LKTeam Days – September 2023 edition – and more CPD
A view over Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough, Rochdale
The next in LKT’s series of Team Days rolled around in mid-September, giving the team a chance to catch up at its Middleton base and enjoy two days of valuable CPD. In line with our ISO certification and qualifications (as Members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, plus Chartered Linguists with the Chartered Institute of Linguists), we are dedicated to ongoing learning that covers all kinds of disciplines, from English writing skills to study of the kinds of technical subjects our texts deal with. In our Team Days, we also extend these learning opportunities to our freelance partners through a series of presentations, put together entirely in-house and delivered at no cost.
Team members Jenny and Siobhan came down from their respective bases in Durham and Edinburgh to reunite with Louise, Catherine and Eveline in the Middleton office and kick off the latest round of presentations (but not before enjoying some lunch together and catching up on life!). To start things off, Catherine launched a discussion with the in-house team and freelancers on resources for creating a CPD plan. Catherine began with a few suggestions of her own and then opened the floor to the attendees, prompting everyone to share useful websites, courses and books they had benefited from. The discussion was useful and collaborative, in keeping with LKT’s aim to make everyone – in-house team members and freelance partners alike – feel part of the same team.
After a short break, everyone got together again for Jenny’s talk on handling legacy data, a task that can be particularly tricky when dealing with customer translation memories that contain huge quantities of data, often from multiple sources. Jenny emphasised the importance of making changes that added genuine value (by reflecting customer specifications, for example) while avoiding purely preferential changes, something that could lead to inconsistent TM data. Rounding off the session were some practical examples that the attendees examined in breakout groups, leading to useful discussions about customer requirements and areas where queries might need to be raised.
The next day, it was Siobhan’s turn to address the attendees, this time in a presentation structured around the “LKTips” we share on social media: a series of hints and tips on the translation process and things to watch out for in German source texts. The presentation itself was followed by a practical revision exercise that allowed the attendees to apply the tips they had learned to a translated text (on the subject of Manchester, no less!) and identify areas for improvement.
All that work makes a team hungry, so the next stop was the Lake Lounge restaurant in nearby Littleborough for a spot of lunch – and a post-prandial stroll round the inspiration for the restaurant’s name, lovely Hollingworth Lake.
Manchester was truly the place to be for CPD in mid-September: following the in-house sessions, on Saturday Louise and Siobhan ventured over to the Chamber of Commerce location in the city centre for a mini-conference hosted by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. Titled “One Day in Manchester”, it presented a series of talks and discussions on a range of subjects – editing, copywriting, grammar and précis writing – by seasoned experts. It also provided a welcome opportunity to catch up with other translators in person and meet some new faces. Just as the LKTeam Days showed, there’s nothing to beat getting together in a group when it comes to CPD!