Experienced Translators’ Tips and Tricks for Using Online Tools in Thai- English Abstract Translation

Abstract

The objective of the study was to find out the tips and tricks for using online tools in Thai- English abstract translation of experienced translators. The sample group consisted of 36 experienced translators. They were selected by using the purposive sampling method. An online questionnaire constructed by the researcher was utilized in data collection. The statistics employed in the data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The qualitative data were analyzed by using content analysis. The results showed that the majority of the samples were female (77.8%). Most of the samples had 7 or more years of translation experience (52.8%). Regarding tips and tricks for using online tools in Thai-English abstract translation of the experienced translators, it was found that the translators use online dictionaries to find words and check the word usage at the highest level (4.5), followed by they use search engines to find specific names if the names are famous or there are the names on reliable websites (4.47), and they use search engines to check their choice of words and compare with others (4.30), respectively. Other tips and tricks suggested by the samples included that they use online tools to do a back-translation, to find related field of study and background knowledge in translating, to confirm their decision, to find the keyword and to try to translate by context and use online tools for help, to use Google’s advanced query techniques in translating, to find the photo or picture of the word they are looking up, to use e-books for getting background knowledge and words to use, to use online thesaurus for checking word choices, and to refer to related abstracts to find reference about language usage for abstracts from different contents and disciplines, etc. These results will be useful for novice translators and new translators.