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Poll: When translating, are you faster at typing or at dictating your translation, editing time included?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Sep 8, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When translating, are you faster at typing or at dictating your translation, editing time included?".

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Yepaolor Youayia
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 17:46
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other (it depends) Sep 8, 2025

I’m faster at dictating when the translation is from French, Spanish or Italian into my native language (Portuguese), but when dealing with translations from English I’m faster at typing…

Yepaolor Youayia
Luca Adie
 
Alexandra Speirs
Alexandra Speirs  Identity Verified
Local time: 18:46
Italian to English
+ ...
typing Sep 9, 2025

I've never tried dictating!
A lot of my translating work requires me to copy and paste formulae, trade names and the like, so obviously typing is best.
Also, working on technical manuals with a cat tool, you find stuff in the memory that you have to tweak by hand.

Luca Adie
Liena V.
Paulo Roberto
Sebastian Witte
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Luca Adie
Luca Adie
Germany
Local time: 18:46
German to English
+ ...
... Sep 9, 2025

Also never tried dictating. I imagined this would be an exercise for interpreters?

Maria Laura Curzi
 
Mario Chávez
Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 12:46
English to Spanish
+ ...
Fast typist Sep 9, 2025

We had typing class for 2 years in business high school (Argentina). So I arrived at touch typing naturally after many hours of practice. Most jobs posted in the U.S. that require typing skills have a minimum of 40 words per minute. I type 70-75 wpm.

Side question: how many of us use a mechanical keyboard?

Zea_Mays
 
Zea_Mays
Zea_Mays  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 18:46
English to German
+ ...
I'm pretty sure typing Sep 10, 2025

Mario Chávez wrote:

We had typing class for 2 years in business high school (Argentina). So I arrived at touch typing naturally after many hours of practice. Most jobs posted in the U.S. that require typing skills have a minimum of 40 words per minute. I type 70-75 wpm.

Side question: how many of us use a mechanical keyboard?


Fast typist here too.
I had to google what mechanical keyboards are. Looks like these are similar to the ones from 20 years ago, with high keys? Do they make the same noise? I can't stand that sound at all!
I use an Apple Magic Keyboard, which is really flat and requires minimal effort when typing, with the right key resistance. And little noise!
 


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Poll: When translating, are you faster at typing or at dictating your translation, editing time included?






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