Re: David Pogue's column - New York Time

Subject: Re: David Pogue's column - New York Time
From: arroxaneullman -at- aol -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 08 Nov 2005 09:29:50 -0500


I sympathize and agree.

Sometimes the effort to learn a second language gives you a deeper understanding of the grammar and mechanics. For example, two ladies who were in my TW graduate program were both ESL speakers/writers, yet they could recite and explain grammatical rules that many native speakers had never even heard of!

However, that does not excuse mediocre English writers--native or ESL--from posing as Technical Writers.

;)
Arroxane

-----Original Message-----
From: Caroline Tabach <Caroline -at- radcom -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 11:32:19 +0200
Subject: David Pogue's column - New York Time


The "native English speaker" is the requirement that annoys Technical
writers here in Israel.
While many people including myself are indeed native speakers of
English, there are technical writers here (and I imagine on this list
too) who are not native speakers of English, but who have an extremely
high level of English, to the extent that you would not realize that
they are not native speakers of English.
Apart from that, the assumption that anyone who was born in an English
speaking country can write English well, is as we all know, an incorrect
assumption (if it was correct, the programmers could do the technical
writing couldn't they???). Will the English of an average high school
student be clear enough.
(Anyway, we could be offended as they should take a professional writer,
shouldn't they)
____________________________________________________
Thou shalt hire native English speakers to translate thine

instruction manual.
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References:
David Pogue's column - New York Time: From: Caroline Tabach

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