Terminology training session #1

[Martin Benjamin]

Dear All,

I am copying the transcript of the training session with Mai Arafa.
Some of the discussion is specific to Arabic, but most of it will be
helpful to people working in any language. As a reminder, the website
is http://www.it46.se/glossmaster , and you login using your email
address as your username.

(15:11:29) Martin Benjamin: so, why don't we start by logging into the
project and looking at the features of the software
(15:12:39) Mai Arafa:.ar OK, I have already logged since morning, but
I didn't try anything waiting for your instructions
(15:13:13) Martin Benjamin: you will probably need to log in again,
because the sessions time out if you are inactive
(15:15:16) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok, I have logged again
(15:16:16) Martin Benjamin: ok, the first thing we need to do is test
whether Arabic works correctly
(15:16:50) Martin Benjamin: please click "edit" next to the line 1. 3-
D (the first line below "number of hits: 2500)
(15:18:19) Martin Benjamin: then type anything into the blank box for
"definition" and let me know if the arabic is displaying correctly
(15:18:25) Mai Arafa:.ar I have entered the translation of this entry
(15:18:50) Martin Benjamin: ok, did you click "submit as fuzzy"?
(15:19:07) Mai Arafa:.ar No, I clicked submit as completed
(15:19:33) Martin Benjamin: please try again, but click "submit as
fuzzy" instead
(15:20:17) Martin Benjamin: the program only accepts "submit as
completed" if you have BOTH a translation and a definition in Arabic
(15:20:43) Martin Benjamin: what happened when you clicked "submit as
completed"?
(15:21:03) Mai Arafa:.ar I have entered the translation in the
"Definition" field and clicked "submit as fuzzy"
(15:22:17) Martin Benjamin: hmm, I still don't see the data. Please
try again, but enter the translation in the "translation" field
(15:22:59) Mai Arafa:.ar Do you see it now?
(15:23:50) Martin Benjamin: yes!!
(15:24:01) Mai Arafa:.ar Great :)
(15:24:20) Martin Benjamin: it looks beautiful. I think Arabic is the
most beautiful written language in the world
(15:25:09) Mai Arafa:.ar It is, it includes many ornamental
calligraphies
(15:27:55) Martin Benjamin: Thai and Tamil are also quite lovely, but
I think Arabic is the nicest ;)
(15:28:19) Martin Benjamin: ok, so let's discuss some of the concepts
(15:29:32) Martin Benjamin: first, we should talk about the difference
between translation and definition
(15:29:57) Martin Benjamin: the "translation" is the term that is used
in Arabic, the closest equivalent of the English term
(15:30:13) Martin Benjamin: the "definition" is the definition IN
ARABIC of the Arabic term
(15:30:30) Mai Arafa:.ar Are we going tot translate the definition
(15:30:41) Martin Benjamin: sometimes this will be an exact
translation of the English definition, but sometimes it will be
different
(15:30:55) Martin Benjamin: you are NOT required to make an exact
translation of the English definition
(15:31:30) Martin Benjamin: the Arabic definition should be something
that explains the concept of the term in words that an Arabic speaker
will understand
(15:32:24) Martin Benjamin: many times the English definition will be
helpful to you, but many times it will be a waste of your time and
effort to try to do a word-by-word translation
(15:33:48) Martin Benjamin: I should talk a little about the purpose
of this data set. The terms you are translating are all terms that
appear in a lot of different software products.
(15:34:31) Martin Benjamin: For example, they are terms that might
appear in the user interface for Internet Explorer, or Photoshop, or
Skype
(15:35:26) Martin Benjamin: The purpose of the work you are doing is
to provide a term in Arabic, and a definition, so that the same word
will be used consistently in each software product that is translated
into Arabic
(15:35:57) Martin Benjamin: so we need to make sure that the people
who are doing translation work on the different products all
understand the core concept of each term
(15:38:36) Mai Arafa:.ar So, as for definitions, we can either
translate the available definition without adhering to the exact words
or provide another Arabic definition that clarifies the concept of the
term. please correct me if I am wrong.
(15:41:04) Martin Benjamin: exactly
(15:41:33) Martin Benjamin: I do not want you to be trapped by the
exact english
(15:41:43) Martin Benjamin: it is a help, but not a trap
(15:42:12) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok. I understand now.
