‘I tried something new a few weeks ago.
I attended a hybrid conference with what was, for me, a little known entity ILETA (International Legal English Trainers’ Academy).
The academy is still in its infancy, having only launched in July 2023, but I think it has all the makings of becoming a real player in the field of legal English in the future.
To be clear, I do not teach legal English. No I am a translator.
However, because I am a sworn translator, I can (and do) translate official documents for individuals and have been approached to translate contracts and notarial deeds from time to time.
Let’s not digress. Back to the matter in hand, ILETA.
Strictly speaking, I wasn’t the target audience. But I wanted to find out more anyway, as the programme on legal English skills, law and language appealed and the price was very competitive.
What can I say? Attending the weekend conference remotely gave me the opportunity to do so from the comfort of my home and not suffer quite so much of the imposter syndrome I feared, although I think that in-person would have been even better had it been possible.
Sofia Parastatidou, ILETA’s President, brought a great measure of knowledge in legal English and geniality to the table. I felt very much welcome at the event and learnt alot about how issues such as AI are also a cause for concern in this field.
As a translator, I was pleased to see talks that were of direct relevance to me, including Anna Setkowicz-Ryszka’s talk on MT in the hands of Polish legal practitioners and scholars and Catia Lattanzi’s talk ‘AI versus EI: can legal translators and interpreters negotiate?’.
All in all, it was a conference that I would recommend to legal translators and interpreters and those who, like me, hace an interest in this field.
Let’s just say, trying something new is an excellent way of finding out what works for you and what doesn’t.
What do you think?
Want to find out more about ILETA? The link is below in the comments. Just in case you were undecided about signing up, you can sign up for free or sign up for the Bronze and Silver packages if they suit your needs better.
Pretty good, huh?