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Does Dragon Naturally Speaking work with more than one language?
Thread poster: Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 16:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
Jan 5, 2005

Hello

I went to the French and Spanish website of Scansoft but couldn't find the answer.
I translate into Spanish and French and I wouldn't like to buy something that doesn't allow me to work in the same way for both languages.

I'd also like to know which version you'd recommend. There's a huge difference ($$$) between the "preferred" and the "professional solutions" version. I'd like to be able to create more than one profile (recognition of more than one voice),
... See more
Hello

I went to the French and Spanish website of Scansoft but couldn't find the answer.
I translate into Spanish and French and I wouldn't like to buy something that doesn't allow me to work in the same way for both languages.

I'd also like to know which version you'd recommend. There's a huge difference ($$$) between the "preferred" and the "professional solutions" version. I'd like to be able to create more than one profile (recognition of more than one voice), but I didn't understand which version did that.

Thanks for any comment

Claudia
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Aurora Humarán (X)
Aurora Humarán (X)  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 16:47
English to Spanish
+ ...
Another question... Jan 5, 2005

Hola, Claudia

I am also considering the possibility of working with Dragon.

Mine will probably be a very stupid question, but...who else could I ask but my proZian friends?

Is the soft adapted to different pronunciations? My concern has to do mainly with the pronunciation of z, c and s in Spanish.

In the case of this sentence:

El zapato celeste se zafó.

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Hola, Claudia

I am also considering the possibility of working with Dragon.

Mine will probably be a very stupid question, but...who else could I ask but my proZian friends?

Is the soft adapted to different pronunciations? My concern has to do mainly with the pronunciation of z, c and s in Spanish.

In the case of this sentence:

El zapato celeste se zafó.

A Spanish will recognize the three different sounds (z, c and s), while an Argentine (Chilean, Peruvian...) will not. We pronounce: * El sapato seleste se safó.

How is this 'issue' solved?

Au

[Edited at 2005-01-05 03:52]
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Robin Salmon (X)
Robin Salmon (X)  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 05:47
German to English
+ ...
Dragon with different languages and accents Jan 5, 2005

Hi Claudia and Aurora

I bought Dragon over a year ago and it has helped me a lot.
You need a lot of RAM, especially if you are using it with a CAT, as I use Trados, Dragon and Word together, for example. I had 1024 RAM and added another 512 yesterday. In September, I had to buy a new computer as Dragon was running too slowly on a Pentium III with 512 RAM.

You would need a separate version of Dragon for each language. I use the Australian English version, as I only
... See more
Hi Claudia and Aurora

I bought Dragon over a year ago and it has helped me a lot.
You need a lot of RAM, especially if you are using it with a CAT, as I use Trados, Dragon and Word together, for example. I had 1024 RAM and added another 512 yesterday. In September, I had to buy a new computer as Dragon was running too slowly on a Pentium III with 512 RAM.

You would need a separate version of Dragon for each language. I use the Australian English version, as I only translate into English. I have lived in various places but still my accent is basically Scottish and I have to train Dragon; everyone trains the software to their own accent. There are different reading exercises you do at the beginning and also your "user files" are adapted as you keep using the product.

As for Spanish, you would train Dragon into your way of pronouncing z,c and s, for example.

I decided to go for the (expensive) Professional Version and recuperate gradually. I haven't regretted that. It is amazing, how many advanced scientific and technical terms it has in its vocabulary.

A problem is that you cannot correct what you say with certain applications - Excel, Eudora, Trados TagEditor and Transit being examples. This means that words keep being misrecognised. It works fine with Word and Outlook Express.

There is still a lot of work to be done, to make it more useful for translators.

Hope that gives you an idea.

Sincerely

Robin Salmon
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Joeri Van Liefferinge
Joeri Van Liefferinge  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 20:47
English to Dutch
+ ...
Multiple languages and accents Jan 5, 2005

My version of Dragon works for Dutch, French, English and German. I have three profiles (one for every language, except German) in this one version of Dragon, so yes, you can use multiple languages. I don't know if there is a version with French and Spanish combined, though.

Secondly, when you first use Dragon, you have to read a few sample texts to create your voice profile. Later on, you can always correct Dragon whenever it has misunderstood a word and that's how the program "lea
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My version of Dragon works for Dutch, French, English and German. I have three profiles (one for every language, except German) in this one version of Dragon, so yes, you can use multiple languages. I don't know if there is a version with French and Spanish combined, though.

