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CPD (Continuing Professional Development) question
Thread poster: Pascal Zotto
Pascal Zotto
Pascal Zotto  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 20:34
Member (2009)
Dutch to Luxembourgish
+ ...
Jan 13, 2023

Hi,

I got a request from one of my agencies to provide a list of CPD actions I took during the last year. Unlike in the US, UK, France, and Spain, CPD is not really known in other countries so I struggled a bit about what information to provide as they only provide 2 or 3 examples for a list of 8 areas + 'Any other'.

I found some information on the net but the list does not seem to be exhaustive as my client added a few areas where I could only guess what they mean. Whe
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Hi,

I got a request from one of my agencies to provide a list of CPD actions I took during the last year. Unlike in the US, UK, France, and Spain, CPD is not really known in other countries so I struggled a bit about what information to provide as they only provide 2 or 3 examples for a list of 8 areas + 'Any other'.

I found some information on the net but the list does not seem to be exhaustive as my client added a few areas where I could only guess what they mean. When I asked them for examples about specific areas as that would increase the chance for more CPD, they only replied that it would be very clear what they wanted. I then replied that it might be clear for some countries (e.g. the one they are from) but other countries do not really have this CPD thing or are only starting with ith due to ISO requirements. After that they did not reply anymore …

What I found so far as what counts towards CPD:

- attend conferences and language shows
- read reference books
- write a blog in your area of expertise
- attend training courses
- subscribe to news from industry experts
- read and interact in news/blogs/forums in your foreign (source) language(s)
- get information about new tools you can use to support your translation/QA and similar processes

Their examples stated:

Areas with their example (if any):
Translation (e.g. Freedback received from client)
Tool/Software (e.g. CAT tool certification)
Linguistic (no example from them. I guess my job as official linguist during the language reform in my native language would count towards this? Maybe writing blogs about correct usage of grammar and spelling e.g. on difference about there/they're/their?)
Research (no example from them. Maybe developing a new MT approach?)
Cultural (no example from them. No idea myself)
Technical (no example from them. No idea myself)
'Domain (area of expertise)' (no example from them. Maybe reading blogs about new medical technologies?
Any other (what could also count as CPD?)

Are there any other CPD actions and areas you would think of?

Best regards,

Pascal
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Liviu-Lee Roth
 
Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:34
English to French
+ ...
And... Jan 13, 2023

... you want to keep working for this customer why???

J L


Christopher Schröder
Philip Lees
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
 
Pascal Zotto
Pascal Zotto  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 20:34
Member (2009)
Dutch to Luxembourgish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
not necessarily… Jan 13, 2023

I have many customers and get more jobs than I can do myself so I’m not really depending on them but getting more details about CPD will help me and other translators with the same lack of knowledge to be able to answer similar requests from other customers. With ISO 17100 such requests gets more and more frequent.

 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:34
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Ask this question: Jan 13, 2023

Who do they think they are to check on your CPD? Where did they get the courage to even ask about it?

These people. Anything but...


Christopher Schröder
Philip Lees
Renée van Bijsterveld
 
Pascal Zotto
Pascal Zotto  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 20:34
Member (2009)
Dutch to Luxembourgish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
no need to ask that question… Jan 13, 2023

as it was already answered twice in this thread (it's an ISO standard requirement). First time in the question and then in my answer but this is NOT the question, so please stick to the question I asked.

There is no need to argue about the necessity and legitimacy of such a request but we simply want to know what counts towards CPD.


Thomas Pfann
MollyRose
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Nathália Oliveira Silva
Ester Vidal
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 19:34
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Pascal Jan 13, 2023

I've had the same requirement from some of my customers and for me what has counted as CPD is:

- Conferences and language shows
- Training courses (languages, CAT tools…)
- Other courses (specialist areas…)

I’ve never thought of including reference books, blogs, etc.


MollyRose
expressisverbis
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Don’t we all know the definition? Jan 13, 2023

Surely the best CPD is what you learn from working…

I’ve never been asked about this and they would get short shrift from me. I’d just say “none”.

