BTT Writer for the Desktop: Starting a Translation Project

BTT Writer for the Desktop

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Setting Up Your Work

How do I select what to work on?

When choosing what to work on, you need to consider several factors, such as the difficulty of the Bible book and the level of experience of the translators. Ultimately the local church decides what they want to work on. For more information read Choosing What to Translate.

How do I start a translation project?

The definition of a translation project consists of:

  1. Specifying the target language - the language into which you will be translating
  2. Selecting a project category - what you will be translating, such as Open Bible Stories or a book of the Bible
  3. Choosing a source text - the language and text from which you will be translating, such as the English ULB (Unlocked Literal Bible)

To start a translation project, you must specify each of these elements.

Begin by clicking the blue plus sign on the home screen to start defining a new project. When you first start using BTT Writer, there is also a green Start a New Translation button on the home screen that you can click to start a new project. (The Start a New Project button is available only if you have not previously created any projects.)

How do I select the target language?

All BTT Writer projects require a target language (the mother tongue language into which you will be translating). When you create a new project, the first step is selecting the target language, so BTT Writer presents you with a language list that is alphabetical by the language code shown in the right column of the list.

To choose your target language (the one you will be translating into), you can either scroll down the language list to find the target language OR you can search for the target language. To search, perform the following steps:

  1. In the search field and the top left of the language list, type the first few letters of your language to narrow the list.
  2. Click your target language to select it.

Note

Even after requesting a new language, certain approvals are required before it will be added to BTT Writer. Until your language is added to the app, use English Demo1 or English Demo2. You will need to use the Feedback option from the options menu to send a comment stating that you used another language in place of your own. Once your translation has been received, the tS workers will put it in the correct language. Your translation will then show in your language.

What if I cannot find the desired target language?

If you do not see your language in the list of target languages, first try alternate spellings, dialect names, and any variant names for your language. If you still can’t find it, you can request that your language be added to the list of available languages.

The best way to submit a request is to send an email to helpdesk@techadvancement.com. Another method is to use the Feedback option from the options menu to submit a Bug Report. In either case, please provide as much information as you can about the language, such as the local name of the language, any other names it is known by, approximate number of speakers, where it is spoken, any similar languages, any published works in that language, etc.

To use Feedback in the 3-dot options menu to request a new language:

  1. From any screen in BTT Writer, click the 3-dot icon on the left or bottom.
  2. In the list of options, click Feedback.
  3. The Feedback screen opens. Type the name of the language you would like added to BTT Writer. Provide the location pf the speakers and other names the language is known by. If you used a language that is already in the APP, tell which language you used.
  4. Click Confirm to send your request.

Note: Even after requesting a new language, certain approvals are required before it will be added to the language list in BTT Writer. Until your language is added to the app, use English demo1 or English demo2. You will need to use the Feedback option from the options menu to send a comment stating that you used another language in place of your own. Once your translation has been received, the support staff will change the target language to the correct language. Your translation will then be listed in your language.

How do I select the project category?

When you create a new project, the next step is selecting the project category, which is the type of project you will be working on, such as a book of the Bible, Open Bible Stories, or one of the translation resources (notes, words, or questions).

To designate what to work on for this project, complete the following steps:

  1. Choose a project from the Old Testament, New Testament, or Other to start translating. (The Other category is for Open Bible Stories or Words.)
  2. The next step depends on the category you chose:
  • If you chose either the Old or New Testament:
    • You next choose a book for the project.
    • If you are in Gateway Language Mode, you then also must select the type of translation – will you be translating text of either the ULB or UDB, or will you be translating Notes or Questions? (If translating Notes or Questions, you must first create a text project for the same target language/Bible book and then create a project for Notes or Questions.)
  • If you chose Other, you next choose to translate either Open Bible Stories, Words (these are from the Bible), or Words OBS (these are from Open Bible Stories). The last two types are available only in Gateway Language Mode (See How do I set up to translate Bible resources?.)

How do I select the source text?

After selecting the category and type, the project is created and opens. If it is a translationWords project, it automatically uses an English source text. However, in other types of projects you need to select a source text before you can begin to translate. This is the text you will be translating from. You are not able to work in a project until you choose a source text language.

Note: If you are doing Gateway translation, be sure to select English (en) Unlocked Literal Bible as your source text. This is the source that has the resources (notes, words, and questions) attached to it.

In the translation project, complete the following steps to select the source text language:

  1. Click the rectangular icon with the + and - sign found at the center of the project window .
  2. Click the empty square box next to the desired source text and language. You can scroll down to see additional texts, or search by using the magnifying glass icon at the upper right of the Choose source translations box.
  3. To save the selection(s), click Confirm at the bottom right of the Choose source translations box, OR click Cancel to close without saving the selected language.

Note: You can choose up to 3 source texts; those selected are moved to the top portion of the Choose source translations box under the Selected heading.

  • Choosing multiple source texts enables you to compare them as you are performing the translation work.
  • For example, when translating the Bible you should always choose the Unlocked Literal Bible (ULB) in the source language, but you may want to also choose the Unlocked Dynamic Bible (UDB) if it is available in your language because it may be easier to understand. Looking at the UDB may help you to translate or check a passage.

Warning

You are not able to work in a project until you choose a source text.

How do I change project properties?

If you make a mistake, after you have finished defining the project there are three project properties that you can change:

  1. Target language:
  • On the Home page, click the “i” icon next to the project whose target language you wish to change.
  • On the information window, click Change next to the target language.
  • The Choose target language window appears, enabling you to select a different target language. As soon as you select a language, a message displays to tell you the change is complete. Click CLOSE to dismiss the message.
  1. Resource type: You may wish to change the resource type (category) of the project.

For example, you tried to create a text project when you had Gateway Language Mode set to On. This would have created a Text ULB project, but you just want a regular text project for translating the Bible into a mother tongue language.

You can change the resource type as follows:

  • On the Home page, click the icon next to the project whose target language you wish to change.
  • On the information window, click Change next to the resource type.
  • The Resource Options window enables you to select a different type of resource. If you don’t want to make a change, you can click CANCEL to dismiss this window.
  • As soon as you select an option, a message displays to tell you the change is complete. Click CLOSE to dismiss the message.
  1. Source text: You can add or change source texts at any time while working in the project. To change the source text:
  • With the project open, click the +- icon on the source text tab.
  • Select the source text(s) you wish to use or click the checked box next to a selected source text to remove it.
  • Click CONFIRM to close the window or CANCEL to exit without saving the changes.