(15:42:16) Martin Benjamin: ok, now let's talk for a minute about the
Comment field
(15:42:19) Mai Arafa:.ar Thank u :)
(15:42:34) Martin Benjamin: the comment field is optional
(15:43:03) Martin Benjamin: the comment field is where you can put
additional information that you think will help people understand the
core concept
(15:43:42) Martin Benjamin: so maybe you think that your definition is
a little bit hard to understand, you can use the comment field to put
an example sentence
(15:44:07) Martin Benjamin: again, you do not need to translate the
English comment
(15:44:14) Martin Benjamin: you can if you want :)
(15:45:26) Mai Arafa:.ar OK, I'll decide then ;-)
(15:49:50) Martin Benjamin: next we can talk about "syntactic group"
(15:50:08) Martin Benjamin: usually, something that is a verb in
English will also be a verb in Arabic, etc
(15:50:22) Martin Benjamin: but sometimes they might be different
(15:51:12) Martin Benjamin: in some languages you might use a noun
where English uses an adjective, for example. If you come across such
a situation, you are allowed to change the syntactic group for Arabic
(15:56:01) Martin Benjamin: Tags are also optional
(15:56:35) Mai Arafa:.ar Could u plz. clarify what is meant by tags
here? Thanx
(15:56:46) Martin Benjamin: you can select one or many of the tags
that we make available to everyone, or you can choose your own
(15:57:16) Martin Benjamin: A tag is just a little label that says
what type of situation the term is likely to appear in
(15:58:05) Mai Arafa:.ar Plz. provide example
(15:58:16) Martin Benjamin: for example, "access denied" is usually
going to appear in an error message
(15:58:30) Martin Benjamin: so you can give it the tag "error message"
(15:59:05) Martin Benjamin: it is another way to help the users
understand the context of a term
(15:59:26) Martin Benjamin: another example is "volume" - that is
always going to relate to audio
(15:59:56) Martin Benjamin: volume will relate to audio if it is about
the amount of sound
(16:00:17) Martin Benjamin: but if "volume" is about the amount of
space taken up by something, maybe the tag should be "measures"
(16:00:55) Martin Benjamin: so it is a label for what category
something belongs to
(16:02:58) Mai Arafa:.ar You know that the term may differ according
to the context it will appear in. So I think I'll dpend on the
available definition in deciding on the tag of the term. Plz. confirm.
Thanx.
(16:03:34) Martin Benjamin: yes, exactly
(16:04:43) Mai Arafa:.ar Well. Thanx.
(16:05:49) Martin Benjamin: you can use the tags we provide, or you
can make your own.
(16:06:12) Mai Arafa:.ar OK.
(16:06:21) Martin Benjamin: we also show you what other tags are being
used by other languages in the project
(16:07:21) Mai Arafa:.ar Yes I can see it on the system.
(16:08:01) Martin Benjamin: also, at the top of the entry, on the
right side below "Source Word", you will see that there are three
little boxes that say lg, xyz, and am
(16:08:05) Martin Benjamin: ?
(16:09:16) Martin Benjamin: those are the other languages that have
already produced a translation for the term. So if you know any of
those languages, you can click on the language code to see what they
have done. Maybe this will be useful to you, maybe not.
(16:09:51) Martin Benjamin: Probably it will be more useful for some
of the other translators to see the Arabic work, once you've finished
an entry ;)
(16:11:14) Mai Arafa:.ar I've tried to click lg & xyz but nothing
appeared. I get a black screen, does thi smean that there are no
existing translations for this term.
(16:11:41) Martin Benjamin: are u using windows vista?
(16:12:10) Mai Arafa:.ar No, I'm using Windows XP
(16:16:10) Martin Benjamin: ok, I have not tried this in xp. In Vista,
i also get a black screen with "click to proceed" message related to
Java
(16:16:56) Martin Benjamin: so I click on Continue and then I get to
the definition
(16:17:37) Martin Benjamin: if this does not work for you, we can work
with the programmers to figure out what the problem is. Keep in mind
that the software is still brand new, so we are still finding errors
(16:17:51) Martin Benjamin: and you get to help us discover the
problems :)
(16:18:18) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok. Deal ;-)
(16:19:12) Martin Benjamin: you will also see an orange envelope icon
in the same area of the screen. You can click on that to send me an
email related to the entry. For example, if you think the English
definition is confusing, you can send an email that asks for or
suggests a better definition
(16:20:18) Mai Arafa:.ar The same black screen appears again. This is
the second problem up to the moment :)
(16:22:56) Martin Benjamin: ok, I have reported the bug to the
programmers
(16:23:19) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok. Thanx
(16:28:34) Martin Benjamin: ok, I think that does it for the right
side of the screen, unless you have any more questions
(16:28:52) Martin Benjamin: we also need to talk a little about the
left side of the screen
(16:30:30) Mai Arafa:.ar I don't have any questions for the time
being. May be after I start working. Is this ok with you?
