atw: Re: FW: Re: ASTC(NSW) conference 2007
- From: "Christine Kent" <c.bkent@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 7 May 2007 13:02:10 +1000
Basic rule is speak English not Latin (or Greek, or Latin via French).
English words tend to be simple single syllable words that everyone
understands; Latin and Greek have many syllables and are designed to
differentiate between the working classes (the Celts etc) and the upper
classes (the invading Romans, Normans etc. )
Another basic rule is to write subject/verb/object sentences in active
rather than passive voice.
So you have:
*
a cat sitting on a mat, not a mat upon which a feline is recumbent.
*
sludge not "putrescible matter"
*
house, not accommodation
*
meat-eating, not carnivorous
You obviously do it naturally - I scanned the email you sent and can't find
any obvious substitutions. Maybe reading ability rather than literacy
levels.
Of course, if you learn to do it too well, everyone will think YOU are
dumb.
ck
_____
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
wongword@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, 6 May 2007 7:38 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: FW: Re: ASTC(NSW) conference 2007
Donald
It was late when I whipped it off last night.
I am interested in hearing about our readers and their literacy levels and
what this means to them when they come across our documents.
Does anyone have tips for us in what is particularly difficult to
understand, what can we do to reduce the risk of being misunderstood, are
their any laws that we might be breaking, is one format better than another?
What's the difference if any btwn NESB and illiterate english speakers. So
many questions
Rosie Wicket (spelling?), who ever she is wrote a lot of stuff during the
year of the illiterate a few years ago. There's also an adult English
teachers group. I forget their name but they have a website, have
conferences etc. They may have a speaker.
I think this is one of those topics where we don't know what we don't know.
Most of us have never been exposed to this issue. I just have a feeling that
some group out there may be itching to speak to people like us to spread
their message and ideas.
Irene Wong
----- Original Message -----
From: HYPERLINK "mailto:donburch888@xxxxxxxxx"Donald Burch
To: HYPERLINK
"mailto:austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 6:52 PM
Subject: atw: FW: Re: ASTC(NSW) conference 2007
Very good example "here", Irene ! Ha-ha.
But seriously, are you thinking of the literacy of the writers, or the
literacy of the readers ?
There has always been a gap between those who study language, and the man in
the street - as evidenced by the pedantic nature of many threads in this
list. Personally I feel that the average person's grasp of English has
dropped markedly over the past few decades - though I certainly don't think
of myself as any sort of expert (heck I didn't even like English at school).
But for years I've been wondering what the premium costs to "insure that you
press button A before button B". I blame American, and the fact that they
call it "English".
As if things aren't bad enough now, with the TXT generation the gap seems to
be turning into a chasm. And as the TXTers rapidly become the main
advertising demographic I expect that all forms of writing (and not just
advertising) will be dumbed down ... and in a few years we will all be
unemployable (except for documents intended for other geriatrics).
Sorry, another one of those issues which 'gets my goat'.
So Irene, are you thinking of literacy standards for writers ? Or of
adapting the writing to the target reader ? Or have you something else in
mind ?
Cheers,
Don Burch
D & H Business Services
HYPERLINK "http://www.dhbusiness.com.au/"www.dhbusiness.com.au
P O Box 1289, Chatswood, NSW 2057, Australia
Ph:+61-2-9410 0606 Mob:(0411) 259 278
SIP: HYPERLINK "mailto:98883527@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"98883527@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SIP:HYPERLINK "mailto:635871@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"635871@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SKYPE:donburch888
_____
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
wongword@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, 5 May 2007 11:22 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: ASTC(NSW) conference 2007
I'd like to here about literacy and how it is relevant to us.
Irene
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.6.4/790 - Release Date: 5/05/2007
10:34 AM
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.6.5/792 - Release Date: 6/05/2007
9:01 PM
Other related posts:
