how do you get better at knowing the technical terminology?

Valentin Kokorin answered on 29 Apr 2020:

You pick it up as you go along.

The main thing for me was having a genuine interest in the topics I covered. Another thing that made it it more interesting was relating terminology back to the real world from the classroom.

I would sometimes go through a concept with myself to ensure I understood it, because I found that using the right term actually makes things quicker and easier down the line.

Sean Creed answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Over time our brains absorb new information without realising it. New words for the English language crop up all the time and are integrated into everyday life and the dictionary, technical terminology or slang is no different.

Through school, university and then learning on the job new phrases and acronyms crop up. Individual companies even make up their own acronyms all the time and they differ from company to company but often mean the same thing.

I find that there is no trick to learning terminology, just to look up words that you don’t know and continue to ask questions all the time. Likelihood is, despite how nervous and silly you may feel, if you have a question to a speaker, you won’t be the only person with the same question in the room. Just others may not have the courage to ask the question.

Paul Pitcher answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Every subject has its own terminology: engineering, science, medicine. You learn most of these at say university, but you can get really good magazines and online subscriptions. Choose the topic that you love (for me, satellites and aircraft) and find websites on those topics that interest you. Then subscribe to their mailshots and read what they are talking about, investigate any words/terminology/topics that you don’t understand.

Craig Leff answered on 29 Apr 2020:

You learn it the same way you learn other parts of language — study and repetition. You go to school to learn what things mean, and why, and how the terms are used/applied. Then when you have the opportunity to use them in work/play/every day life, they just become a part of you. It might seem scary because they are “technical” or have “too many” syllables, but it’s no different than learning terms for painting or acting or sports.

Amber Villegas - Williamson answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Hiya, I’ve been working for a while now and there are still names of things and words I can’t remember or don’t actually know. When you finish school or university the learning never stops. Practice helps, repetition (like we do with Beyonce songs – in uni I used to put notes in my bathroom so you take in the information without feeling like you’re studying. I simply explain the “engineering term” I’m looking for to colleagues and they finish my sentence and they do the same. We all still use the word thingy…hihihi

Rosina Simmons answered on 29 Apr 2020:

It comes with practice, and how frequently we read / come across the words. Humans are remarkable for learning without realising it!

Think about how you learnt what “meme” or “yeet” meant, when you first heard them. You’d have most likely read or heard them in a context that you probably just understood them. Sometimes they have to be explained to you, or you can quickly search for them on the internet and get an abundance of answers in video or image formats.

It’s very similar to scientific and technical words – the more you heard or use the words, the more easily you’ll remember them.

Charles Sparey answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Sadly, with practice… Longer answer would be to look up on google (or similar) any term or phrase you are unfamiliar with and see what it means. Each branch of industry often has its own abbreviations and terminology, so you effectively end up learning most of it when you start in the industry in question.

Conrad Manning answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Got to agree with the others on this one, practice and time. You keep learning more each stage of learning that you go up (even when you’ve left university you’re still learning).

Rob Hudd answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Hi Violet, a couple of suggestions:
1) Plenty of practice and, in the process, plenty of failure. You will be wrong a lot and there’s nothing wrong with that, we’ve all been there.
2) Make sure you really understand what your learning. It’s hard to remember technical words that don’t mean anything to you. Keep lots of notes and keep your notes tidy. If not, they will be impossible to revise from.
Hope that helps 🙂

Nicola Grahamslaw answered on 29 Apr 2020:

I think it’s the same at work (in engineering) as it is at school or just in life! Some words you learn in lessons or on courses, some words you read in books and other words you just hear more experienced people using and eventually by listening to people you work out what those words mean.
Actually, I think scientists and engineers sometimes use too many complicated words when a simpler one will do, but we all like to sound clever don’t we! But in some circumstances when a word has a really precise technical meaning, we need to make sure we use the right word and that’s where training and experience help.

Graeme Ralph answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Theres so much terminology so this is a great question, you just get used to it eventually and noting down helps alot but the main thing you need to do is ask, what does that mean? theres no silly questions but there is alot of silly terminology!!

anon answered on 29 Apr 2020:

I work in the Ministry of Defence and they love technical terminology and acronyms! Over time they will become a second language to you as you learn your subject and use the terminology more often. A top tip which I have used when I started a new role was to write down new definitions or acronyms in the back of a notebook which I carried everywhere with me. That way you can always have a quick look to refresh your memory. hope that help

Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla answered on 29 Apr 2020:

Practice and patience. When I started my current job had to learn a large number of acronyms of common use in my company (a total different language). I thought it was going to be impossible but people were really kind explaining the meaning behind a term and with time it becomes part of your day.

I still need to check different technical terms and learn new ones pretty often but I’m less worried as it’s part of the engineers’ life.

Frances Askill-Kirk answered on 30 Apr 2020: last edited 30 Apr 2020 8:21 am

Hi!

It isn’t as much of a daunting task as you might think. The technical terms will become part of your every day language – so you’ll naturally learn them and their appropriate use when describing your ideas.

If you do want to help yourself learn them, I recommend in your notebook (every engineer has one, normally filled with scribbles and sketches!!) keep the back 5 pages for a ‘glossary’ type set up. If you hear a word you don’t understand or think you might want to use in the future, write it down and find out about it afterwards!

This doesn’t just work for technical terminology! I do this for technical terms, English language words I haven’t used before and also German words (as I am learning the language)!

Rob Husband answered on 30 Apr 2020:

You learn the technical terms as you go along, the same goes for acronyms. There are a lot of terms for software and also a lot in the railway industry, so at lot to learn but fun

Jean-Luc Bulber answered on 30 Apr 2020:

Using the correct terminology is almost like learning a new language, and you build your skills up as you go along. A simple example is the hammer. Where a lot of people just see a basic hand-tool, it will need to be more specific in various trades of work. It can be a claw-hammer for a carpenter, brick-hammer for a builder, a mallet, a sledge-hammer.

It is especially important to use the right name for things when you work with others. And my best advice here is: if you don’t know, just ask. The only stupid question is the one that you have not asked. Being curious is good.

K-Jo O'Flynn answered on 30 Apr 2020:

For me, as an apprentice, it was very difficult when I first started in the workplace to learn all the terminology and just to understand what all the context of this terminology meant. But after a few months, I realised I was speaking it for myself! It’s one of those things that you learn while on the job from others and you see the context of it as your working. And then after a few months, I was going around schools already explaining what I do, using the terminology and explaining it for others to use. You will always learn new terminology. It’s one of those things that is always changing and new words are always appearing.

Katie Sparks answered on 30 Apr 2020:

There is so much of it!
Honestly, sometimes I forget some of the terms, but the ones you need often you pick up pretty quickly just by using them and others you can look up.
It’s the same as learning most things, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Simon Porter answered on 30 Apr 2020:

As others have said – Practice.
However, you can also cheat by creating a list of commonly used words or phrases that you struggle to remember – keep it on hand and you’ll always now what you’re talking about…!

To be honest, knowledge of technical terms comes from understanding what they mean. It is much easier to know what a ‘left-sided thingamewhatsit’ is once you know what it does, and this comes from experience working in the field surrounding left-sided thingamewhatsit’s.
Think of it like learning anything – no-one is born knowing how to walk, it takes time and practice to get the hang of it. The more technical terminology you experience the more you’ll ‘just know’ what it means without even realising.

The important thing is – if someone is using a term you do not understand, ASK THEM TO EXPLAIN IT! Do not carry on in ignorance, because ignorance is not bliss 🙂

Jeni Spragg answered on 30 Apr 2020:

I just recently started a new job, and so I had to tackle exactly this challenge. It can be difficult to learn all the terminology when it’s just words on a page, but I’ve found it’s much easier when you start using it. For example, explaining it to someone else can help it to stick in your brain.

It also helps to just get stuck in, and to not be afraid to ask questions or look silly for not knowing the right word. Sometimes you might not know the exact terminology to use, but you might be good at explaining it another way. Really good engineers are often the ones who can talk senior managers without using any technical terminology at all.

Over time, you naturally pick up all the right terminology and you find yourself speaking a whole new language without even meaning to!

anon answered on 30 Apr 2020:

You get to understand and learn it over time, sometimes even when qualified and an experienced engineer you hear terminology you don’t understand, and I often find myself looking further into it to get my head around it’s meaning. All engineers cannot know everything as there is simply too much to remember all at once, so there is no need to be ashamed and worry about not knowing the terminology.

Andrew Mathieson answered on 30 Apr 2020:

You find you pick it up by reading and listening to others around you. Much of the general terms you will have learned at university; these give you the starting point, on top of these every job has it’s own set of specific terms. But these specific terms always relate to specific things, so by learning about what the things are, how they work and how they interact, you naturally learn the terminology for them too.

Rohin Titmarsh answered on 1 May 2020:

Most of it is practice, and there’s lots of useful videos on youtube etc that can help explain things to you. Those proved really helpful when I was learning, as most people that are into engineering are visual learners, so reading things from a book doesn’t get us as far as actually seeing something or having a demonstration

Owen Jeffreys answered on 2 May 2020: last edited 2 May 2020 7:01 pm

Hi Violet, I’m so glad you asked this question. I know it can be very scary hearing lots of technical terminology, but please don’t let this scare you aware from engineering. Engineering is a subject which seems to be full of terminology and acronyms and if this is of any comfort to you, I am also hearing and learning new things everyday.

I would love to tell you there is a magic way to learn things, but that would simply not be true. Everybody learns in different ways and so everybody will have different tips and tricks to help you remember terminology and acronyms. Some people learn things better by listening, some people learn better by watching, and other by writing and so on. So this really depends on your favourite way of learning that works best for you. I am a very “visual” learner, so I like to see the things that I am trying to remember, so I might draw a little picture to help me remember what the thing is. Then next time I am trying to remember, that little picture will pop into my mind and help me remember. Maybe this will work for you, but maybe you have a very vivid imagination and learn better by hearing the terminology being explained and prefer to visualise it in your head. If you can, try and choose a fun way of learning and it will inspire you to learn more. Once you’ve decided on your best method of learning, you just need to practice, practice, practice. Keep reciting it in your head, or keep drawing your pictures, or listening to that video and the more you use it, the more you will remember it. When you use it on a regular basis, you will find that you just remember it naturally.

So, why not have a go now. Look up a couple of new words and draw a picture or write something down about it. Keep looking at it everyday, and by the end of the week I can guarantee that you will have learned something new 🙂

Thank you so much for asking this question Violet, I hope you have fun learning some new things next week 🙂

Kirstin Rouse answered on 17 May 2020:

It’s definitely something that you pick up over time but there are so many terms. Engineers love acronyms as well and learning those can be a bit of a struggle but you do pick them up as you go along. And if you don’t know what one means or stands for, just ask 🙂

Question: how do you get better at knowing the technical terminology?

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