Thank You from new tech writer

[Leonard C. Porrello]

What Kevin say is true (and PC), and I agree with Gene's point that one
doesn't have to be a non-native speaker to write poorly. It is not too
far a stretch to think that anyone with a writing talent who is fluent
in a given language--if trained--can learn to write without obvious
colloquialisms. But I still need convincing. How do the docs that come
out of India (for your company) stack up against the docs that come out
of Canada?

Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard.porrello=soleratec.com at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard.porrello=soleratec.com at lists.techwr-l.c
om] On Behalf Of McLauchlan, Kevin
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 1:36 PM
To: Bastette; techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: RE: Thank You from new tech writer

On Behalf Of Bastette observed:

> The woman who had my job before I was hired two years ago is Indian.
> I am still rewriting sections of the manuals that say things like,
> "Click the button 'OK' to confirm." I change this to "Click the OK
button
> to confirm". (I remove the quotes around "OK" and bold it instead.
> That's not a language issue, I just prefer bolding to quotes.)

For a well-educated Indian person raised with/in English, my bet is that
you (or somebody) could have done an editing pass ONE TIME, pointing out
your observation in the comments, and it would have been immediately
corrected and never appeared again.
 
> There are also many misuses of articles (articles used where there
> shouldn't be one, and missing articles where there should be one).
> Incorrect prepositions pop up occasionally, too.
> 
> Her writing is clear enough to be understood, but it doesn't sound
like
> the English any American I know would speak. (Or, as far as I know,
like
> any other native-English speaker.)

These points are better support for the argument, I agree. In this case,
clearly the woman was rusty, or had a more colloquial education in
English - that might have been overcome-able with a quick brush-up... or
not. Either she'd quickly catch on if a few instances were pointed out
to her, or she's not really cut out to be doing English technical
writing.  You and I will never know.

I've coached engineers and at least one Product Manager (who started as
an engineer at this company) and they've successfully gotten past some
oddities and bad habits in their written English. In all cases, they
just didn't realize that this-or-that written mannerism was
grammatically or otherwise jarring. Mostly, if the person has the basic
capability, it's just a matter of pointing out what's wrong and
explaining why it's wrong and why 'your' way is better.  By the way, the
people I'm talking about in this case are Canadian-born native English
speakers. They didn't happen to be from India or anywhere else outside
these borders.

So, I guess I'm saying that the important qualification is not where
somebody comes from.

Kevin
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission 
may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected 
from disclosure. If you have received this communication in 
error, please notify us immediately by replying to this 
message and deleting it from your computer without copying 
or disclosing it.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats
or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007

Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
Leonard.Porrello at soleratec.com.

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe at lists.techwr-l.com
or visit
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/leonard.porrello%40so
leratec.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join at lists.techwr-l.com

Send administrative questions to admin at techwr-l.com. Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.