Our Favorite News Resources |
| Lenta.ru |
R |
One of the greatest RuNet news servers. |
| |
|
|
| Asahi.com
Asahi.com in English |
J
E |
The biggest Japanese news server. Junco usually starts her working
day with a cup of coffee while checking news on this server. |
| |
|
|
BBC
Russian
BBC |
E
R |
News from BBC — IMHO one of the world's best news and info
providers. For Russian speakers — check out the Learn
English section, a valuable reference source for students
of English of any level. |
| |
|
|
| CNN |
E |
The world's biggest news server. The rest is a question of
preference. |
| |
|
|
Translation: CAT and TM Tools
Please, please and please! Do not think that any machine translation software,
CAT or TM tool will do the translator's work for you! Using these tools only
may help a translator to some extent, shortening time he/she would spend for
searching though dictionaries, reference material or previously done translations,
inputting text (if you are a slow-speed typist — at least you will have to
do copy-and-paste work), or revising the translation. Using CAT/TM tools will
enable you to fully utilize the translation heritage left from your past translation
work. But still, do not over-rely on the 100% green match results. Always check
and revise! Remember to keep logical connections and term consistency within
the text! (Sorry, I cannot dwell on the topic at length, but as you try any
of the tools and check the results, you will see what I have in mind). |
| Trados |
E |
Industry's standard CAT (computer-aided or computer assisted
translation) solution. Quite expensive, but really can facilitate
your translation work, especially when dealing with big volumes
of technical texts. Most of the translation professionals in
Japan choose TRADOS. The current version is TRADOS 7.0. |
| |
|
|
| Déjà Vu |
E |
Another advanced CAT tool from Atril. Full support for Japanese
— as well as the whole bulk of other languages — has been added
only in the current version Déjà Vu X — a recent major upgrade.
Atril boasts superb user support — which in our experience is
true! |
| |
|
|
WordFisher
(by Környei Tibor) |
E |
A great TM (translation memory) tool with its own aligner!
Works as a macro in MS Word. WordFisher does lack a lot of functions
provided in the expensive CAT tools, but consider the advantages:
it is simple, small, and what fascinates us the most — it is
completely free! It will make a nice choice for a beginner translator
or for a freelancer who does translation as a side business (later
on you will probably switch to CAT). |
| |
|
|
WordFast
(by Yves Champollion) |
E |
Another TM tool, still widely used (to my knowledge the latest
version was released in 2003 – check the site for the recent
info). It has small size (actually it works as a template for
MSWord), works on both PC and Mac platforms, compatible with
many CAT systems (personally I really doubt that you will need
WordFast if you already own a standard CAT tool ;)), provides
many additional features besides TM. BUT you have to pay to fully
access the program's features. With regular license pricing at
180 Euros, IMHO going for WordFisher – if you want a TM tool
— or considering buying a standard CAT system would be a better,
cleverer choice for a professional translator. |
| |
|
|
Translation: Machine Translation
Once
again. Please, please and please! Do not think that any machine
translation software, CAT or TM tool will do the translator's
work for you! Using these tools only may help a translator
to some extent, shortening time you would spend for searching
though dictionaries and references, inputting text (if you
are a slow-speed typist), or revising your translation. For
machine translation, I would advise using these systems in
combination with (integrated in) CAT tools. And still in most
cases, personally, I would just completely delete the proposed
translation and re-do it again, by hand, wishing I had never
seen that vicious string in my professional life (often I just
cannot stop laughing and go back to work, despite the approaching
deadline )! Never ever over-rely on the machine translation!
Fortunately for translators, in translations, it is STILL the
human brain that ruleZ! |
| Atlas
(from FUJITSU) |
J |
A specialized English to/from Japanese machine translation
system, available in both Japanese and English interface versions.
Again quite expensive! And again you can buy a bulk of specialized
dictionaries to improve the performance. Atlas is a standard
machine translation program used in the localization process
in Japan. But better not to believe the catch phrases or the
promotion video on the site, it is still quite dumb. If you don't
know both languages quite well, forget about the program and
let the specialists do the work for you! The current version
is Atlas 12 (there are also several specialized packages — Atlas
Personal etc.) |
| |
|
|
PROMT
PROMT English |
R
E |
A machine translation software pack, available for many language
pairs (European + Russian) and directions. To install it on English
or Japanese Windows you will need the English-interfaced program
(more expensive). Additional specialized dictionaries (not included
in the standard package) will improve translation results. As
well as many other translation programs it integrates with CAT
tools — a tandem you definitely would like to check out if you
are a CAT user. IMHO it is good if you specialize in Russian <-> English
(or another European language; for supported language pairs see
PROMT's site) translation, and especially technical texts. Anyway,
PROMT is rather expensive and the fact that you own and can
use it does not necessarily make you a reliable translator. Believe me, if you
are good you will be OK with or without it, if you are bad you will be out of business — again with or without it. ;))) |
| |
|
|
Translation: Electronic Dictionaries
(Software) |
| Babylon Pro |
E |
Great choice for a “general reader”! Provides simultaneous
search in all the installed (or connected via Internet) dictionaries.
