Translation - art & business » Translator resources »
Learn how to translate with FoundCAT
Thread poster: Gary Evans
Gary Evans
Gary Evans  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:09
German to English
Jan 19, 2019

Hi folks.
I've been working hard to develop an open source CAT tool as part of my teaching work at a German university, the FH Aachen. Here it is:

https://foundcat.bluecloud.academy

Although FoundCAT is based on a CAT tool (originally Weblate) it is really designed for learning foreign languages. Learners can upload texts for translating in the crowd while making use of... See more
Hi folks.
I've been working hard to develop an open source CAT tool as part of my teaching work at a German university, the FH Aachen. Here it is:

https://foundcat.bluecloud.academy

Although FoundCAT is based on a CAT tool (originally Weblate) it is really designed for learning foreign languages. Learners can upload texts for translating in the crowd while making use of a term base, multiple neural machine translation engines (including DeepL Pro) and of course a translation memory. Learners can also write comments alongside every sentence (segment) they translate while proofreaders can make changes, which are shown as tracked changes. One nice feature is that proofreaders can mark the change with an error category.

I need to do more work to develop FoundCAT so it becomes fun and more intuitive, but I think it's a useful, free tool. Plus FoundCAT is great for those who simply want to play with translating in the crowd. I based the concept on Duolingo Immersion, which is sadly no longer online. The FoundCAT source code is available on GitLab here:

https://gitlab.com/FoundCAT/FoundCAT

My favorite language combination is German to English (UK), but if you are keen on some more exotic pairs, try German to Arabic.

Maybe see you on FoundCAT!

Gary ▲ Collapse


Vadim Kadyrov
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Gary Jan 19, 2019

Gary Evans wrote:
...while proofreaders can make changes, which are shown as tracked changes.


This sort of tracked changes isn't really helpful:

tracked

[Edited at 2019-01-19 16:22 GMT]

Gary Evans
neilmac
 
Gary Evans
Gary Evans  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:09
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Iteration is the key Jan 19, 2019

@Samuel

Thanks for the reply. I need to implement the showing of changed sentences to include all the iterations and not just the latest. That's a feature request!

Regarding the word "absolviert", I prefer the Linguee translation "finished". Here's my comment on FoundCAT:

I'd say finished is a better translation of absolviert than completed, or passed. See: <... See more
@Samuel

Thanks for the reply. I need to implement the showing of changed sentences to include all the iterations and not just the latest. That's a feature request!

Regarding the word "absolviert", I prefer the Linguee translation "finished". Here's my comment on FoundCAT:

I'd say finished is a better translation of absolviert than completed, or passed. See: https://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?il=DE&tool=opensearch&query=absolviert

Regards,

Gary ▲ Collapse
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Gary Jan 19, 2019

Gary Evans wrote:
I need to implement the showing of changed sentences to include all the iterations and not just the latest.


No, the issue is that if whole words are replaced, then the tracks should track whole words. If you track characters instead, the translator can only see that there is an edit but he can't see clearly what exactly the edit is. I changed "completed" to "passed", but your tracking system makes it seem that I had added "com" to the start of the word, left the "p" as is, and then changed "leted" to "assed", which is silly.

I did not evaluate FoundCAT extensively, sorry.

I could not get the glossary feature to work. There doesn't seem to be any way to select or create a TM. Can all users of the system always see all the source texts of everyone else in the system? I tried adding a source file by URL but got a long, cryptic error message. I can submit a comment, but I can't edit or delete it. I like the fact that you get an e-mail detailling edits made to your translation (I'm not sure how many such e-mails one would get in the end). I like the fact that you can hover over a translator or editor's name and get a short set of statistics about that user's edits. It's a bit odd that the Comments and Glossary tabs don't contain any hint that the tab contains content (e.g. if there is a comment, but the Comments tab is not open, the only clue that there is a comment is the tiny status indicator). It is unfortunate that the entire page reloads every time you move to another segment. It is also unfortunate that you can't bookmark or copy the URL of a specific segment (e.g. to paste that link into a chat conversation with the student or with another teacher). It would be useful if registered members could indicate whether they are experts in the language or actual teachers, or simply other people trying to learn the language, so that you can see whether any edits to your translation were made by an expert or a layman.

I can see how this system can be used by translation teachers who want to be able to give comments on students' translations, and I think you should target that type of audience instead of the Duolingo type of crowd.

[Edited at 2019-01-20 11:49 GMT]

Gary Evans
neilmac
 
Gary Evans
Gary Evans  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:09
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Work in progress Jan 21, 2019

@Samuel

Many thanks for your feedback. I agree with your comments. FoundCAT currently only offers basic functionality, but we're working on it.

Regards,
Gary
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Maria Castro[Call to this topic]
Nawal Kramer[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Learn how to translate with FoundCAT







Pastey
Your smart companion app

Pastey is an innovative desktop application that bridges the gap between human expertise and artificial intelligence. With intuitive keyboard shortcuts, Pastey transforms your source text into AI-powered draft translations.

Find out more »
Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »