Yes, Dragon is demanding on computer hardware performance. I think that all combined this definitely improves the quality of my target text. Then I reread the sentence to make sure it looks like what I want and to correct any Dragon recognition errors. 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. 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. Even if you're a really good touch typist (as are many translators), you can't approach what you can do dictating with Dragon.įurther, dictating to Dragon gets the mechanics of typing out of the picture. The accuracy is greatly improved and has gone from "good" to "truly impressive," in my subjective assessmentĪs a translator you can really benefit ($$$) from the increased speed of dictation compared to typing. 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. 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.) And I speak fast which is also a regional trait. the r's we don't use get shipped to NYC so they can add them to words like corfee. I had been using Dragon 7.x for a couple years. There is still a lot of work to be done, to make it more useful for translators. It works fine with Word and Outlook Express. This means that words keep being misrecognised. It is amazing, how many advanced scientific and technical terms it has in its vocabulary.Ī problem is that you cannot correct what you say with certain applications - Excel, Eudora, Trados TagEditor and Transit being examples.
I decided to go for the (expensive) Professional Version and recuperate gradually. There are different reading exercises you do at the beginning and also your "user files" are adapted as you keep using the product.Īs for Spanish, you would train Dragon into your way of pronouncing z,c and s, for example.
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. I use the Australian English version, as I only translate into English. You would need a separate version of Dragon for each language. In September, I had to buy a new computer as Dragon was running too slowly on a Pentium III with 512 RAM. I had 1024 RAM and added another 512 yesterday. 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 bought Dragon over a year ago and it has helped me a lot.