Very valuable, for instance, in copywriting (you definitely want
to know what your keyword might mean in other languages). After
purchasing the program (quite affordable prices, I should say!),
you will be able to take advantage of a lot of free contents
(additional language pairs, many specialized dictionaries). Highly
recommended! The current version is Babylon Pro 5.0.
TIP: By the default setting, Babylon runs in the background at start-up, occupying
about 25 MB of RAM. This will allow easy access from any software on you computer,
where text is selectable: just select and Crtl-right-click a word or a phrase
— and voilà: you have results of a simultaneous search in all installed or Internet-connected
dictionaries. However if you work on a notebook with limited memory or do not
need a dictionary all the time, guess it will be a good idea to disable it from
running at start-up and start it manually when needed. |
| |
|
|
| Lingvo (ABBYY) |
R |
If you deal with Russian language, probably you already
know this one — LINGVO is a bestseller (being promoted as No.1
dictionary) in Russia! ABBYY offers a large choice of LINGVO
packages. I would go for the multilingual one (IMHO most cost/performance
balanced). Once you bought the program, you can take advantage
of free contents — specialized and other languages dictionaries.
Using FineReader (ABBYY) or another OCR program you can even
create electronic versions of the dictionaries that you have
in paper. Besides giving access to the best dictionaries, LINGVO
provides other features as well. Many of them will be particularly
useful for learning/mastering a foreign language.
Current version
is LINGVO 11. |
| |
|
|
| ECTACO Language Teacher |
E |
Another line of dictionaries, offered by a leader in dictionaries
for PDAs and hardware electronic dictionaries. The company also produces great tools for learning a foreign
language! |
| |
|
|
| Dictionaries from Logovista (used
to be marketed by SystemSoft) |
J |
Probably, the best set of electronic-form dictionaries for
Japanese. If you deal with Japanese, you will surely need the
highly trusted “Koujien” Japanese-Japanese dictionary in electronic
form installed on your computer, which in paper form — several
kilos of large format fine pages — is a torture to use. (Actually,
even after you have it on your computer, you will not break free
from the Japanese tradition of suffering — you will have to manually
copy-and-paste a word to look it up.) To add dictionaries, you
will have to buy them one-by-one, which will make the over-all
price jump pretty high (a reasonable alternative will be acquiring
Babylon with premium contents — the “Meikyo” Japanese-Japanese
dictionary).
Logovista also offers various translation software for general use (machine translation
for several language pairs), but I didn't have an opportunity to check it out. |
| |
|
|
Translation: On-Line Translation |
PROMT online
and
IM Translator |
R |
Demonstrates the power of PROMT — a machine translation system
for European + Russian language pairs. |
| |
|
|
Translation: Useful Tools
and Internet Resources |
| Kotoba.ne.jp |
J |
It is simply the best directory for Internet resources on
translation in Japan. Vast database of online dictionaries and
translation sites, a lot of reference, — all indexed for your
convenience. Try it out and I promise — you will come back! Sorry,
Japanese only. |
| |
|
|
| Gramota.ru |
R |
A major reference server on Russian language. Russian grammar,
orthography, punctuation rules, various documents templates,
Russian language dictionaries etc. You can even ask questions
and get professional advise at http://spravka.gramota.ru/.
Highly recommended! |
| |
|
|
ORFO
and
ORFO
Online |
R |
The best (i.e. industry's standard) program for Russian
spelling, grammar and punctuation check from Informatic (it
has been licensed to Microsoft for use in Russian version of
MSOffice!) It can be used from different text editing applications.
Packages include such features as a stand-alone module and
Russian grammar handbook. Russian (for use only on Russian
Windows) and English interfaced versions are available in different
packages. IMHO the best choice for a professional translator
will be ORFO FULL — that includes support for English, German,
Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian, plus additional specialized
dictionaries. The current release is ORFO 2004.
NOTE: Please
note that under Japanese OS/within Japanese MS Office some
features may not work at all, return errors, be unavailable
or will need additional tuning up. If you are using the Japanese
Windows or MS Office, I would advise going for the basic version
with English interface (pricing at only 30USD compare to 200USD
for a PRO version).
