How to efficiently proofread
Thread poster: mh1019
mh1019
mh1019  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 22:31
English to Korean
+ ...
Jun 10, 2018

I translate a lot of documents that include many numbers and I find that proofreading all the numbers take a lot of time.

I usually use the Adobe PDF for the source text and Microsoft Word for translating to the target language. Sometimes I use printed source text because it's easier than looking at the screen but it is still quite tricky.

Does any have any know-how or tips to efficiently proofread documents with a lot of numbers?

Thank you,


 
Roisin Ni Cheallaigh (X)
Roisin Ni Cheallaigh (X)
Ireland
English to Irish
+ ...
How to proofread effectively Jun 10, 2018

Read text the first time for understanding. Read it the second time and underline mistakes. You can read it a third time for meaning if you want.

 
LEXpert
LEXpert  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:31
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
Use a CAT tool Jun 10, 2018

The build-in QA functions most CAT tools (e.g. Trados, MemoQ) will highlight any discrepancies in numbers between source and target, obviating the need to re-check them in the final text (barring OCR errors).

Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Liudmila Taratina
Wojciech Schweiger
 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 12:31
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Use a BAT tool Jun 11, 2018

I use a special procedure for checking numbers. You can find it explained here:

http://danielfrisano.com/temp.pdf

It requires that there are no funny formats in the original file (e.g., tables inside text boxes).

It may seem complicated, but once you get used to it, it will take less than 5 minutes.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 12:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Two tips Jun 11, 2018

mh1019 wrote:
Does any have any know-how or tips to efficiently proofread documents with a lot of numbers?


1. The finger method: Print out the files and put them side by side, and use your left and right index fingers to point out every digit or number, and check them one by one. As a habit, always put the source text on the same side. You can speed this method up a bit by comparing source to target for one set of numbers, and then comparing target to source for the next set, and so on.

You can also use the finger method on screen. In this case, I grab the sides of the screen and use my thumbs instead of my index fingers to point at the numbers. Make sure your thumbs can comfortably reach all numbers (you may have to resize and/or move the windows a bit. Or rotate the screen so that it's in portrait mode, so that your thumbs can easily reach the middle of the screen.

2. Read out loud: If you have a friend, let them read out the numbers on the source or target while you confirm them on the other file. Use your fingers here as well. If you don't have a friend nearby, try setting it up so that a text-to-speech program reads the target text slowly while you check the source text visually.

3.1 If you have to check long-ish sets of digits, one trick is to check them from back to front.
3.2 Instead of your finger, use a short transparent ruler turned 90 degrees. This way you can see the whole number (through the ruler) but you can easily focus on a single digit.


[Edited at 2018-06-11 06:50 GMT]


 
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Jiaying Ma
Jiaying Ma
Australia
Local time: 22:31
English to Chinese
+ ...
Depending on how many numbers you have in the document Jun 11, 2018

If you have a lot of numbers in the document, you can use "compare" and "combine" feature to check the difference between two files. But the source document has to be in word format as well.

 
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 12:31
French to English
just to get back on topic... Jun 12, 2018

mh1019 wrote:

I translate a lot of documents that include many numbers and I find that proofreading all the numbers take a lot of time.

I usually use the Adobe PDF for the source text and Microsoft Word for translating to the target language. Sometimes I use printed source text because it's easier than looking at the screen but it is still quite tricky.

Does any have any know-how or tips to efficiently proofread documents with a lot of numbers?

Thank you,


I believe the software PerfectIt can handle this kind of check? Of course it may not work in Korean.

Other than that, how about another pair of eyes? It doesn't have to be a translator if they only have to check the figures.


 
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Min Kyu Kim
Min Kyu Kim
United States
Local time: 07:31
Tips to efficiently Proofreading Sep 14, 2018

There are some tips for efficient proofreading are:
1. Focus On Punctuation!
2. Take A Break Before Proofreading The Text
3. Ask Somebody To Proofread It For You! (Any professional like English Teacher so you should know about your mistakes after proofreading)
4. Make Use Of Online Tools
5. Split The Text Into Pieces
6. Pay Extra Attention To Names And Numbers
7. Take Your Time!


 


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How to efficiently proofread







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