If I wanted to, I could cobble together something along the lines of “Read a book”. “Googled some stuff”. Going to a conference isn’t CPD imho.

It’s nothing to do with countries. It’s a generation thing maybe. Whitewashing certainly. A nonsense. Box ticking.

I’ve never done
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Surely the best CPD is what you learn from working…

I’ve never been asked about this and they would get short shrift from me. I’d just say “none”.

If I wanted to, I could cobble together something along the lines of “Read a book”. “Googled some stuff”. Going to a conference isn’t CPD imho.

It’s nothing to do with countries. It’s a generation thing maybe. Whitewashing certainly. A nonsense. Box ticking.

I’ve never done any formal CPD in my life, and precious little PD in the first place, but I’m still one of the best in the world at what I do.
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Baran Keki
expressisverbis
Philip Lees
CroPro
Renée van Bijsterveld
Maciek Drobka
Kay Denney
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:34
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Even reading a book Jan 13, 2023

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
I’ve never thought of including reference books, blogs, etc.

Even reading a book count as CPD. Translator associations that require their translators to collect CPD points usually have a range of activities that their members can choose from, with certain limits on how many points from each category. For example, reading one translation related book might get you 2 points, but reading ten doesn't get you any more points. Often, webinars and similar training events count for points (e.g. 1 point per hour), again with a maximum. You might also get points for attempting a well-known translation test (even if you don't pass it), or for volunteering in translation related activities.

Some translator associations make CPD points part of their membership or accreditation requirements, although keeping track of one's points usually uses the honour system (you keep records of your own CPD and just submit a list of activities that you participated in). Then, the translator is supposed to collect a certain number of points over a certain number of years, e.g. 20 points every 3 years.

In my country of residence, collecting CPD points is a legal requirement for sworn translators, and local translator associations (and training organizations) take steps to ensure that their workshops are regarded by the government to be "worth points", to draw attendees from the pool of sworn translators.

But any translator can privately keep track of what "continued professional development" activities they have participated in, and to remind themselves to complete a healthy variety of such activities. It helps one not to forget to continue to develop professionally.

[Edited at 2023-01-13 20:09 GMT]


MollyRose
Nathália Oliveira Silva
Sebastian Witte
CroPro
 
Kaspars Melkis
Kaspars Melkis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:34
English to Latvian
+ ...
some suggestions Jan 13, 2023

I would think of CPDs more in terms how they could improve your services. What currently is missing in my knowledge, how can I learn it and how will I use it. A good example is use of CAT tools in translation process. If someone is not able to take jobs that require Trados, one can decide to get a necessary training (youtube video, a course or reading a manual), reflect on that and think how this is going to be used in practice.

I wouldn't choose learning new terminology because tha
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I would think of CPDs more in terms how they could improve your services. What currently is missing in my knowledge, how can I learn it and how will I use it. A good example is use of CAT tools in translation process. If someone is not able to take jobs that require Trados, one can decide to get a necessary training (youtube video, a course or reading a manual), reflect on that and think how this is going to be used in practice.

I wouldn't choose learning new terminology because that's what translators already do already as part of their work. But I could decide that while I have enough knowledge about medicines, I might not know well enough about medical devices and decide to read the European Medical Devices Directive to learn more about legal aspects and use of standard warnings.

A translator could benefit from learning something about linguistics too. I had a client who wanted to provide reasoning for word choices in translation. My colleague admitted that he doesn't know enough linguistics to be able to give such reasoning.

