Re: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?)

Subject: Re: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?)
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 09:43:13 -0300


Gary Clark wrote:

Sure do. Simplified English is for simpletons. It is offered up as a crutch
and excuse for a failed education system (whether in the US or
internationally). If any one told me I was required to use it I would inform
that person that he should go to hell immediately.

Why? Admittedly, constricting yourself to the restricted word definitions in Simplified English could be difficult. And, like most attempts to codify writing, it's probably not enough to guarantee clear writing by itself.

However, most of Simpllified English's guidelines are merely what any conscientious technical writer should be doing anyway. That is, they are general guidelines for clear and concise writing.

Moreover, these guidelines have little to do with an audience's intelligence or education. Even a smart, well-educated audience that is well-able to comprehend a series of compound-complex sentences appreciates straightforward communications - especially when interrupting a task to find more information, or when it's important for safety to absorb new information quickly. Just because an audience is capable of understanding more complex communication doesn't mean that its members always want to do so.

--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"They pout, they pose, they curl their lips,
They miss too many meals
With their implants and injections
Only God knows what is real."
-Garnet Rogers, "Where'd You Get That Little Dress?"





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References:
Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?): From: Robert Brown
Re: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?): From: Gary Clark

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