The stalk that electronic engineers can't run away from - English

During my 4 years of work in university laboratory, I have met many students with poor knowledge of English, and also saw limitations in professional development caused by this.

In this article, I hope to use my simple understanding to analyze how we in electronics industry can become power electronic engineers.

At same time, I will also talk about some ways to learn professional English and improve speed of reading English materials, as well as give tips so that you are not intimidated by English materials.

Software in English

Kayle MDK4

Allegro PCB

Almost all direct development programming tools, IDE software, and EDA software are mostly in English, and some even Chinese directories are not allowed.

Of course, some programs support Chinese, and there are also Chinese versions, but did you know that results of checking information do not match English description in information?

English code

Almost forgot about this, except that Chinese will provide code comments in English when creating development board information, even if code is written by Chinese, code itself is also in English.

And I don't think any non-entry level engineer would use Chinese pinyin for a function name, it's really too low.

Don't tell me about Yi language... After all, Yi language does not yet have an ecosystem, and various anti-software is still hunting for compiled software, and it cannot be used for embedded programming for everything.

In addition, MCU and its peripheral sensors have manufacturer-provided drivers and routines, and code comments, READMEs, and other explanatory documents on code hosting websites such as github are all in English. Well, except for STS. The project's README document on github.

Manual and technical data in English

Chip passport catalog

By my own inaccurate estimate, 95% of ICs currently on market do not have official Chinese specs from manufacturers, and generally those with Chinese specs are our own domestic companies as well.

Even if there are translations, this is a type of chip that has become so common that it is no longer found, and most of them are reference chips used in teaching in schools or education and training companies.

Instructions, such as data sheets or basic protocols, are best documents to describe a device or technology. If you cannot read them, it will be difficult for you to deeply understand programming or use of these devices.

English website

Often when our technology reaches a certain level and we start using advanced or partial technology, we find that tools and materials we use are hard to find on domestic websites. we are not looking for what we want.

If you don't currently use Google, Bing is also very easy to use. Copy English keywords you want to search for and select English option from results. In fact, this is last way to find information you need. .

But it is obvious that information found will also be in English, and most of them will be associated with official website of the project or foreign forums.

There's too much said and too many examples, and it can be a bit verbose just to tell everyone that as an electronics engineer, English should be inseparable from what you do every day.

Of course, if you want to say that I learned from Chinese materials, then I can only say that what you see is always technology that others have played poorly and that has appeared over many years.

Electronics is an industry with fast product updates and constantly updated technologies. If you're always behind curve and you still have a few years left, then you might not even be able to drink soup.

How to learn English as a major

I think that as a teenager who is usually accepted to university, no matter how bad your English is, you won't be able to understand even most basic grammar. If you want to say that you can't even:

Hi, how are you?

I'm fine, thanks, and you?

Blah blah blah

If you don't understand such English words and grammatical structures... then you should first learn more English or consider changing industries or something.

However, I believe that most students can still understand above paragraph in English, so let's continue.

Just like example I wrote above, I think that if you want to be able to slowly read English material in industry, your English needs to be above that. The only thing left to do is to do something similar to following methods Use and accumulate.

1. Download English translation software first

I use local translation software and we are not professional translators. I cannot and have not compared translation accuracy of various translation software on market, but for us, as long as it is a normal translation software, it is enough.

Search when you encounter a word you don't know where you don't know where to look. It doesn't matter if you can't remember it once, you can take notes if you want, it doesn't matter if you don't want to, after a long time you will naturally remember it if you search more times, what? Are you asking me what if I can't search that many times? It just goes to show that this word doesn't come up often, so you don't have to memorize it so hard, right?

2. Please use English version of software

As mentioned above, 90% of software we use in this industry is only in English, although in recent years, due to strength of our country and development of industry, foreign manufacturers are gradually paying attention to Chinese support. However, in professional language, many proper namesThey have been translated into Chinese and you cannot understand them yourself.

