“Learning how to” rather than “learning about” is the now well-tried approach of the annual Lexicom Workshop in Lexicography and Lexical Computing. This year’s event was held in a gloriously sunny Brighton in July. Fifteen participants from seven countries attended the course: each had their own computer, and worked either individually or with a partner during a week of intensive training on the making of corpus-based dictionaries and the software that supports this activity.
As in previous years, those attending the 2003 workshop came from many different backgrounds: publishing houses (lexicographers and editors), universities (linguists, computational linguists, computer scientists, and graduate students), software houses (software engineers and computational linguists) and research institutions. A bursary generously offered by the European Association for Computational Linguistics was awarded to Nina Tudjman Vukovic from Croatia.
Each seminar introduced and discussed a key topic, which was then further explored in practical exercises at the computer. One session consisted of presentations by three participants of their own software already in use – a rewarding experience for us all. And in the closing session, the working groups presented dictionary entries they had compiled, initiating discussions of various theoretical and methodological issues.
As always, Lexicom week was hard work but great fun. Brighton proved an ideal setting for spare time activities, from walks along the beach to an evening’s clubbing for those with real stamina.
Participants write…
Thank you very much for all your efforts to make our Brighton visit enjoyable from the social and educational point of view. I really enjoyed staying there very much and I will recommend your courses to other persons interested in lexicography.
Many thanks too for the perfect administrative organisation.
Swedish computational linguist
Thank you again for the welcome reception in your home and the very enjoyable course. I have very good memories of it and I learned a lot during this week.
American linguist
Hopefully, you, Michael and Adam had a relaxing weekend and have “recovered” from the hard week with us. I returned to the office highly motivated for future dictionary work and enriched by a lot of new insights not only into the secrets of (computational) linguistics and lexicography.
Thanks again for a very interesting and stimulating workshop!
German lexicographer/reference publisher
I’d like to emphasize again that I’ve enjoyed Lexicom very much. I think that every Van Dale lexicographer should visit it and I’ve told our team leader so. Thanks for a great week!
Dutch lexicographer
Thank you for the photo! It reminds me of the sunshine in Brighton and great colleagues. I will treasure it.
Japanese graduate student
Allow me to thank you again for the most excellent course. I can’t recall the last time I participated in a training programme that was so well-organized and informative. As I told you I particularly appreciated all the documentation and references that were provided both before and during the course. They are both useful and–more importantly–of intellectual interest. But let’s call this the dressing on the cake–the cake being the experience with and talent and enthusiasm for lexicography that the three of you offered.
I do hope that, as you wrote, our paths will cross again in the not too distant future.
American linguist from the United Nations, New York.
