9 suggestions for non-native speakers of English - UKcopy Copywriting and Corrections

If English is your second language here’s a little advice for when you write it. English is the main language in use on the internet so if you’re writing online or for print publications here are a few things to consider.

1. Never use an automated online translator

Online translators are great for translating things back into your own language so that you can understand them. They aren’t fantastically accurate but they give you a good idea what the writer is trying to say. However, if you use it to translate your words into English the results may be misleading, insulting or just plain unprofessional. None of these will make you look good. Furthermore, you know what you were trying to say but you have no idea if that is what it does say.

2. Proof read carefully – then get someone else to do the same

Simple errors look bad and don’t inspire confidence but are easy to overlook when we read our own work. Our brains see what we think should be there and not what is there. Get someone else to read it and they will be better able to spot errors that you have missed.

3. Use short simple sentences.

There is less to go wrong in a short sentence and you are more likely to be understood. Remember, your readers wont all be native speakers and may struggle with complicated sentences. Also, this is in keeping with good web writing practice where the amount of text should be only 10% of what you would put in a printed document.

4. Use either US spellings or UK – not both

There are many words (like colour / color ) that are spelt differently in the UK from the US. There are also idiomatic phrases that are unique to one or the other. Don’t mix and match these words and phrases as it becomes confusing. Think about who your target audience is and choose spellings and idiom that are appropriate.

5.Be careful with numbers

Many European countries use the comma and period (point) in the opposite way to English speaking countries. For example one thousand would be 1.000 instead of 1,000. So, when writing in English be sure to separate the thousands with a comma and use a period for decimal places. E.g. 23,056.45.

6. Don’t try and translate idiomatic phrases from your own language directly

All languages have their own different idiomatic quirks. If you translate them directly at best you end up with something confusing and at worst you have something rude or insulting.

7. Be careful about the tone of your writing

Don’t use colloquial phrases, slang, street talk or culturally specific references in professional writing. It is easy to come across as ignorant, poorly educated or stupid instead of how you intended to appear.

8. Be extra specially careful of words that sound the same but are spelt differently

This is often a problem for people who hear and speak a language much more than they read it. Words like there, their and they’re all sound the same but have distinctly different meanings. Other examples include: two, to and too; yore, your, you’re and yaw; weave and we’ve; so, sew and sow. Again, if you use the wrong one you will be understood but look unprofessional.

9. Check agreements

Is the subject of the sentence singular or plural. We say I WAS going and not I WERE going. There ARE fifty people here not there IS fifty people here. Watch out for some of the tricky ones. The people ARE singing but the data IS correct.