Our university introduced its first terminology courses in 2014, but its first contact with the field of terminology was in 2013 when Gigi Mihăiță was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the annual students’ translation contest, open to students enrolled in translation and interpreting. IATE and TermCoord have occupied a central place on our terminology course since its inception, both as sources of information and as reliable teaching material. More specifically, during lessons we would often browse IATE or take a look at TermCoord’s website for the latest videos and interviews. The interviews with Georgeta Ciobanu and Rodica Caragia were among the first we watched, as so many of our translation and interpreting students come from the Republic of Moldova. One of the deliverables assigned to the students was to compile a glossary made up of terms selected from IATE (with English as the source language and Romanian as the target). Students had the freedom to choose a specialised terminological domain and were told the number of entries to be included in the glossary.
Our aims in starting this terminology course were to raise students’ awareness of the importance of terminology in translation and to equip them with the skills needed for terminological tasks, such as using a concordancing program for term extraction. I decided that a visit to TermCoord would be beneficial to the students, as it would provide them with a greater insight into the work carried out by the unit, giving them the chance to get some real hands-on experience and see terminological processes in action. I started to explore the possibility of visiting TermCoord and duly prepared and sent off an application to request financing for a study visit. With funding secured, I contacted representatives at TermCoord, who were very receptive to my proposal. We then began the student selection procedure and started to prepare for the visit. Upon arrival, we met wonderful people who were eager to share their expertise and involve us in the projects they were running. We would like to express our gratitude to Rodolfo Maslias, Viola Laçi-Pongrácz, Clara Machado, Mercedes Mosquera Gonzalez and Ida Mareckova.
The aims of the visit were to put students in contact with expert terminologists, to allow them to learn how terminological work is conducted, to explore traineeship opportunities for graduates wishing to develop a career in terminology, and to discover the new methods used in terminology research and management. Our supervisor for the duration of the visit was Viola Laçi-Pongrácz, who helped us conduct terminological documentation work and familiarised us with TermCoord’s term research process.
We also eagerly embraced the opportunity to get involved with a new cultural terminology project that the unit will shortly be embarking upon. Finally, we visited DG TRAD’s Romanian Translation Unit, where we met a passionate team of professional translators. Our hosts Otilia Dragomir, Adriana Zeciu, Ciprian Dumea and Horațiu Nickel presented the unit, the work it carries out and the tools its translators use every day. Overall, our study visit to TermCoord was a hugely beneficial and enriching experience that broadened our horizons.
Participants:
- Diana Alexandra AVRAM
- Alexandra Maria GEAMĂNU-GRUIAN
- Crina HERȚEG
- Alexandru VINȚAN
Written by Senior Lecturer at University of Alba Iulia, Crina Herteg, Ph.D.