Fwd: American English

[iFaqeer (SIA)]

Actually, my own experience is that Americans are often the least
aware/conscious/sensitive to either the existence or specifics of
"American English". Except, of course, for specialists that pay
attention to it--and when they specialize, Americans are often the
best at a given task.

But then, that might be true of any group of folks trying to recognize
what they see as "just plain <insert language name here>" as being a
"dialect". And in this kind of case, it might be a double dose of
that--the hirer and hiree in India not recognizing that they language
they use is an Indian dialect of the language and the person
contracting/assigning the Indian group not analyzing who they are
dealing with and/or making clear the expectation that the job will
require "American Idiom".

On the flip side, in my very humble opinion, hiring decisions that are
a bad fit are as much--IMHO MORE--the fault of management than the
person applying for the job. And it is us tech writers that bear the
brunt of it.

My tuppence...er...two cents, worth. In terms of credentials--why I
bother to wade into this one--I was an "Offshore" tech writer before
most folks here might have been aware of the term (mid-90s--before
even the dotCom book) and I lost my first job in the US to an Indian
team way while most folks in the business Stateside were enjoying
dotCom perks, too.

iF/SIA

On 12/20/06, Al Geist <al.geist at geistassociates.com> wrote:
>
> Dick Margulis wrote:
>
> > Hemang Antani wrote:
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >>
> >> I am a technical writer working in India for an Indian software product
> >> company.  I am asked to write in "American English".
> >>
> >> Can you guide me what is "American English", or "writing for an American
> >> audience".
> >>
> >> Is it about use of specific terminologies or about sentence structure or
> >> something else.
> >>
> >
> > I am curious, though, why you applied for and accepted a position that
> > requires a language skill you lack. Was this a result of a simple
> > misunderstanding or did you assert that you had the skill while
> > knowing you did not?
> >
> >
>
> There is another possibility.  The employer may not have realized or
> cared about American English or writing for an American audience,
> figuring that English is English.  If you knew "English" and had an
> understanding of the programming, then that was good enough.  It's like
> us (Americans) thinking that Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Chilean Spanish
> is the same as the Spanish spoken in Spain.
>
> Now....if everyone would just speak/write in Esperanto.
>
> Al


--
[Sabahat Iqbal Ashraf]
-----------------------------------
Cell: (510) 304 5927
Web: http://iFaqeer.wikispaces.com/
Blog & Podcast: http://iFaqeer.blogspot.com or http://pkblogs.com/iFaqeer
Urdu Podcast: http://AzadKarachiRadio.blogspot.com or
http://pkblogs.com/AzadKarachiRadio
-----------------------------------
poochha joe mainay aap ka parda woe kyaa huwa
kehnay lageen ka aql pay mardhon kee par gaya
[Asked I, your veil, what became of it?
 Said she it sits, now, on the minds of menfolk]
Akbar Allahabadi, Urdu/South Asian/Muslim Poet
-----------------------------------


-- 
[Sabahat Iqbal Ashraf]
-----------------------------------
Cell: (510) 304 5927
Web: http://iFaqeer.wikispaces.com/
Blog & Podcast: http://iFaqeer.blogspot.com or http://pkblogs.com/iFaqeer
Urdu Podcast: http://AzadKarachiRadio.blogspot.com or
http://pkblogs.com/AzadKarachiRadio
-----------------------------------
poochha joe mainay aap ka parda woe kyaa huwa
kehnay lageen ka aql pay mardhon kee par gaya
[Asked I, your veil, what became of it?
 Said she it sits, now, on the minds of menfolk]
Akbar Allahabadi, Urdu/South Asian/Muslim Poet
-----------------------------------