Writing Plain English

Last two months were hectic as I was running on my toes for our product release – updating the help system, reviewing, testing the product, re-checking the bug fixes… So I was temporarily not been able to update this page (though this site has very limited readership).

OK, coming to the point, recently I came across a website www.plainenglish.co.uk . These people conduct courses on writing plain English. First it sounded a bit funny. But when I read through a PDF from their site, I understood the importance of plain English in day-today life.

Let me give an example: Have you ever read and understood any Insurance, Bank policies or disclaimers especially Subject to Market risk paragraph..?  Those paragraphs will be in such a way that even if you read thousand times, you won’t be able to get the point.

Click here to read some general guides uploaded in their site. It has some special guides on grammar notes, financial glossaries, reports, Forms, websites etc… Worth reading.

Disclaimer: I announce that I was not paid(I wish) to endorse this website and it is purely on my intention to share and spread this useful information.  🙂

Learn English

 English is most commonly accepted language for business all over the world. (Chinese and Japanese won’t agree with my statement :)). So learning English is vital for the people who are not native English speakers. There are many websites which teaches effective English. I came across one among these sites which is quite interesting.

Log-on to www.learnenglish.de where you can learn English basics, grammar, vocabulary, quizzes and games too. Moreover this site provides information on British culture, common mistakes in English, interesting facts, Homophones, pronunciations, dictations and a lot in their stocks. Check it out once and I am sure you will love it.

US English or UK English

 Today when I was commuting to my office, I saw a display board hanging in a petrol station.

 What a big deal..? That Z in authorized and the word ‘centre’ draw my attention. I mean to say; those words draw a TW’s attention.

Authorized – It’s clearly an US English style

Centre – I believe, in the US, this word is spelled as ‘center’.

So a perfect mixture of (or confusion I would say) US and UK English has happened in this display board. Either it should be

“Govt authorised centre….” 

OR

“Govt authorized center….”

(Here, I haven’t pointed out the acronym Govt refers to Government).

In India, people love to ask one common question when interviewing technical writers “Are you able to write for US audience?”

I am searching for a book or journal which discuss the difference between the US and UK English standards in detail. Any suggestions..?