Merging cells in Excel projects
Користувач, який розмістив тему: CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
Нідерланди
Член (2006)
Mar 4

Here I will describe how to merge cells in Excel projects.

 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
Велика Британія
Local time: 15:46
Член (2014)
Японська --> англійська
Gently does it Mar 4

I'm cautious about merging cells even in Excel, let alone a CAT tool 😬

Dan


CafeTran Trainer
 
CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
Нідерланди
Член (2006)
ЗАПУСК ТЕМИ
You're right Mar 4

Dan Lucas wrote:

I'm cautious about merging cells even in Excel, let alone a CAT tool 😬

Dan


You are absolutely right, Dan. By the way, why do Japanese agencies use Excel for translation projects?


 
CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
Нідерланди
Член (2006)
ЗАПУСК ТЕМИ
Screenshot Mar 4

Here is a screenshot from the other thread. I'll provide more info ASAP.

Image-000463


 
Samuraidog
Samuraidog
Сполученi Штати Америки
Local time: 11:46
Новий користувач
Японська --> англійська
Thank you! Mar 4

CafeTran Trainer wrote:

Here is a screenshot from the other thread. I'll provide more info ASAP.

Image-000463


Fantastic! Thank you for posting this.


 
Samuraidog
Samuraidog
Сполученi Штати Америки
Local time: 11:46
Новий користувач
Японська --> англійська
It's the authors Mar 4

CafeTran Trainer wrote:

Dan Lucas wrote:

I'm cautious about merging cells even in Excel, let alone a CAT tool 😬

Dan


You are absolutely right, Dan. By the way, why do Japanese agencies use Excel for translation projects?


It's the authors of the original document that like to use Excel. Japanese can tend to be constructed in blocks, so Excel may seem appealing as it is also constructed in blocks.
Also, Excel can seem to be the perfect solution, as you can write text, insert text boxes, insert charts, insert formulas, control cell width, etc.
I agree that it makes it a pain to have to deal with for a translator.

[Edited at 2025-03-04 10:58 GMT]


 
CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
Нідерланди
Член (2006)
ЗАПУСК ТЕМИ
Interesting Mar 4

Samuraidog wrote:

Japanese can tend to be constructed in blocks, so Excel may seem appealing as it is also constructed in blocks.


Can you elaborate a little on that?


 
Samuraidog
Samuraidog
Сполученi Штати Америки
Local time: 11:46
Новий користувач
Японська --> англійська
Here is a little context Mar 4

CafeTran Trainer wrote:

Samuraidog wrote:

Japanese can tend to be constructed in blocks, so Excel may seem appealing as it is also constructed in blocks.


Can you elaborate a little on that?


Maybe I'm making a generalization, as all languages are complex, and contain nuance. Others who know the language well may disagree with my viewpoint. However, Japanese usually contains kanji (Chinese characters) with words constructed of multiple kanji ideograms (that someone could construe as a block/square).

This article does a better job of explaining kanji than I could in a forum post.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2046.html

And, perhaps this article will give you a good visual on how Japanese may read (or be learned) with kana text presented in the form of a table/matrix (that looks like Excel).
https://www.nihongoproject.com/the-kana-building-blocks-of-japanese/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genkō_yōshi

I've seen Excel files where each cell contains one Japanese kanji, katakana, or hiragana letter. As a translator, it is maddening that someone would choose to write that way, and you are expected to make it make sense in English, but I've seen it multiple times in Excel!


[Edited at 2025-03-04 14:19 GMT]

[Edited at 2025-03-04 19:37 GMT]


CafeTran Trainer
 
CafeTran Trainer
CafeTran Trainer
Нідерланди
Член (2006)
ЗАПУСК ТЕМИ
Virtual merging Mar 5

Dan Lucas wrote:

I'm cautious about merging cells even in Excel, let alone a CAT tool 😬

Dan


CafeTran Espresso only virtually merges cells in the translation project. It doesn't merge cells in the exported Excel file.


Dan Lucas
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Модератори цього форуму
Natalie[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Merging cells in Excel projects






CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
LinguaCore
AI Translation at Your Fingertips

The underlying LLM technology of LinguaCore offers AI translations of unprecedented quality. Quick and simple. Add a human linguistic review at the end for expert-level quality at a fraction of the cost and time.

More info »