Terminology is actually interesting?!?
Well, it is, now that I'm retaking the course, and have changed my research subject from metal to larp. Metal is far too broad - got the whole thing fucked up, and didn't realize it, which appears to be what made it so horribly dull last year.
What am I blathering about? Well, y'see, it's a mandatory course - Terminology for Translators. It's all centered around a big project, which is to take 15 concepts in a certain field, find terms linked to them in English and Dutch, and create a termbase. (Glossary - a concept is basically what Plato calls an Idea, it's the default of a certain thing or action in your mind (like - it's a big mammal with spots and horns and goes 'mooo'). A term is the word connected to that concept (like 'cow', or 'bovine', or 'koe'). A termbase is a database of concepts and their linked terms.)
Last year, I chose metal as my field, and managed to royally fuck up. This time, I chose larp, which is looking quite good. I did narrow the field down to British and Dutch larping, because I just figured out (from looking at websites) that Americans either don't HAVE concepts (like rule-related things, and words specific to the field) that go beyond the scope of one single organization, or they think those concepts are well-known enough that they don't need to be published online (making them useless for a project that needs documentation). Fortunately, the British live up to the stereotype and appear to be well-organized, rule-loving people. With websites. Yay.
Terminology research is actually proving to be interesting. How refreshing.
Also, this means I can call my visit to the Midwinterfair a research excursion.
...What? I need brochures. Documentation. Gathering data, people. Perfectly legit. :-P
What am I blathering about? Well, y'see, it's a mandatory course - Terminology for Translators. It's all centered around a big project, which is to take 15 concepts in a certain field, find terms linked to them in English and Dutch, and create a termbase. (Glossary - a concept is basically what Plato calls an Idea, it's the default of a certain thing or action in your mind (like - it's a big mammal with spots and horns and goes 'mooo'). A term is the word connected to that concept (like 'cow', or 'bovine', or 'koe'). A termbase is a database of concepts and their linked terms.)
Last year, I chose metal as my field, and managed to royally fuck up. This time, I chose larp, which is looking quite good. I did narrow the field down to British and Dutch larping, because I just figured out (from looking at websites) that Americans either don't HAVE concepts (like rule-related things, and words specific to the field) that go beyond the scope of one single organization, or they think those concepts are well-known enough that they don't need to be published online (making them useless for a project that needs documentation). Fortunately, the British live up to the stereotype and appear to be well-organized, rule-loving people. With websites. Yay.
Terminology research is actually proving to be interesting. How refreshing.
Also, this means I can call my visit to the Midwinterfair a research excursion.
...What? I need brochures. Documentation. Gathering data, people. Perfectly legit. :-P