(16:30:47) Martin Benjamin: of course. I am here to help whenever you
have questions
(16:31:00) Mai Arafa:.ar Thanx
(16:31:45) Martin Benjamin: I really mean that - please contact me
with any problems. Sometimes it will take me a while to answer, but I
will try to be fast
(16:32:04) Martin Benjamin: if I don't answer the first time, you can
always send me a reminder, too - I will not be bothered
(16:32:29) Mai Arafa:.ar Sure I will. Don't worry :)
(16:33:12) Martin Benjamin: ok, the left side of the screen
(16:33:43) Martin Benjamin: you see that you can enter a search string
(16:33:58) Martin Benjamin: so you can look for a specific word, like
"volume"
(16:34:43) Martin Benjamin: but you can also look for a partial match,
like "app"
(16:36:04) Martin Benjamin: so if you type app into the search string
box, and select All as the status, and All as the syntactic grop, you
will see every entry that contains "app" somewhere in the entry
(16:37:02) Martin Benjamin: this can be very helpful. For example, by
doing "app", you see "application" and "background application" and
"foreground application"
(16:37:26) Martin Benjamin: it is much easier to work on all three of
those at the same time, instead of going through in alphabetical
order!
(16:38:19) Martin Benjamin: then maybe you will see "mapped" and
"mapping" and decide that you should really work on all the entries
that have "map" somewhere, so you can do a search for "map"
(16:39:25) Mai Arafa:.ar Yes I tried "app" with status & syntactic
group "All", and I have "appear", "appearance", "appears in", ...etc
(16:40:42) Martin Benjamin: exactly - you got 18 results, and then you
get to choose which ones you want to work on
(16:41:09) Mai Arafa:.ar Should not I work on all of them
(16:41:12) Martin Benjamin: you will probably find it helpful to go
back and forth between searches with status "empty" and searches with
status "all"
(16:41:37) Martin Benjamin: it doesn't matter to me what order you
complete things :)
(16:42:11) Mai Arafa:.ar OK
(16:42:14) Martin Benjamin: you need to finish them all eventually,
but I want to make it as easy as possible for you.
(16:43:40) Martin Benjamin: often, you will want to use * as your
search string and Empty as your status. That way you will see the next
term that needs to be translated
(16:44:48) Martin Benjamin: then you can choose the first three or
four letters of that term, put that in the sarch string, and choose
"all" as your status. That way, you will see all of the related terms,
whether they are empty, fuzzy, or completed
(16:45:14) Martin Benjamin: when you finish those, you go back to * as
the search string and empty as the status...
(16:46:28) Mai Arafa:.ar Is there a way to view all the terms need
translation.
(16:47:21) Martin Benjamin: not at the moment
(16:48:27) Martin Benjamin: we are going to think about that next...
(16:48:37) Mai Arafa:.ar I think I can move between terms by selecting
the number rages below [26-50]
(16:49:14) Martin Benjamin: yes, and you can also choose to display as
many as 100 at a time (number of posts to display)
(16:49:55) Martin Benjamin: are u using Firefox or Explorer?
(16:50:15) Mai Arafa:.ar Both are available, but I prefer Explorer
(16:55:38) Martin Benjamin: you can also go through the data and
submit just the translations (submit as fuzzy), then use the "status"
feature to find your fuzzy items and complete them with their
defiintions lation
(16:55:39) Martin Benjamin: later
(16:57:35) Martin Benjamin: mai, when you get the black screen, how to
you get back to a normal screen?
(17:01:40) Mai Arafa:.ar I don't remember, but I tried to search for 3-
D now but I didn't get any results.
(17:01:59) Martin Benjamin: you probably are searching for "empty"
instead of "all"
(17:02:58) Mai Arafa:.ar I searched with All but in vain
(17:03:20) Mai Arafa:.ar Sorry, I see it
(17:03:24) Martin Benjamin: ok
(17:06:49) Martin Benjamin: I think I have mentioned most of the
features
(17:07:09) Martin Benjamin: there is also an option for type of entry
- core or supplementary
(17:07:25) Martin Benjamin: Core entries are the first 2500 terms, the
ones that must be translated for the contract
(17:07:51) Martin Benjamin: supplementary entries are other terms that
may be added later. those are optional
(17:08:10) Martin Benjamin: you are welcome to suggest supplementary
entries!
(17:09:05) Martin Benjamin: basically, that is an opportunity for
expanding the project in the future
(17:09:26) Mai Arafa:.ar What is the benefit of the radio buttons in
the Quick Search.
(17:09:28) Martin Benjamin: can u tell me what happens when you get
the black screen, how you are able to get back to normal?
