counting words in json
Thread poster: Diana Kaplan
Diana Kaplan
Diana Kaplan  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:28
English to German
+ ...
Feb 12, 2020

Hi,

Maybe somebody can help.
I am translating an app.
It looks like this {...something technical I don´t translate} - my translation.

At the beginning the client said it´s about a thousand words to translate.
But now it takes me longer to translate it than I thought, and then I saw that the total of words (technical which I don´t translate and my translation) amount to over 5000.

Hm. Hence the question if there is anyway to say how man
... See more
Hi,

Maybe somebody can help.
I am translating an app.
It looks like this {...something technical I don´t translate} - my translation.

At the beginning the client said it´s about a thousand words to translate.
But now it takes me longer to translate it than I thought, and then I saw that the total of words (technical which I don´t translate and my translation) amount to over 5000.

Hm. Hence the question if there is anyway to say how many words are there to be translated. It´s not just about the price (which is fixed), but also about the amount of work. The client insisted that I work in json, which I understand, but I have this problem of not knowing how much I translated.

Maybe someone here has an idea how to track the translated words.

TIA!
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 02:28
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Diana Feb 12, 2020

Diana Kaplan wrote:
At the beginning, the client said it´s about a thousand words to translate. But now it takes me longer to translate it than I thought...


Well, it takes longer to translate short pieces of text than long pieces of text. And software translation often involves translating a lot of short segments -- often just one or two words each. Translating a context-less segment of just 5 words can easily take just as long as translating a context-full sentence of 20 words or more. Also, when translating full sentences, you tend to translate faster after a while because your brain gets used to the context, but with software strings, you don't get the same speed benefit because the strings are all out of context.

So, it's unsurprising that [it may seem that] translating software strings takes longer to translate.

Do you translate the file in a plain text editor, in a CAT tool, or in the client's online tool?

...and then I saw that the total of words (technical which I don´t translate and my translation) amount to over 5000.
...I have this problem of not knowing how much I translated.


You have to create a temporary file in which you delete all of the text that you don't have to translate. Then, you can easily find your current position in that file, and count how many words remain. To delete all the text that you don't have to translate, may require regex or wildcard find/replace operations.


neilmac
 
Diana Kaplan
Diana Kaplan  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:28
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Feb 12, 2020

Thank you for your suggestion, Samuel!
Yes, I translate in plain text.
It helps me a lot, thank you!


 
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 02:28
Polish to English
+ ...
Colour marking Feb 16, 2020

So we have two tasks at hand, I assume.

T1 is to determine the volume of the work to be done, and
T2 is to actually do the work.

A simple in-Word method would be to somehow mark non-content characters so that they stand out. The remaining part of the text would be the juice.

For example, in Wordfast non-translatables (from { to } inclusive) may be highlighted with light grey. For a longer text, the marking process may be automated even with simple Fin
... See more
So we have two tasks at hand, I assume.

T1 is to determine the volume of the work to be done, and
T2 is to actually do the work.

A simple in-Word method would be to somehow mark non-content characters so that they stand out. The remaining part of the text would be the juice.

For example, in Wordfast non-translatables (from { to } inclusive) may be highlighted with light grey. For a longer text, the marking process may be automated even with simple Find-Replace commands.

To determine workload, simple delete the marked text (again F-R), and check the statistics of the document.

To translate, define the non-translatable marking in your CAT software (if you need to use it). With short texts, traditional typing/dictating method may prove a better approach.
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counting words in json







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