CPD
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
As translators, we tend to work from home, usually alone, and despite the online networks available, we can feel isolated.
I have found public events to be a fantastic tool for improving my specialist area knowledge, meeting new people working in my specialist fields and generally expanding my mental horizons. Events on offer range across the spectrum of human endeavour and many are free.
This being the case, why have I seen so few non-academics at the events I have recently attended? Perhaps these events are poorly advertised, but it is well worth seeking them out. Not only do they provide us with opportunities as individuals, but they also give us the chance to raise the profile of the translation industry as a whole by showing ‘outsiders’ that professional translators dedicate time and effort to improving their skills.
When attending an event, particularly where there is a specific speaker, I would advise researching the speaker, their approach to the subject at hand and other possible approaches. This will give you the opportunity to engage more fully with what they say and to benefit from the event as fully as possible. You should also prepare yourself for the question, “which faculty are you in?”, if you attend events put on by a university, and the looks of confusion you will likely receive on saying “I’m a translator working in the field”.
Some events I have recently attended include:
Incremental Change – How to make it visible. (CRASSH) A cross-disciplinary look at sustainability and the environment, this seminar considered how to show trends in biodiversity on different scales and the challenges involved in this. It also covered the human element of data collection, sustainability and the environment. Barbara Bodenhorn and Rosamunde Almond.
What makes a brilliant piece of academic writing? (CUP) This was an introduction to trends in academic writing and how these trends can be measured using SketchEngine software. This analysis then influences the advice given by CUP in their English guidebooks for non-native speakers.
Multidimensional Poverty Measurement Methodologies. (OPHI) This seminar compared methodologies for measuring poverty, their strengths and weaknesses, and their applications. Suman Seth.
King’s College International Development Institute Launch Conference. This full day conference covered a range of development topics with various researchers speaking on each subject.
About writing - Fear of the unknown? Fear of criticism? An exploration of writing development for professional academics. (Oxford Learning Institute) This seminar presented a project through which Higher Education lecturers working in Further Education colleges were encouraged to write academic texts. This was incredibly relevant from my perspective as a professional translator who suffers some of the same fears as the project’s participants. Dr Rebecca Turner.
All of the above were free events, advertised on Eventbrite and/or universities’ events pages. As you can see, law-related events are conspicuously lacking. This is partly because events for legal training tend to be longer, more involved and more expensive, so I attend fewer, and partly because, coincidentally, there have not been any suitable events in the past few months (though there are some coming up).
Nevertheless, time and money are obvious issues. Depending on the location of the event, the travel time and costs may outweigh the benefits of attending. However, this problem can be mitigated by using public transport; it is possible to work on a train (less so on a bus) and ticket costs are tax deductible.
What’s more, whoever said you can only attend events related to your specialisation? Are you interested in the arts, history or bio-medical advances? I guarantee you will find something to tempt you.
I will be attending the Translation in History event with Theo Hermans on 28 November; perhaps I will see you there.
Resources
Eventbrite – You can do subject specific searches and once you have booked a place on one event, Eventbrite suggests similar events you may be interested in.
(You get the idea R.E. University pages – Google is at your disposal).
