search techniques

Reactivating my blogging brain after a couple of weeks! Now and then one needs time to look back or to gather thoughts. As for me, I invest my energy simultaneously in different directions, so short breaks become a necessity.
Translators have to be sure about the accuracy/correctness of the translated term. Over the last few years, internet has become a powerful ally of translators for this purpose. During university classes and later on at work, I have used the method of co-occurrence of terms in search engines to find the right word. Undoubtedly lots of translators do the same. Technical texts require specific terms and in the absence of an established terminology, googling two terms is my favourite way to cross-check the usage. It’s even more effective during proof-reading. Once while proof-reading a text on machining and tooling, I could find by googling almost 80% of the translated terms in relevant websites. It is possible to use other search engines for the same purpose.
The method also has some disadvantages, given the fact that information on the internet cannot be checked or controlled beyond a certain point. Therefore, googling two terms (source and target) first separately and then together can limit errors. Even then it is quite normal to harbour doubts about such a method, which is often not full proof. I was happy to find an exhaustive paper on this topic, which reassured me to a certain extent. Here’s the link:
media-langues