Poll: When translating, how many different dictionaries or glossaries are open on your browser? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When translating, how many different dictionaries or glossaries are open on your browser?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | Other (from none to lots) | Jan 2, 2022 |
It depends on what I am translating. Sometimes a week goes by without me touching any dictionary or glossary. Usually texts from my longest-standing customer (hair styling tools and kitchen appliances) don’t require it. But as EU-related texts are the bulk of my work, my regular ports of call are Eur-Lex, IATE and the Interinstitutional Style Guide. More often than not what is open on my browser is the text of a convention plus several EU directives and regulations.
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It depends on the language pair. If I’m translating EN/FR/IT < MT, I’ll have the IATE and Linguee only as I won’t find anything on other sites but if I’m translating FR/IT < EN, I’ll have far more. I’ll have Reverso, Linguee, Proz and Wordreference probably plus any other sites I use to look up something or confirm something.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 20:29
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
But I come from an era where dictionaries were installed on one's own computer and not accessed via a web browser. I have yet to find a web-based dictionary that has a better (or as good an) interface as the installed ones.
[Edited at 2022-01-02 13:37 GMT]
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I have an app which opens several dictionaries, depending on which search word I enter. It may only find the word in one monolingual dictionary, in which case I have to look elsewhere, or it may find a whole row of dictionaries with suggestions.
I used to subscribe to a range of dictionaries, which have been taken over by another provider, and the app is a Beta-version, but it is the closest I can get to the old platform.  ... See more I have an app which opens several dictionaries, depending on which search word I enter. It may only find the word in one monolingual dictionary, in which case I have to look elsewhere, or it may find a whole row of dictionaries with suggestions.
I used to subscribe to a range of dictionaries, which have been taken over by another provider, and the app is a Beta-version, but it is the closest I can get to the old platform. 
Apart from online dictionaries, I use other websites or my collection of hardback reference works to supplement them and check a term in context if I need to. ▲ Collapse
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None, ever. Interesting that this isn’t a response option.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
Usually none. I prefer to keep my toolbars etc. as uncluttered as possible.
I use Google more often than dictionaries, usually to check usage in context rather than meanings or dictionary definitions.
| | | | Becca Resnik
United States
Local time: 14:29
Member
German to English
+ ...
| 1-2, plus paper | Jan 2, 2022 |
I've gotten in the habit of leaving at least one open, especially since I started using virtual desktops to keep my work separate from everything else I have open (also convenient for when I have two jobs going at once). I might have another one (or more) open if I need a specialized dictionary. However, I am continually surprised at how much I find in my unabridged hardback DE< >EN dictionary, so it makes an appearance sometimes. My softcover JP< >EN technical dictionary is quite the resource a... See more I've gotten in the habit of leaving at least one open, especially since I started using virtual desktops to keep my work separate from everything else I have open (also convenient for when I have two jobs going at once). I might have another one (or more) open if I need a specialized dictionary. However, I am continually surprised at how much I find in my unabridged hardback DE< >EN dictionary, so it makes an appearance sometimes. My softcover JP< >EN technical dictionary is quite the resource as well, but I'm much less surprised about what it can offer that the internet doesn't (i.e., as opposed to what the internet has to offer for my other language pair).
[Edited at 2022-01-02 18:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:29
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Usually none - although very occasionally I need to refer to my private glossary collection.
[Edited at 2022-01-02 18:40 GMT]
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I voted for 1-3, but in reality I have quick links to Linguee and several others and don't prioritize keeping them open. The documents I keep open are usually background documents for the one I'm working on. Most of my documents have a list of references, and I find those sources more valuable than dictionaries because they match the domain and register of the text I'm translating.
After more than 50 years in the business, I mainly use dictionaries to review the possible translation... See more I voted for 1-3, but in reality I have quick links to Linguee and several others and don't prioritize keeping them open. The documents I keep open are usually background documents for the one I'm working on. Most of my documents have a list of references, and I find those sources more valuable than dictionaries because they match the domain and register of the text I'm translating.
After more than 50 years in the business, I mainly use dictionaries to review the possible translations for a given word and capture the exact nuance I'm looking for.
P.S. Back in the pre-Internet days when we used hardcover dictionaries and translators traveled to work at conferences, sometimes the dictionaries never arrived and we had to wing it. I was surprised at how well we did without them.
[Edited at 2022-01-03 04:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I may not even have a browser open while I'm translating. As most of my translation work involves the same kind of content, it's rare that I need to look up an unknown word. The difficulty lies mainly in rendering the meaning clearly and accurately in the target language, since Greek and English have such different structures.
As another poster has already remarked, it's interesting that zero wasn't among the options in this poll.
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
| In most cases: None | Jan 3, 2022 |
Most of the time, I don't need to open even a single dictionary page. But there were occasions where the source texts use obsolete words nobody has been using since 150 years ago, so I had to look it up.
[Edited at 2022-01-03 16:36 GMT]
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