| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you become more tech-savvy since you started working in the language industry? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you become more tech-savvy since you started working in the language industry?".
This poll was originally submitted by Christina Pauly. View the poll results »
| | | | | Yes, to same extenT | Feb 24 |
I don’t consider myself tech-savvy at all, but I started translating in the late 1970s/early 1980s, so just imagine the change we “oldies” have witnessed… and enjoyed!
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 22:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yes but I think this would apply to anyone working in any industry. Even if you're the type of translator who only uses Microsoft Word and nothing else, you would have picked up some tricks along the way, surely.
I also wonder if this isn't a generational thing. I'm Gen X... would that affect my answer? Gen X is the generation that started using computers in their 20s and 30s. When I was at college, there was a special subject called "practical computer usage" in which we were... See more Yes but I think this would apply to anyone working in any industry. Even if you're the type of translator who only uses Microsoft Word and nothing else, you would have picked up some tricks along the way, surely.
I also wonder if this isn't a generational thing. I'm Gen X... would that affect my answer? Gen X is the generation that started using computers in their 20s and 30s. When I was at college, there was a special subject called "practical computer usage" in which we were taught the history of computers, how a computer works, how to use e-mail, Usenet and gopher, and how to use a word processor (and being able to use a mouse and keyboard was a skill that was tested as part of the year-end exam).
Do young people still know what a word processor is? I sometimes get the feeling, talking to modern teenagers during neighbourly tech-support sessions, that they are unaware of the fact that there are distinctly separate programs on their computers. On the other hand, while do I own a smartphone (see my age... I call it a "smart" phone), I can't do any work on it. Whenever I need to do anything on the internet, I put the phone down and walk to my computer.
[Edited at 2024-02-24 09:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I started using computers for translating at the beginning of the 80s.
And I think I'm tech-savy enough for my translation and audio recording related purposes.
[Edited at 2024-02-24 13:33 GMT]
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
I started translating in the late 1970s/early 1980s, so just imagine the change we “oldies” have witnessed… and enjoyed!
My first translation dates back 1978, I was 22, so I hear you, many, many changes 
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
..... I'm Gen X...
I don't even know what Gen X is.
I mean, I keep hearing about it and it's assumed everybody knows what it is, but I don't.
Like "meme". What is a meme?
[Edited at 2024-02-24 13:17 GMT]
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Tom in London wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
..... I'm Gen X... I don't even know what Gen X is. I mean, I keep hearing about it and it's assumed everybody knows what it is, but I don't. Like "meme". What is a meme? [Edited at 2024-02-24 13:17 GMT]
Meme:
an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations:
"celebrity gossip and memes often originate on the site" · "the concept originally started as an internet meme"
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 21:03
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Tom in London wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
..... I'm Gen X... I don't even know what Gen X is. I mean, I keep hearing about it and it's assumed everybody knows what it is, but I don't.
Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the demographic cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth years, with the generation being generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X
Baby Boomers: Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. They're currently between 57-75 years old (71.6 million in the U.S.)
Gen X: Gen X was born between 1965 and 1979/80 and is currently between 41-56 years old (65.2 million people in the U.S.)
Gen Y: Gen Y, or Millennials, were born between 1981 and 1994/6. They are currently between 25 and 40 years old (72.1 million in the U.S.)
Gen Y.1 = 25-29 years old (around 31 million people in the U.S.)
Gen Y.2 = 29-39 (around 42 million people in the U.S.)
Gen Z: Gen Z is the newest generation, born between 1997 and 2012. They are currently between 9 and 24 years old (nearly 68 million in the U.S.)
Gen A: Generation Alpha starts with children born in 2012 and will continue at least through 2025, maybe later (approximately 48 million people in the U.S.)
https://offer.kasasa.com/exchange/articles/generations/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 21:03
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Not more tech-savy... | Feb 24 |
I didn't become more tech-savy, I just learnt more about translation assistance tools and how to solve some of the technical problems we sometimes have during our work.
I think I started 'working' with computers in the mid-80s. Back then, I didn't even know what translation was, but I knew what it was like to play the game Prince of Persia 
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 22:03
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
Samuel Murray wrote:
Yes but I think this would apply to anyone working in any industry. Even if you're the type of translator who only uses Microsoft Word and nothing else, you would have picked up some tricks along the way, surely.
I also wonder if this isn't a generational thing. I'm Gen X... would that affect my answer? Gen X is the generation that started using computers in their 20s and 30s. When I was at college, there was a special subject called "practical computer usage" in which we were taught the history of computers, how a computer works, how to use e-mail, Usenet and gopher, and how to use a word processor (and being able to use a mouse and keyboard was a skill that was tested as part of the year-end exam).
Do young people still know what a word processor is? I sometimes get the feeling, talking to modern teenagers during neighbourly tech-support sessions, that they are unaware of the fact that there are distinctly separate programs on their computers. On the other hand, while do I own a smartphone (see my age... I call it a "smart" phone), I can't do any work on it. Whenever I need to do anything on the internet, I put the phone down and walk to my computer.
[Edited at 2024-02-24 09:38 GMT]
A millennial myself, I am caught somewhere in between. As in, I am vaguely aware of "word processor" as a term, but it isn't something I actually use actively. That said, I haven't even ever encountered it in my 14+ years as an IT translator. I guess, at some point, "Word" had just established itself as an umbrella term for word processors.
I also absolutely loathe typing on touchscreens, even though I am able to do it reasonably fast. Still, I cannot fathom actually working on my phone. I will definitely answer an e-mail or two if I cannot get to my PC within a reasonable time, but other than that, PC it is.
To answer the actual poll question, yes, I have definitely become more tech-savvy since I started translating. I am also extremely glad that I randomly branched out into IT translation (my main area during my training was actually economics and finance), since I actually acquired all the knowledge I needed to function as a sort of "in-house IT organization" in our household by translating. I even consider myself to be versed in physical computer networks thanks to my job, so there's that.
[Edited at 2024-02-24 18:09 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
expressisverbis wrote:
All that stuff
I still don't understand. Probably because I don't think that way (by categories).
[Edited at 2024-02-24 18:25 GMT]
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Tom in London wrote:
I still don't understand. Probably because I don't think that way (by categories).
[Edited at 2024-02-24 18:25 GMT]
Yes, the famously complex notion of there being differences between young people and old people.
You’re a boomer by age, and also by nature if their number one characteristic is feigning ignorance for reasons that are far from apparent 😂
A bit like my grandmother pretending she couldn’t operate a cash machine.
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By the time I became a translator, I'd already been chained to a computer for years as a graduate student. And I was a PC user back then, which required knowing more about computers than I really cared to (due to constant problems needing to be solved so I could get on with my work). When I switched to translating, I suppose I needed to become more tech savvy during the few years I used Trados. But after jumping ship and leaving behind PCs and Trados for a Mac and WordFast, I've (thankfully) bee... See more By the time I became a translator, I'd already been chained to a computer for years as a graduate student. And I was a PC user back then, which required knowing more about computers than I really cared to (due to constant problems needing to be solved so I could get on with my work). When I switched to translating, I suppose I needed to become more tech savvy during the few years I used Trados. But after jumping ship and leaving behind PCs and Trados for a Mac and WordFast, I've (thankfully) been able to become less tech savvy, because I don't have to deal with bugs, etc. anymore.
(Gen X) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Empty post. |
I trained as a computer programmer long before I got involved professionally with language.
So I brought the tech knowledge and skills I already had to my new profession, and found them very helpful. My "tech-savviness" is both temporally and logically prior to my work as a linguist.
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