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CPD Breakdown for 2019-2020

23 July 2020 - by Hélène Walters-Steinberg

Following on from my post on The importance of CPD for translators, I have decided to publish an annual summary of my CPD activities as an additional way of holding myself accountable.

 As mentioned previously, I believe that all translators should undertake continuous professional development (CPD) activities in order to refine and expand their existing translation skills and subject knowledge so they can continuously produce high quality translations.


My CPD for 2019-2020

I decided to focus on developing my skills in legal translation as I have been receiving more and more translations with legal elements. As a Chartered Linguist registered with the French Consulate in London, I perform certified translations for the French and British authorities and work on a wide range of documents, from birth/marriage certificates to lasting power of attorneys, police records, divorce documents and diplomas/transcripts. In addition to these documents related to immigration and family law, I also translate documents that involve commercial law (e.g. terms and conditions, contracts, etc.), real estate law and civil litigation. I wanted to have a stronger understanding of the concepts and terminology in this field so I took an nine-part online course on French-English-Spanish Legal Terminology and also attended a full-day workshop on Progressing your career as a legal translator. I supplemented these courses with two books: Legal Translation Outsourced, which highlighted best practices for legal translators and the Guide pratique de la traduction juridique, which provided specific translation advice. My objective was to develop my understanding of legal practices in France and in the UK and to learn the specific terminology used in each field. Using my notes from these courses, I compiled glossaries for each area of law that I can now use as reference for future translations.

 I also attended a two-day conference for translators organised by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting where I learned more about specialised translation for non-fiction and illustrated books, how to define and improve quality in specialised multilingual services, how to collaborate with colleagues to expand horizons and how to showcase our profession.

 Finally, I worked on my technology skills, which I believe to be vital for any modern business, by attending a conference on Office 365 and a webinar on software to help translators be more productive.

 The Institute of Translation and Interpreting recommends that its members undertake a minimum of 30 hours of CPD per year. For 2019-2020, my total was 55 hours, which I’m rather proud of!

If you are interested in seeing a specific breakdown of my CPD activities for 2019-2020, you can access the spreadsheet here.

My CPD for 2020-2021

What will be the focus of my CPD activities for 2020-2021? As always, I will be continuing to develop my technology and business skills, but my specific focus for this year will be editing. I am an entry-level member of the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders and am working towards Intermediate membership. To do this, I will be taking courses on academic editing, as I offer translating and editing services for researchers and would like to further hone my skills in this specialised area. I am very interested in the Plain English movement and plan to take a course and do some reading on the topic. Finally, I also plan to develop my writing skills by taking a course on Copywriting.

 


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