(17:10:12) Martin Benjamin: Oh, I forgot about those, those were added
after I made all the english definitions
(17:10:46) Martin Benjamin: All empty is the fastest way to find the
next term in the list - instead of typing * in the search string and
Empty in the status
(17:11:22) Martin Benjamin: and All fuzzy is similar, it is an express
button to show you the terms that have been started but not completed
(17:11:38) Martin Benjamin: manual lets you choose the search string
(17:12:15) Martin Benjamin: and syntactic group lets you choose only
nouns, or only verbs, for example
(17:12:46) Martin Benjamin: so if you want to see "map" as a noun, you
can select that, and you won't be shown the form of "map" as a verb
(17:14:28) Mai Arafa:.ar Could I extract all the terms & related data
in an Excel sheet?
(17:14:55) Martin Benjamin: not at the moment. we might make that
possible soon
(17:15:04) Martin Benjamin: but your connectivity is very good in
Cairo, right?
(17:15:51) Mai Arafa:.ar Yes, but sometimes it does not work good.
(17:16:55) Mai Arafa:.ar Could u plz. tell about the function of these
tabs "Translate Statistics Export User settings"
(17:20:09) Martin Benjamin: translate gets you to the working space
we've just been exploring
(17:20:22) Martin Benjamin: Statistics shows you your progress, and
the progress of the other languages in the project
(17:20:35) Martin Benjamin: Export is actually a way you can generate
your own Excel file!!!
(17:20:53) Martin Benjamin: play with it and you will see...
(17:21:51) Martin Benjamin: user settings allows you to turn off the
extra features we've built in, such as automatically embedding any
existing entries from wikipedia and wiktionary
(17:23:02) Mai Arafa:.ar I tried the Export, but I have a txt empty
file. Plz. advise.
(17:25:18) Martin Benjamin: ok, I have reported that to the
programmer. I get the same problem as you.
(17:29:56) Mai Arafa:.ar When I choose "Empty", I got results, but the
format of the file is very strange.
(17:32:30) Martin Benjamin: I will discuss with the programmer
(17:34:57) Mai Arafa:.ar BTW, when am I expected to finish this
project?
(17:35:49) Martin Benjamin: maximum of 6 months, but hopefully much
sooner
(17:36:47) Mai Arafa:.ar 6 months for 2500 terms!! Are you sure?
(17:36:59) Martin Benjamin: too much or too little?
(17:37:26) Mai Arafa:.ar Toooooooooo much for just 2500 terms :)
(17:37:30) Martin Benjamin: good :)
(17:45:09) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok. We will start and try to finish as early
as we can.
(17:45:44) Martin Benjamin: that's great - the sooner you finish, the
sooner we can get your data online for the rest of the world to use :)
(17:46:43) Mai Arafa:.ar One last question for today :) Should I click
"save as completed" if I entered all the required fields "Definition",
"Tag", ...etc. Plz. advise.
(17:46:49) Martin Benjamin: this will soon be the "official"
dictionary that everyone in the Arab world uses to find out the
meanings of software terms. So the work you do will be used by a lot
of people for a long time
(17:47:34) Martin Benjamin: if you are comfortable that an entry is
absolutely complete, you can choose "save as completed". If you think
you might want to look at it one more time, then save it as fuzzy.
(17:47:52) Martin Benjamin: You can always edit an entry again, even
if you save it as completed
(17:49:10) Mai Arafa:.ar So, I understand that with saving as "fuzzy"
I can retrieve data while saving as "completed" release data so that I
could not see it again.
(17:49:25) Martin Benjamin: no, that is not correct
(17:49:52) Mai Arafa:.ar So what is the difference
(17:50:10) Martin Benjamin: saving as completed tells ME that the
entry is export-quality
(17:50:39) Martin Benjamin: the project is done when all 2500 terms
are saved as completed
(17:51:23) Martin Benjamin: but you can make changes at any time, to
any "completed" entry, until the last minute when the last entry has
been saved as completed
(17:51:52) Martin Benjamin: when ALL the entries are completed, then
we will export them to another database that will be available to the
entire public
(17:52:50) Mai Arafa:.ar Should I save entries as fuzzy and upon
delivery I save them again as completed?
(17:53:48) Martin Benjamin: that is probably a good strategy, at least
at first, to save them all as fuzzy until you are comfortable with the
rhythm of the project
(17:55:12) Mai Arafa:.ar OK. Thanks a lot for your help and patience
I'm proud to work in this project and glad to work with you :)
(17:55:30) Martin Benjamin: great, have a good evening, and I'll see
you online soon :)
(17:55:41) Mai Arafa:.ar Ok. Bye.
(17:55:47) Martin Benjamin: ciao