YouAlign Tutorial, Level I
I. Introduction
YouAlign (www.youalign.com) is a bitext aligner that allows you to create bitexts easily and quickly from your archived documents. This tool is available online, so you do not need to buy or install software to use it. YouAlign allows you to align a text and its translation at the sentence level, and it works with the following file formats: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, XML, Corel WordPerfect, RTF, Lotus WordPro and plain text. YouAlign is compatible with LogiTermWeb, SDL Trados, Déjà Vu and any translation other software that supports TMX.
This tool is one of several computer-aided translation (CAT) tools developed by Terminotix Inc. To learn more about YouAlign and other Terminotix tools, visit their Web site.
Please note that, because YouAlign is a free online tool, there is a daily limit to the number of documents you can align.
II. Signing up to YouAlign
If you have not used YouAlign before, you will first need to create a user account. (If you already have an account, skip this step and go directly to Getting Ready.)
III. Getting ready
IV. Aligning your documents
YouAlign allows you to create bitexts from your archived documents. The files you use must not exceed 1 Mo in size.
V. Downloading the alignment results
Once the alignment has been completed, a preview of the alignment appears on the screen.
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VI. Questions for reflection
- As you went through this tutorial, what were your first impressions of the functions and functioning of YouAlign?
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How is this tool different than other alignment tools that you know? Did you find YouAlign easier or more difficult to use? In what ways?
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In your opinion, what are the advantages and the drawbacks of working with a free online tool, compared with a tool that you purchase and install in your computer?
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Do you think that a free tool like YouAlign may fulfill the needs of a certain type of users (e.g. a translation student)? Do you find it to be useful only as a demo tool?
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What aspects of the YouAlign interface did you like? What others did you dislike? Did some of these aspects cause you any problems? Which ones and why?
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What type of problems did you encountered while aligning texts? How can these problems affect the usefulness of a corpus and the time and effort required to work with that corpus? Were those problems easy to solve? Why or why not? Can you think of any other problems that may be encountered when aligning pairs of texts?
Tutorial created by Julian Zapata Rojas (2012-07-05).