For example: for words like region, Chinese culture has influenced our understanding of their own meaning. In addition, related software troubleshooting guide found on Internet is also written in English, so you will not be able to match software installed in Chinese. Is English in software really terrible? not at all.

Take Keil, for example. We, generation that grew up with Windows, need to understand menu structure very clearly. As long as you study a little, you will soon memorize position and function of each option, so is pure English interface affecting us at this time?

Obviously it doesn't exist anymore and at same time you learned terms like open file, open project, debugging, target option etc before you know it and speed of learning other software will increase. a lot of.

3. Use English names for functions and variables, etc.

In lab, I saw many students write programs and use pinyin to name functions and variables. I want to say that this is very small.

It's not that I don't like Chinese, I really like Chinese classical literature and Chinese character culture, but that doesn't apply in programming industry! So even if you don't know what English name of function you want to write is, open a dictionary, translate it, and fill it out.

4. Don't be afraid, accumulate quietly

There are some repetitions between this and previous one, but let's talk about it. When we see English data manuals or English operations, we should not be afraid and worry that we do not understand them. We should remember that there is no English language that cannot be read with a dictionary.

We search over and over again and repeat in memory, and slowly and naturally we will memorize professional words that are often found in industry, and your level of English will gradually improve.

Skills for fast reading in English

1. Databook

For many beginners, reading data manual is a disaster for them, and they struggle to find Chinese version of manual.

However, Sao Nian, how can there be so many people translating data manuals for you every day for free, maybe some common ICs also have Chinese versions.

But there are almost no specifications for transistors, MOS lamps, LDOs and DCDCs. What to do?

Maybe look at someone else's routine? What if you are not sure about correctness of what they provide? So most reliable thing is to read official registration certificate yourself.

Oh, by way, I also found that for many students, searching in ddatabooks means copying their names in Baidu and adding them to databook searches.

Here I want to teach you that data guide has a dedicated data guide website, don't use Baidu to search.

Here are some frequently used websites:

all data

data archive

Sufficient for most chips.

In fact, all datasheet manufacturers adhere to some fixed formats when writing, let's analyze this using MP1584 switching regulator as an example.

First of all, on first page, things like this are usually placed on first page:

1.description (description)

This describes what an IC device is, what technology is used to achieve what function, and some technical parameters.

2.function

This item shows some of most important key parameters of chip, such as input and output voltage range and packaging.

3. application

This item is recommended by manufacturer for IC applications. At this stage, while everyone is reading first page, they usually know what a chip is and also have an idea of ​​its main characteristics.

As for content of other pages, it depends on manufacturer, and you need to learn on your own as you read.

But don't forget to read manual for chip, don't read whole article, just search for what you want to find.

For example, if you want to know how to use this chip, how to connect this chip, obviously quickly scroll through picture, as long as it is a normal manufacturer, it will show you a typical application diagram. chip.

For another example, if you want to know some electrical characteristics of an IC, then obviously refer to position of table, and it should be about that.

In short, meaning of handbook is to let users clearly understand IC device, and its writing should be in line with human reading habits.

This experience of reading data manuals is sometimes hard to describe, and anyone reading this naturally understands their procedures.

2. Website in English

Not only for most children's shoes, but for me, a large area of ​​English is very controversial, even if compared to dictionary, reading speed is too slow, there is actually a very fast reading about this way of reading. .

For example, in data guide above, copying content and putting it into a dictionary for long-term translation is definitely not possible for most translation programs, and translated content is neither smooth nor accurate.

But even so, it will give you a rough idea of ​​the overall content of entire article. At this time, if you go back to original English material, you will find that your reading speed has greatly accelerated.

For website, method I use is to use browser to translate entire site. Once we get a general idea of ​​all content, we will be much less afraid and annoyed about English materials and have a better understanding of general content. Grasp, our reading and comprehension speed will naturally be accelerated.

When it comes to website translation, there are currently many methods, such as plug-ins, and you can find one that suits you best.

Overview

At end, I said so much and also talked about many skills, but in end, best and easiest way to still improve your level of English. For college students, this level is at least level of passing SET-4, this is really important.