Using ORFO Online you
can spell-check small abstracts of Russian text (well, just
a demo, after all). |
| |
|
|
OCR
If you live in Japan, for Japanese text recognition normally you would probably
use applications included in your scanner package. For instance, we own two
scanners: a Brother workstation with an automatic feeder, which we use for
usual low-resolution and big-volume text recognition, and high-precision Epson
scanner, used for importing images from photographs and films. Both came with
OCR soft: “Brother OCR for Japanese” and “Yonde Koko!”. As for usual purpose
Japanese OCR, guess we are quite satisfied.
|
| ABBYY FineReader |
R |
A standard professional OCR tool to convert paper and PDF
documents to into editable data formats. It combines highly accurate
text recognition with superb flexibility and easy-to-use interface.
The professional version of the program (129USD) is able to recognize
documents in 177 languages with integrated spell-check for 37
languages (unfortunately Chinese, Japanese and many other Asian
languages are NOT SUPPORTED). The current release is FineReader
7.0. |
| |
|
|
Places to Search for a Translator |
| Proz.com |
E |
In this translator's directory, you can post a translation
job announcement and wait for applications from translators or
find a freelancer from a large database by yourself. World-wide
selection.
We are also registered. |
| |
|
|
| Translation
Zone |
E |
A translator search directory rub by TRADOS. Search for a
translator world-wide. (Though not all the registered translators
actually use TRADOS.) You can find our resume on this site as
well. |
| |
|
|
| E-Translation
Portal |
J |
One of the biggest translators databases in Japan. And again
you can find us there as well.;))) Only in Japanese. |
| |
|
|
Translators'
Directory aka
Translators.jp
|
J |
Another major search-for-a-translator site. At first sight,
the interface might seem a bit too intricate.
BTW,
you can also find a lot of interesting info on the main
page of this site. Sorry, again for Japanese language enabled
only ;))) |
| |
|
|
Info Search & On-line
Virtual Libraries |
| Scholar Google |
E |
Still a beta version. Delivers reliable search results from
academic sources. Global multilingual search. Based on the Google
search engine. |
| |
|
|
| Questia |
E |
A good online library and info server: English language
books and journals aimed at high-school and undergraduate students,
but presents also a valuable reference stock for anyone. It
opens 24/7 access to a wide range of books and articles online
— all pages appear as in the originals. It will facilitate
your research, enabling you to take memos, mark parts of text
for citing, create bibliographies, organizing your reading
— all using automated digital tools that will save you a lot
of time.
Again, personally, I like the affordable subscription
prices. |
| |
|
|
| Project Gutenberg |
E |
An oldest Net project aimed at providing free eBooks. |
| |
|
|
| Aozora Bunko |
J |
Major virtual collection of Japanese texts (mostly literature) not copyrighted under Japanese laws. |
| |
|
|
| Modern Digital Library |
J |
Digitalized texts from National Diet Library of Japan, mostly of Meiji Period. |
| |
|
|
| Maxim Moshkov's Library |
R |
The oldest, biggest and simply the best online library. Download
texts or read them online. |
| |
|
|
| Lib.KM.Ru |
R |
Internet users should have many reasons to hate KM.Ru – for
it has been trying to cut off any rivals through legal suits
against free online libraries. Still it is one of the biggest
in Russia and there are some texts you won't find anywhere else. |
| |
|
|
| People's Library |
R |
Many texts. Good.. |
| |
|
|
| Russian Virtual Library |
R |
Classic Russian texts. Literature, critique, book reviews,
politics, sociology, philosophy etc. |
| |
|
|
| Litera |
R |
Many links and info on Russian virtual libraries, literature
critique and book reviews etc. |
| |
|
|
| OCR Aldebaran |
R |
Another good virtual library. Many sources. Easy-to-search interface. |
| |
|
|
| RuNet Internet Libraries
News |
R |
Links and info on Russian virtual libraries. If you don't
find a book in the Moshkov's library ,
try links on this site. |
| |
|
|
| |
| Russian Club |
R |
Despite all the complicated background, today the New Russian
Club, organized and chaired by inexhaustible Michael Mozzhechkov,
finds itself in the heart of Russian speaking community in
Japan. For a Russian speaker, it is a must-go-and-try thing.
For others — just enjoy the exotic flavor of Russia!
Visit the HP to learn about the next Russian Club off-line meeting, find useful info or links for life in Japan etc...
At the Russian Club web-site
you can also subscribe to Russian Club mail list — sometimes
too rude, obscene and vulgar, but once you had it you never get off the needle.;))) |
| |
|
|
