The 23rd annual Lexicom Workshop took place in Málaga, September 16-20th, 2024, marking the second time this event was hosted in Spain. Both the city and the country proved to be great choices. The sunny, pleasant days provided an inspiring atmosphere, fostering enjoyable networking opportunities and moments of sightseeing.
The lectures were held at the Urban Technopole office, a beautifully designed Spanish-style building adorned with colorful walls and natural plant decorations, nestled in the heart of Málaga’s historic district.
The workshop was dedicated to the memory of Patrick Hanks, honored as the greatest lexicographer of the last 50 years. It also acknowledged the brilliant contribution of former Lexicom team members Sue Atkins (1931-2021) and Adam Kilgarriff (1960-2015) while expressing gratitude to the Sketch Engine team. This established a tone of affection and humanization that was carried on by the friendly multicultural group of 25 participants, lecturers, and organizers, despite the technical and algorithm-focused content. Professor Dr. Michael Rundell, Milos Jakubíček, Vojtěch Kovář, and Ondřej Matuška presented a comprehensive range of updated topics, including the structure and components of digital dictionaries, corpora and corpus-query language tools, linguistic data annotation, phraseology, natural language processing (NLP), crowdsourcing, and emerging technologies such as ChatGPT.
The team conveyed theoretical knowledge combined with simple, relevant, and efficient practical exercises. During practice, the organizers ensured individual attention during practice sessions, helping every attendee achieve their learning objectives. Materials, including lecture slides and additional resources, were shared daily via a drive, which made it possible to review and boost comprehension if desired. One of the standout highlights of the workshop was Lexonomy—and the revolutionary Dictionary Express. This innovative method combines automated lexicographic tools grounded in corpus linguistics and NLP with manual annotation capabilities, enabling rapid dictionary creation. Participants had the opportunity to test the system hands-on, proving its effectiveness and practicality.
The social aspect of the workshop was equally memorable. Shared lunches offered a delightful taste of traditional Spanish cuisine and provided relaxed opportunities to connect and bond with fellow participants. These informal moments enriched the experience, fostering meaningful professional and personal relationships.
Besides, our lunch meals together gave us a taste of the typical delish Spanish cuisine and were moments when we relaxed and freely got to know each other.
As someone who is not part of the younger generation and does not consider herself particularly tech-savvy, I was initially apprehensive about attending the workshop. I doubted whether I could keep up with the technologically driven content. However, taking the leap was a rewarding decision. I am thrilled to have participated, learned extensively, and made new friends.
The Lexicom Workshop in Málaga was a remarkable experience that balanced innovation, community, and professional growth.