Secondly, when you first use Dragon, you have to read a few sample texts to create your voice profile. Later on, you can always correct Dragon whenever it has misunderstood a word and that's how the program "learns" and adapts itself to your voice and pronunciation. 99% of the time, I use Dragon for Dutch and the difference in pronuncuation between Belgium and the Netherlands are huge, but Dragon doesn't mind at all.)

I haven't had any problem with programs that do not allow you to correct mistakes. I mainly use MS Word, Déjà Vu X and Outlook and haven't experienced any problems so far.

fwiw


Joeri
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Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 16:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Robin and Joeri Jan 5, 2005

Joeri, which version of Dragon is yours?
Did you already use it with DejaVu 3?

I'll have to contact the manufacturer to ask about the French and Spanish together, yesterday the contact page wasn't available.

Thanks for your answers, any comment is welcome

Claudia


 
Joeri Van Liefferinge
Joeri Van Liefferinge  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 20:47
English to Dutch
+ ...
7.1 Pro Jan 5, 2005

Claudia Iglesias wrote:

Joeri, which version of Dragon is yours?
Did you already use it with DejaVu 3?
Hi Claudia

I have DNS 7.1, professional version. I have never used it with DV3, but I hear that the results are good.


 
Bruce Popp
Bruce Popp  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:47
French to English
Upgrade to Dragon 8.0 Jan 5, 2005

Hi,

I had been using Dragon 7.x for a couple years. (US English with a Boston accent... the r's we don't use get shipped to NYC so they can add them to words like corfee. And I speak fast which is also a regional trait. Generally I have a whole sentence (or a big chunk of a long sentence) worked out in my head before I dictate it and then I let it rip.)

I upgraded to Dragon 8 in October. I imported my speech files from 7.3 into 8, but further correction as I go along
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Hi,

I had been using Dragon 7.x for a couple years. (US English with a Boston accent... the r's we don't use get shipped to NYC so they can add them to words like corfee. And I speak fast which is also a regional trait. Generally I have a whole sentence (or a big chunk of a long sentence) worked out in my head before I dictate it and then I let it rip.)

I upgraded to Dragon 8 in October. I imported my speech files from 7.3 into 8, but further correction as I go along (and running the accoustic optimizer three times) has steadily improved the recognition accuracy. The accuracy is greatly improved and has gone from "good" to "truly impressive," in my subjective assessment

As a translator you can really benefit ($$$) from the increased speed of dictation compared to typing. Even if you're a really good touch typist (as are many translators), you can't approach what you can do dictating with Dragon.

Further, dictating to Dragon gets the mechanics of typing out of the picture. I can focus on the the source sentence, how I want to translate it, structure the target sentence in my mind, and then I just say it. I don't have to watch for typos; I don't have to think about spelling; I don't have to remember the sentence as I slowly type at 45 wpm. Then I reread the sentence to make sure it looks like what I want and to correct any Dragon recognition errors. I think that all combined this definitely improves the quality of my target text.

Yes, Dragon is demanding on computer hardware performance. Dragon 8 only takes a little more than 7.3, and running the Accoustic Optimizer does help improve performance. Really, you are best off with a fairly fast Pentium 4 and 1 GB (or more???) of RAM.

Enjoy,
Bruce

[Edited at 2005-01-05 21:54]
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Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 16:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Dragon 8 seems to be available only for English Jan 5, 2005

at least it doesn't appear in the Spanish and French sites.

I wrote this morning asking whether a Spanish-French version existed, but no answer yet.

For now you all seem to advice the professional version.
I also found a yahoogroup about this topic in French, I subscribed to it, I'll see.

Thank you very much

Claudia


 
Jeff Allen
Jeff Allen  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 20:47
Multiplelanguages
+ ...
Speech Recognition list for Translators Jan 6, 2005

There is a new "Speech Recognition list for Translators"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SR_for_translators/

It addresses lots of questions like those above.

I wrote a post on that forum that answered several p
... See more
There is a new "Speech Recognition list for Translators"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SR_for_translators/

It addresses lots of questions like those above.

I wrote a post on that forum that answered several points above.
It's at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SR_for_translators/message/201
Reference info:
201 Re: [VR_translators] French langtecheval langtecheval Sat 12/4/2004

Lot's of other info in some of my articles on speech technologies at:
http://www.geocities.com/jeffallenpubs/speechtech.htm

I worked on speech recognition and speech synthesis at Carnegie Mellon Univ as well as MT and TM system.

