Where do we find Technical Editing Softwares?

[madgirl09]

I know there are some other editors lurking here. Friends, could you please suggest sites or softwares that could be useful in technical editing? Editing technical English could be worrisome especially if you do not have enough background of the specialized field the article or paper talks about. We struggled translating some nurses review materials and caregiver's study manuals lately, but good that we were able to find a US registered nurse to help us in editing; there were not so many hands available to translate. Now comes a new job copyediting a thesis in Ophthalmology. What medical softwares do you use for medical terms? Do you know of any university in the Philippines that offers any medical courses online (just certificate courses) that could give some background for us whose degrees are non-medical? This is what is currently in demand in Japan. There is a need for doctors to translate their work into English but there are not so many translators or technical editors available. I think, universities in our country must begin to offer new courses that would address the growing needs of our global society. There is no need to leave the Philippines to get a job that reaches world-wide; online courses would click if you have the resources and marketing mechanisms. And because Phil pay standard is much lower, enterprising Phil. professors could win more learners who are financially challenged  .

What could you suggest to "beginning editors" (or aspiring translator like me) to be able to get most of the good-paying technical translating/editing job?

[renzphotography]

Go search the internet for medical transcription software. Medical transcriptionists use software that are configured to handle health science terminologies, much like MS Word with a customized vocabulary for the medical field.

[silverlokk]

Pardon the correction, but there's no such word as 'softwares' because software is already plural, in the same way that 'equipment', 'furniture', and 'stuff', to name a few, are mass nouns.

[madgirl09]

okay, i give you my pardon  ...but i am not referring to the little mass noun you have in mind. i want lots of softwares of various types from different companies offering various features. if you Google that word too, you'd be surprised to find some 185 million hits, that means lots of sites using the same term. now, what has happened to the explanations used in cultures, peoples, etc. this word is no longer governed by traditional classroom grammar rules, as every day, the internet is creating its own rules on usage especially those dealing with cyber words themselves. but thanks anyway for your reminder.    i forgot to mention and forewarn readers that i "had struggled" with my "other" self about the correct word to use before i ever wrote the first message. unluckily, my subconscious won, thus the word "softwares". i'm stubborn and mad....i want to keep using this term until i create another active thread. madgirl

[hill roberts]

Hello, Silverlokk,
Yes, it should have been "software"...but you know, it happens to all of us when we're rushing with our fingers and hit the wrong key(s) and we sometimes forget to look at it again. Another case of oversight. We can also include equipment, and I've seen many who add an "s" when this is really both singular and plural in usage. There's also "staffs", "personnels", "crews", "stuffs". Indeed, this must be pointed out too that these words are used incorrectly by many English "writers". You think we should collar them all? Best to find out from the Professor himself. Cheers!

[Joe Carillo]

You're absolutely right, silverlokk! "Software" is a mass noun that's already plural. So we better start dropping that "s" at the tail end of the word if we mean it to be plural. And when we mean "software" to be singular, we don't say "Buy me a software from the computer shop"; we say "Buy me software from the computer shop" instead--without the determiner "a."

[hill roberts]

Hi, Madgirl,
The Oxford dictionary says "software"...Google and the whole internet caboodle worldwide has become a "free for all" when it comes to word invention, and their total disrespect for the English language. To this day, many who post comments in many sites still think they are using their mobile phones, hence, the use of you as in "u" somehow makes my eyes roll;  because as in "coz", people becomes "ppol" or "r" as in are, and a long list as long as the legs of Naomi Campbell. I would have thought that since there's no extra pay to post comments, why not simply type out the correct words? Many a time, I just don't bother reading text spelling comments. Over to you, Professor. Cheers!

[silverlokk]

And when we mean "software" to be singular, we don't say "Buy me a software from the computer shop"; we say "Buy me software from the computer shop" instead--without the determiner "a."

To pursue this further: If I say "Buy me software," I might mean that I'm asking for two or pieces of software -- or, to be more precise, two or more software packages or software applications. If I want only one, I should say "Buy me a software application" or "Buy me a software package."

[Joe Carillo]

You're absolutely right again, silverlokk!

[madgirl09]

still checking other unabridged dictionaries...the two we have at the uni. are also abridged. i'll report next week the results of my "personal investigation" . who can check what they are about to add at new editions of dictionaries? still being madgirl here...i may be getting saner soon. thanks for all the inputs from our gurus.

[tonybau]

Hi, Madgirl!

I thought you were just teaching in Japan. It seems you are dipping your finger or fingers into much more. :-) And that is absolutely great!

As far as I know, there are no online medical (M.D.) certificate courses in the country. Copyediting a medical manuscript can be a tedious job and a big challenge for a non-medical copy editor. Just editing a research paper can be a big, big challenge. Put in the grammatical errors and that will make it even more of a headache.

It is not impossible to do. The danger is you might find yourself in technical jargon too deep to fathom.

tonybau

[madgirl09]

right! this really needs a crash course in the specific field the paper is written. what is good is that, the internet is providing lots of background, so i get various options and phrase choices to throw back to the doctors so they could choose clearer and more appropriate descriptions. after all, it's the writers who know best about the topic being discussed.

we have finished translating one nursing material, and now we are about to complete the caregivers' reviewer. arrrgh  . i could barely visit my tomato garden (sigh) ...but here are new requests for the next nurse reviewer. as my team is just a bunch of newbies, we don't know how to protect our manuscripts. we've heard of some hospitals thinking of reproducing our manuals to be used in training new recruits. grrrr. where have our effort and royalties gone? (and tonybau, i am doing all these things while i train engineers and other professionals become english teachers too. oh. i forgot to mention that i am also enrolled in school and juggling homeworks and paper tasks during coffee breaks.) so, do you think i should change my name, "madgirl"?  good, i still have time left to browse postings at sir joe's forum.  hayyyyy. thank God there are nice and inspiring people here.

[silverlokk]

Hello, Silverlokk,
Yes, it should have been "software"...but you know, it happens to all of us when we're rushing with our fingers and hit the wrong key(s) and we sometimes forget to look at it again. Another case of oversight. We can also include equipment, and I've seen many who add an "s" when this is really both singular and plural in usage. There's also "staffs", "personnels", "crews", "stuffs". Indeed, this must be pointed out too that these words are used incorrectly by many English "writers". You think we should collar them all? Best to find out from the Professor himself. Cheers!

On other online forums, I wouldn't bother -- it would take up too much of my time    However, this site, being about English grammar, does bring out the grammar Nazi in me I believe I do have the cred, being former associate, then technical, editor of PC World Philippines.

[silverlokk]

I'm not sure technical editing software would help. If I were in your place, madgirl, I would simply ask the doctors what they meant to say, in terms as simple as possible. Meaning, no medical jargon. Now that may be oversimplifying, since I can't seem to grok the nature of your editing, but that may be a start

[madgirl09]

perhaps, you'd allow those stubborn writers who insist on their "wrong" spellings to go on with their self-prescribed vocabulary, NO . how did we call those people who were "far advanced in adopting non-conforming rules?" heretic? they got guillotined, right? the world is not flat after all, so how do we resurrect the dead we murdered? we don't call them "correct" or "wrong" anymore; they are just classified as (in grammar), common, ungrammatical or rare, depends where you come from, depends what your style is, case-to-case basis... . well, my "investigation of that "softwares" thing has not been resolved yet.