Briefing on terminology and IATE training for new trainees

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On Thursday 4 October, we presented our work to the new DGTRAD trainees. More than 50 trainees attended this presentation. The presentation started with a speech by the Head of Unit, Rodolfo Maslias, about the terminology work and management in the European Parliament in general. The presentation continued with an overview of the communica    tion work and of the websites and resources of TermCoord, a summary of the terminology projects that the translation trainees will have to complete during their traineeship and it ended with an introduction to the basic principles of terminology.

‘Participating in an event like this was an amazing experience. Moreover, I had to prepare my speech and discuss it with my supervisor. This gave me the opportunity to be more confident. Last but not least, my participation in the brief introduction to IATE was a unique experience because I had the chance to stand next to the instructor and help the new trainees with my knowledge.’

In my presentation, the trainees were informed about their terminology project. Terminology is an integral part of translation work and by taking part in those projects, the trainees have the opportunity to develop their terminology skills. For this task, they have to sign up for a project of their choice (Aquaculture, Culture, Disability, Elections and Politics, Financial, Human Rights, IT and Social Media, Language Technologies, Mixed Terms, Neologisms, Trade and External Policy). Afterwards, they will receive 10 terms in English and they will have to find the corresponding terms, definitions, references and context examples in their language from reliable sources. As a next step, they will have to upload those terms with the help of their supervising terminologist into our terminology database IATE. Once they are finished, they will receive a certificate for their terminology work for the Parliament.

Later, the translation trainees attended a compulsory brief introduction to IATE, during which they had the chance to see how internal IATE works. Furthermore, they learned how to update an already existing entry and how to create a new one. Things that the trainees were also taught included how to use IATE for consultation as well as how and where to do research about terms.
Both the IATE training and the terminology briefing showed to the trainees the importance of terminology and IATE. The trainees now have the chance to contribute to one of the largest terminology databases.

If you want to learn more about the traineeships in the European Parliament, check the following links:

http://termcoord.eu/traineeships/traineeships-in-termcoord/ 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-service/en/work-with-us/traineeships
http://termcoord.eu/traineeships/study-visits-erasmus-staff-mobility-2/


Written by Ioannis Bersos, terminology trainee at TermCoord. Ioannis was born in 1992 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied German Language and Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Translation at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. He has worked as an academic assistant at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. He participated in various academic projects within the university. He speaks Greek, German and English and he is passionate about photography. His master’s thesis was on the languages that refugees who came to Germany in 2016 and 2017 speak.