First-Time Guide for Honyaku Cloud

Last Updated:

May 11, 2024

How to Use the Honyaku Cloud Platform

Now that you have your Honyaku Cloud account, you’re probably wondering what you should do first. Here’s what we suggest:

Complete your “Account” information (so that we can pay you when the time comes)
1. Select “Account” from the left-hand menu. You will see that some of your information is already filled in (thanks to the registration process), but please do add your “Preferred Payment” Method and any details needed to pay you via that method.
  1. We currently pay via PayPal or bank transfer. For translators with Japanese bank accounts, bank transfer is no problem. For translators without Japanese bank accounts, we strongly encourage PayPal if possible due to international transfer fees.
Check out our translation “Resources.”
1. We’ve curated a collection of resources that we hope will make clear the tone and style we set in our translations.
2. Each job we assign you also includes links to the resources you need for that specific job, but it’s always good to refresh the general rules when you’re not rushed by a deadline.
Join the Slack!
1. We’ve opened a Slack workspace for all of our translators to join, where you can discuss general translation topics with us and your fellow translators, ask project-specific questions in channels we create for each job, and contact us directly.
Accept our invite to Phrase (formerly known as Memsource).

Next → What is Phrase and How Do I Use It?

What is Phrase and How Do I Use It?

Phrase is a CAT (Computer-Assisted Translation) Tool uses in the translation industry. There are other translation tools available, but we have integrated Phrase into our systems due to the benefits we perceive it offers us and our clients in terms of efficiency and usability.

Phrase is an extensive tool with a ton of features, but here are the key steps to using it a Honyaku Cloud translator.

You don’t need to access Phrase from outside of Honyaku Cloud. We have added you as members of our team and we manage all the technical settings on our end.
When you have a “Current Job” on your Honyaku Cloud Dashboard:
1. Click on the Job.
2. Review any “Client Resources” for the job as appropriate.
3. Click on “Open Editor.” This is what sends you to the Phrase tool to begin the translation.
On the upper right of the Phrase screen, click the black button to “Accept” the job.
Understand the general layout of the main translation screen. There are a lot of buttons and menus on this page, but here are the main ones for you to look at:
1. The left column that includes the “Source” text.
  1. This is the text that it’s your job to translate.
2. The right column where you will input the “Target” text.
  1. This is your translation.
3. The small column containing a ✔️ or an ❌ to the right of the “Target” text column.
  1. When you are satisfied with the text in the “Target” column, please mark this as ✔️. You will have to check off all segments before you can complete the job.
4. The “Preview” window under the “Source” and “Target” text columns.
  1. This window shows you what the text might look like in context as a final product, which can be very helpful when you want to see where the paragraph breaks are, whether the text is a header, a caption, or part of the main body, and more.
5. The panel on the right side of the screen where all of our “smart” features live. This is arguably the most complicated part of the platform, but it contains all of the stuff that should help us create better translations faster.
  1. CAT pane: Please check out the official Phrase documentation for a complete explanation of the information provided here, but the key abbreviations to know are:
    1. MT: This the “Machine Translation” created by the system that can serve as a good starting point for the segment.
    2. TB: This is an official term in the “Term Base” for this client. (If this is red and crossed out, it means the term is forbidden.
    3. #: Text with a number shows that we have a (#)% match to this segment from something we already translated for the client. Is it a high percentage match from a recent translation? If so, we can likely use it again!
  2. Search: You can search the term base and translation memory for specific words and phrases. Make sure you’ve got the correct language pair selected under the text box before you hit “Search.”
  3. Changes: You can see the evolution of our translation through our workflow, from First Draft (T), to Proofread (PF), to Revision (RV).
  4. Comments: This is where you will leave comments for your fellow translators and the Honyaku Team about specific segments, as well as read their feedback.
  💡 We do encourage the use of comments in Phrase to let the rest of the translation team know why you made any decisions on difficult segments, or to point out research/references that you used to make your decision on terms that seem new or you otherwise couldn't find in past material. We also tend to leave a lot of comments as part of our proofread process, so definitely feel free to treat the comments section as a conversation.
  
  💡 For issues that are larger than a single segment—for instance, not understanding a key word that keeps popping up throughout the source text—we encourage you to take the conversation to Slack for a more real-time conversation.
  
  In other words:
6. Question or comment about one word in one segment? Leave it in a comment.
7. Big question or comment about the overall job? Take it to Slack.
When you are satisfied with all of the text in the “Target” column, click the black “Complete” bubble on the upper right, which is in the same place as the initial “Accept” button.

At this point, you’re probably wondering who these other people are who are looking at the job and where you fit in the workflow. Find out in the next section!

Next → What is the Honyaku Cloud Workflow?

What is the Honyaku Cloud Workflow?

Here at Honyaku Cloud, we believe in having multiple eyes on each project, and it’s one of the reasons our clients love working with us.

Our 4-step, 3-person process is as follows:

First Draft: The Lead Translator performs an initial translation.
1. This individual is responsible for producing a high-quality first draft, including researching any relevant terms or proper nouns that appear in the text.
Proofread: The Proofreader reviews the first draft and suggests changes, giving reasons for their suggestions.
Revision: The Lead Translator receives the job back from the Proofreader, considers the comments and suggestions, and produces a final draft.
QA: An internal Honyaku Cloud team member performs a final review of the project in preparation of delivering it to the client.

You will be assigned as either a Lead Translator or a Proofreader. Please note that we do pay Lead Translators more in accordance with the increased burden, but both roles are equally essential to the process.

And you’re done!