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RE: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?)
Subject:RE: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?) From:"Fiona Hurley" <fiona -dot- hurley -at- gtnet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 31 May 2002 11:25:59 +0100
> By limiting the vocabulary and the syntax that may be used, Simplified
> English seeks to remove as much ambiguity as it can from written
> instructions in safety-critical situations.
>
Safety-critical situations where many people do not have English as a first
language. I would not call people "simpletons" when they are reading highly
technical instructions in what may be their 3rd or 4th language.
Having said that, I have often had to "translate" documents written by
engineers and programmers. When I say "translate", the documents were
written in English, but in a strange dialect I call "programmerese". In my
experience, those who learned English in a foreign language class often
write more clearly than those who learned English at their mother's knee.
Fiona
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