[Edited at 2023-01-13 20:18 GMT]
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Nathália Oliveira Silva
Rachel Waddington
Michele Fauble
Rita Translator
 
Vanda Nissen
Vanda Nissen  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 04:34
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
NAATI PD catalogue Jan 14, 2023

Pascal, you may find the following NAATI PD catalogue helpful. It will certainly give you some ideas.
https://www.naati.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Professional-Development-Catalogue.pdf

There are many other PD activities apart from conferences. For example, when your client askes about research, they most likely refer to
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Pascal, you may find the following NAATI PD catalogue helpful. It will certainly give you some ideas.
https://www.naati.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Professional-Development-Catalogue.pdf

There are many other PD activities apart from conferences. For example, when your client askes about research, they most likely refer to TI related publications. Spending time in a country where your source language is spoken is another example. You can also include language teaching, mentoring, business related seminars etc.
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Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 21:34
Member
English to Turkish
CPD my Jan 14, 2023

A German agency that sends work once in a blue moon asks me to list the CPDs I've completed every year. Just go to the Proz's training/webinar area and check the videos there and list a few them, saying I've 'attended those webinars', you don't even have to watch them (or you can if you like).
Or alternatively you can pay $99.99 for a Translator webinar to learn more actionable ways to write a message on LinkedIn and the use of the Send button, and broaden your horizons, take your translat
... See more
A German agency that sends work once in a blue moon asks me to list the CPDs I've completed every year. Just go to the Proz's training/webinar area and check the videos there and list a few them, saying I've 'attended those webinars', you don't even have to watch them (or you can if you like).
Or alternatively you can pay $99.99 for a Translator webinar to learn more actionable ways to write a message on LinkedIn and the use of the Send button, and broaden your horizons, take your translation business to the next level. It's up to you.
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Christopher Schröder
Metin Demirel
expressisverbis
Philip Lees
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:34
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
👍 Jan 14, 2023

Baran Keki wrote:
Or alternatively you can pay $99.99 for a translator webinar to learn more actionable ways to write a message on LinkedIn and the use of the Send button, and broaden your horizons, take your translation business to the next level...

Sad but often true. Oh, wait, the two latest trends that just don't want to die: impostor syndrome and nomad translators. But you're not buying professional development -- you're buying points. So if the speaker is funny, it's worth the money.

Apart from harvesting video titles from e.g. ProZ.com, here's another trick: the Twitter feeds of translator associations often link to translation related articles... which you can read and then add to your list. Some of them have very interesting titles.


Baran Keki
Christopher Schröder
 
Sebastian Witte
Sebastian Witte  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:34
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
What CPD activities are there? Jan 14, 2023

What CPD activities are there?
CPD that is relevant to professional linguists can take many forms – see below for a non-exhaustive list. Remember that most of these can also be carried out in your other language(s):

Courses
Professional language workshops, courses, conferences, seminars and lectures
E-learning e.g. webinars and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
Reading
Language newspapers and periodicals
Literature
Relevant professional
... See more
What CPD activities are there?
CPD that is relevant to professional linguists can take many forms – see below for a non-exhaustive list. Remember that most of these can also be carried out in your other language(s):

Courses
Professional language workshops, courses, conferences, seminars and lectures
E-learning e.g. webinars and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
Reading
Language newspapers and periodicals
Literature
Relevant professional publications e.g. The Linguist
Publications related to your professional specialism and/or chosen specialist subject area (for translators and interpreters)
Writing
Writing book reviews, blogging, articles for The Linguist or other relevant publications
Producing academic research
Listening
Listening to relevant radio and TV programmes
Teaching
Delivering teaching/training
Getting involved
Visits e.g. to client facilities, libraries, cultural activities, social and networking events
Volunteering for the CIOL (Council, committees, networks) or other language organisations
Other skills
Learning administrative/office management skills (through self-study or training courses)
Learning to use new software packages (through self-study or training courses)

https://www.ciol.org.uk/about-cpd
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jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:34
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
A professional translator Jan 14, 2023

A professional translator learns every day by translating, and their professional development happens naturally that way. They shouldn't be imposed to spend time in something they don't really need just for the sake of CPD credits.

Jean Lachaud
expressisverbis
Philip Lees
Christopher Schröder
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Lieven Malaise
Kay Denney
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 21:34
Greek to English
This post Jan 15, 2023

Does this post count as CPD?

(Hint: you may assume I've read all the preceding posts.)


Christopher Schröder
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
expressisverbis
Baran Keki
Pascal Zotto
Kay Denney
 
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