Musing and digressions around Computer aided interpreting

There are mentions but few clues on CAI in action. There is no Wikipedia entry. Google Scholars yields nothing. Yet, at a lower but indispensable level, CAI is already here. But what would be real dedicated CAI tools?

There is a dual stage of effective usage of CAI, at the preparation level and in-situ. Technically speaking, CAI starts as soon as you grab and put on the table your IC dictionary when starting a session. I always spread in front me a block note and my IC dictionary as a matter of fact. In that sense, CAI before and during sessions is already here. Over the phone, I use both the dictionary and an online version that proves to be usually easier to use. The IC dictionary keyboard is cramped and the screen too dark but the speed of display doesn't rely on Internet access speed. Now, it is talking with the PC before getting fully integrated online.

Opinion : I don't expect any tangible progress with display interface from Japan.

Speedier, more accurate, and online glossaries especially designed for CAI are the next steps. What would a CAI ready glossary offer? Speed, legibility, tolerance for mistyping, contextual clues on word usage, functional display, inspiration, anticipation, serendipity.

With advanced CAI oriented glossaries, interpreters will train more on the acquisition of meta-knowledge than the nitty gritty of the knowledge itself, because there is too much knowledge around to fully absorb. For instance, I am working on nutraceutical right now and the task is overwhelming, with hundreds of ingredients names you simply cannot remember. Everything that helps skimming a corpus of language to first get the big picture will be strategically essential, meaning also that the interpreter/language learner should focus in priority on verbal structures and phrases that are typical and typical in her specialties.

In the following sentence : Rainforest Fungus Synthesizes Diesel , the minimum vital single piece of word the interpreter must know is the verb, synthesize. The rest comes next. Sounds obvious but language is not ushered in from this functional point of view in the classroom and books.

Task: find out what are the typical verbs used in biochemistry. Master these and start reading on the subject with better ease.

Digression : forget about vertical word lists, forget about Excel. But what is an efficient glossary display architecture? How is the screen real-estate to be used for CAI purpose that makes the task of selecting the best choice better that roaming through elevators of word lists? Word clouds? Bilingual word clouds? Something else?

My SII Japanese-English IC dictionary is already beyond the single column display, into the dual column, and in specific display mode, even into the three-windows mode.

Oh! Found this later.