Training and consulting in terminology work

Training of subject field specialists and language specialists in terminological methods is one of the earliest activities of the Finnish Terminology Centre TSK. For instance, participants of each terminology project are given an introduction to the principles and methods of terminology. These introductory courses have evidently increased the interest of the domain specialists in the project, reduced the working time and improved the quality of the work.

During the last few years many Finnish companies and organizations have also ordered the Terminology Centre's terminology courses particularly tailored for their employees. Understanding terminological methods helps the employees to improve the quality of e.g. technical documentation within the company. The teaching language is normally Finnish, but lectures in English or Swedish are also given to non-Finnish speakers.

A typical terminology course consists of theoretical and methodological presentations immediately followed by exercises. The issues include the principles and methods of terminology work, management of terminological data and use of various sources of terminology. When choosing material for the exercises, the needs and interests of the participants are always taken into account. Since there is no formal or official education of terminologists in Finland, the only way of learning terminology work in practice is learning by doing. The Terminology Centre's courses on terminology work are therefore a good starting point to anyone planning to get acquainted with terminology.

Apart from courses, the Terminology Centre also offers customer-specific consulting to those who are starting a terminology project or having problems in other kinds of terminology management tasks. The purpose of the consultation is to prevent the customers from making expensive mistakes, or from "reinventing the wheel".