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J.A.W.D. Glennie wondered: <<I work for a small software company in
the US that has a number of developers that are not native English
speakers. One of these individuals has been assigned to write his
first functional spec and has asked me to help him improve his
written English. I have a good idea how to address most of the issues
I'm seeing (I have a fair amount of experience with editing), but one
has me stumped. This individual's native language does not have
articles (a/an/the), so he uses them very inconsistently in his
written English. The result is text that is surprisingly difficult
to read even though most of the text is actually pretty sound. Does
anyone know any techniques that I can recommend to help him use
articles more consistently?>>
Articles can be a problem even for native speakers of a language,
particularly in idiomatic phrases that don't seem to follow the
normal rules, but they're a real bear for people who have spent their
entire adult life blissfully ignorant of these wee beasties. One
solution that works well for some people is simple practice: explain
the principle behind the use of a particular article, explain how it
differs from an obvious alternative (e.g., "a" vs. "the"), then spend
an hour together working on a series of examples. Repeat as necessary
until the person internalizes the examples and begins using them.
Some people work better by emulation. In that case, provide a "cheat
sheet" they can paste to the wall of their cubicle that concisely
explains when to use each article, and provides several common
examples based on what you find in your documentation. In many cases,
the person can simply copy those examples; in other cases, they'll
see (due to the juxtaposition of like examples and the contrast with
unlike examples) how it works.
Some people will benefit from both approaches. Try 'em and see what
works!
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-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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