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Merging cells in Excel projects
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CafeTran Trainer
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Mar 4

Here I will describe how to merge cells in Excel projects.
 
Dan Lucas
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Gently does it Mar 4

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

Dan

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CafeTran Trainer
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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
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Screenshot Mar 4

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

Image-000463
 
Samuraidog
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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
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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
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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
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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]

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CafeTran Trainer
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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
 


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Merging cells in Excel projects






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