Jeff
http://www.geocities.com/jeffallenpubs/
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Fernando Toledo
Fernando Toledo  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:47
German to Spanish
My way Jan 6, 2005

Bruce Popp wrote:

... Then I reread the sentence to make sure it looks like what I want and to correct any Dragon recognition errors. I think that all combined this definitely improves the quality of my target text.

Bruce

[Edited at 2005-01-05 21:54]


This is the only point that makes Dragon dangerous to use. It is very difficult to correct mistakes in context cause you don't have to watch for typos. The way our brain reads make a lot of problems with the recognition of this kinds of mistakes.
So my way is I close my eyes and let Dragon speak my text loud. So I can hear errors, and at the same time can I "see" other things you can only notice hearing but not reading.

Rgds

...With DV 3 it works of course too

If you can use the keyboard you can use Dragon too but not all the commands are accessible in all the applications.

[Edited at 2005-01-06 11:39]

[Edited at 2005-01-07 16:38]


 
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Pablo Roufogalis (X)
Colombia
Local time: 14:47
English to Spanish
No typos but... Feb 27, 2005

The risky thing about DNS is that you don't get typos, that will eventually be recognized by the speller, but you get nonsense phrases that are not recognized by the computer.

It helps a lot, it is much faster than typing, but it demands that you pay a lot of attention to what's being written. Fast readers will find that their (our) skill is a handicap.

Best regards.


 
jasonglick
jasonglick
English to Spanish
English and Spanish? Mar 10, 2005

I work in both English and Spanish. I was wondering what Dragon products I need to purchase in order to be able to switch between these two languages. Does the Spanish preferred version also contain English? Do I need 2 separate programs? If so, how well does it work to switch between the two?

I apologize for the similar posting, but none of the postings on this topic seem to be a precise reponse to my question. Thank you for your prompt response!

[email protected]

Claudia Iglesias wrote:

Hello

I went to the French and Spanish website of Scansoft but couldn't find the answer.
I translate into Spanish and French and I wouldn't like to buy something that doesn't allow me to work in the same way for both languages.

I'd also like to know which version you'd recommend. There's a huge difference ($$$) between the "preferred" and the "professional solutions" version. I'd like to be able to create more than one profile (recognition of more than one voice), but I didn't understand which version did that.

Thanks for any comment

Claudia


 
Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 16:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
You need the Spanish version Mar 10, 2005

Hi

Lucky you, you won't have to buy two versions.

The Spanish version (as well as the French one) comes with English.

I'm reading the "10 good reasons for purchasing DNS 8" and number 7 is
"Dictados en inglés Alterne entre el idioma principal y el diccionario integrado en inglés."


I don't know how well it works.

HTH

Claudia

jasonglick wrote:
Does the Spanish preferred version also contain English? Do I need 2 separate programs? If so, how well does it work to switch between the two?


 
GaryRousseau
GaryRousseau
English
Wondering about the French Version Jun 9, 2005

Hello,

I just bought Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred version 7.3.
Unfortunetely when I installed it, it never provide the option to install the french version.
Claudia, when you are saying that "The Spanish version (as well as the French one) comes with English", could you tell me to what you are referring too, or how I could 'activate' the french version ?

Thank you very much for your help.


Claudia Iglesias wrote:

Hi

Lucky you, you won't have to buy two versions.

The Spanish version (as well as the French one) comes with English.

I'm reading the "10 good reasons for purchasing DNS 8" and number 7 is
"Dictados en inglés Alterne entre el idioma principal y el diccionario integrado en inglés."


I don't know how well it works.

HTH

Claudia

jasonglick wrote:
Does the Spanish preferred version also contain English? Do I need 2 separate programs? If so, how well does it work to switch between the two?


 
Claudia Iglesias
Claudia Iglesias  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 16:47
Member (2002)
Spanish to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Did you buy the French version? Jun 9, 2005

Gary, did you buy the French version?
The French version has the English version too, but I don't know whether there is an "English only" version, maybe this is what you bought.

I don't remember what happened when I installed it in my laptop but I have to install it in my PC, if I have more information I'll come back.

Claudia


 
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Does Dragon Naturally Speaking work with more than one language?






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