJ friend
gardengnome was planning for her home school. (And if you're reading this, Nikki, there's an envelope on its way with the items I mentioned in my email from waylongtimeback.) I guess gardengnome's mention of finishing the first full year of home schooling finally tickled something in my head and got me off of dead center.I promised several edited files to my best Houston client tomorrow. Part of me wants to do them now and deliver them in the morning. Another, more feral part of me wants to go upstairs and unwind, rub someone's feet, and do the editing tomorrow. I think I shall respect my feral side tonight.
Cheers...
