Mediterranean Editors and Translators (MET) is a non-profit, interdisciplinary association for
language professional Language professionals are individuals who support authors in publishing by helping produce documents of appropriate scope and quality (in any language). Their role is particularly important in the research setting, especially when the authors are n ...
s who work mainly with or into English within the Mediterranean area. The association's members include
translators
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
,
authors' editors,
copy editors
Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material ( copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual o ...
, writing and presentation coaches, teachers of
academic writing
Academic writing or scholarly writing is nonfiction produced as part of academic work, including reports on empirical fieldwork or research in facilities for the natural sciences or social sciences, monographs in which scholars analyze cultur ...
, applied linguists, interpreters, professional writers and more. MET offers training workshops, an annual conference, networking and other opportunities of continuing professional development for its members. The activities of the association are guided by six objectives, summarized as follows:
# Maintain a stable network and means to hold events for English language consultants
# Communicate knowledge that can contribute to improving the quality of language support services available in the Mediterranean
# Be a conduit for exchanging information between language consultants in our geographic area and those in other parts of Europe and the world
# Stimulate research in Mediterranean communities on the needs of academics, scientists and others and on promising practices that meet their needs well
# Identify local expertise in language support and help our experts share their knowledge with a wider audience
# Help users of language support services locate appropriate solutions to their needs and promote mutual understanding between suppliers and users of these services
History and organization
MET was founded in Barcelona, Spain, in the spring of 2006 after an initial, exploratory meeting the preceding autumn. It is registered in the
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...
and has a legally binding charter (written in
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
but translated into English). Its activities are directed by a Governing Council. The council, elected every two years, is composed of council chair and vice-chair, secretary, treasurer, officers for membership, continuing professional development and promotion, and a webmaster.
MET is a member of the Spanish Network of the
Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialog Between Cultures. It also maintains relationships with:
Associazione Italiana Traduttori e Interpreti (AITI),
Associació Professional de Traductors i Intèrprets de Catalunya (APTIC),
Associação Portuguesa de Tradutores e Intérpretes (APTRAD),
Asociación Española de Traductores, Correctores e Intérpretes (ASETRAD),
European Association of Science Editors The European Association of Science Editors (EASE ) is a non-profit membership organisation for people interested in science communication and editing. Founded in 1982, in France, EASE now has an international membership.
Members
EASE has nearly ...
(EASE),
Eastern Mediterranean Association of Medical Editors (EMAME),
Nordic Editors and Translators (NEaT),
SENSE (based in the Netherlands), and
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading Chartered may refer to:
* Charter, a legal document conferring rights or privileges
** University charter
** Chartered company
* Chartered (professional), a professional credential
* Charter (shipping)
* Charter (airlines)
* Charter (typeface)
* Ch ...
(CIEP).
The founding of NEaT was inspired by, and based on information from, MET. MET and all these "sister associations" support each other to further the development of the language profession.
Members and membership
MET's members are mostly based in the Mediterranean region and elsewhere in Europe, but some members from further away join because of their shared interests. MET has both individual and institutional members.
MET's approximately 400 individual members hail from over 30 countries, mostly in Europe but also in North America, South America, Asia and Africa (data of April 2019). They are employed in freelance, entrepreneurial and institutional settings and work in a wide range of subject areas including science, technology, engineering, medicine, business, commerce, finance, law, politics, art and other cultural areas. Because of the association's focus on communication in the English language, many members originate from countries where English is the vernacular.
MET’s institutional membership is a way for institutions and companies to access continuing professional development activities for their staff and to support the association’s mission. Currently there are about 10 institutional members.
Conferences
MET holds a conference every year, usually in early autumn. This is also the occasion for the general assembly of the members. Conferences tend to last 1.5 days and are preceded by two half-days of training workshops. Each “MET meeting” is named with the acronym of METM followed by the last two digits of the year. For example, METM20 was the name given to the 2020 meeting, which was scheduled for October 2020 but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previous METMs and their themes are:
* METM22,
Donostia/
San Sebastián
San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
: The personal touch
* METM19,
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
: Make it count: communicating with clarity and concision
* METM18,
Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...
: Giving credit where credit's due: recognition for authors, translators and editors
* METM17,
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
: Understanding our clients: the writing process from concept to completion
* METM16,
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
: Raising standards through knowledge sharing and peer training
* METM15,
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
: Versatility and readiness for new challenges (held in conjunction with PRISEAL 3: Publishing and Presenting Research Internationally)
* METM14,
San Lorenzo de El Escorial
San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Mount ...
: Innovation and tradition: mining the human resource
* METM13,
Poblet Monastery
Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet ( ca, Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet), is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Ca ...
(Vimbodí i Poblet, Spain): Language, culture and identity
* METM12,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
: Craft and critical vision—diving beneath the surface of discourse
* METM11,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
: Quality in English translation and editing—from research to practice and back
* METM10, Tarragona: Facilitating knowledge transfer—editing, translating, coaching
* METM09, Barcelona: Translation, editing, writing—broadening the scope and setting limits
* METM08, Split: Communication support across the disciplines
* METM07, Madrid: Building bridges, constructing networks
* METM06, Barcelona: International communication—promising practices
* METM05, Barcelona: Interdisciplinary collaboration—international communication
Workshop program
MET organizes one or more workshop days during the spring and summer. A full day of workshops is also offered prior to the annual conference. The workshops are usually developed and delivered by MET members and offer continuing professional development for editors and translators. The topics dealt with include knowledge updates in specialized fields, language issues, tools for language professionals, and business development.
Publications
MET members have written a guide entitled "The English-Language Consultant: MET’s guidelines for choosing an editor, translator, interpreter or other language service provider"; the second, revised edition is available on the association's website.
Discussions at two MET conferences have led to the publication of multiauthor, edited volumes about academic writing. In 2013, a limited group of MET members and their colleagues published the edited volume ''Supporting Research Writing: Roles and challenges in multilingual settings'' (based on a panel discussion at METM09). In 2017, another group of members, invited speakers and colleagues published the edited volume ''Publishing Research in English as an Additional Language: Practices, pathways and potentials''
(based on talks presented at METM15; free e-book).
Additional publications by MET members related to the annual conferences, including reviews of the meetings and papers based on the presentations, are listed on the association's website.
References
{{reflist
External links
MET website
Communications and media organizations
Professional associations based in Spain
Applied linguistics
International professional associations
Translation associations