Hey there. I am here in the good ol’ U S of A and most of my research up to this point has been within my borders, up until now. I have been contracted to begin some pretty serious research on particular companies in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia). The main languages that I’m running into are Italian, German, Spanish (Spain, not Mexico), and French.
I know that several of the DEVON-techies are in Central Europe and speak multiple languages (okay, I’m jealous) and I’m really hoping that you all have some tips, tricks, and pointers. I am discovering how very different languages work (even with translaters).
Any help would be appreciated.
A good starting point could be to use language specific plugins (like Search > German > …) or to use the Language filter (see Search Sets panel or Settings drawer of search windows) which will be enhanced and be more reliable in v2.0.2.
Hi Southpaw,
Welcome! Working in different languages needs some effort, but it is definitely worth it.
I work on the same topic in several languages and writing systems, and
(1) during the first two years I only used the search button with “OR” (any word) searches, entering words of the same meaning in different languages. (kind of synonym problem)
(2) DevonThink is still poor with East Asian languages because it cannot separate words reliably, a problem that you may not encounter in your work. (problem of not using East Asian writing dictionaries integrated into the system)
Recently I started using the Classify button, since Bill insists in using it 
in almost all of his posts. And – it works! Across the languages! I am really astonished and start using it cautiously. Maybe that a long period of sorting and searching pays off…
My advice: start a database with texts in English only and create a good classification with groups and files. Then you can add documents from other languages step by step into the respective groups, after a while “classify” and “see also” should work, some time even auto classify?
- I thought of creating links from important terms to an RTF file in the same group which contains the synonyms in the other languages I use.
- I thought of giving the groups identical (loooong) names in the most important languages I use.
- I thought of entering synonyms or titles into the comment field of groups, perhaps even documens.
But all this needs additional work, and for the time being I am happy to get around with all the information as it is. Time…
I am looking forward to read about other experiences.
Maria