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Can Simplified Technical English be used for various documentation types?

Can Simplified Technical English be used for various documentation types?

Remote webinar: Simplified Technical English

Dates: Wednesday, 28 August 2019

Time: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)

Register

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English is a guideline that regulates the wording and writing style used in technical publications. Originally developed for the aerospace industry, it is now widely used also outside the aviation industry, including companies in the defence, machinery, electronics, semiconductor, medical equipment, IT, and hi-tech industries.

This presentation explores the usability of Simplified Technical English outside of maintenance documentation. We will discuss industry examples that demonstrate the versatility of this documentation standard that has been in active use since the 1980s.

 

APAC Online Workshop: Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

APAC Online Workshop: Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

Dates:  3 & 4 February 2020

Plan later: 

  1. 27 & 28 February 2020.

Time: 09:00 to 17:00 UTC/GMT +08:00 [Asia Pacific]

Length of training: 2 days

Course fee: 450 EUR**

Course registration ends one week before training commences.

**Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 90-day post-training support.

Summary

Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Shumin gave us a an all-rounded presentation to Simplified Technical English. Personally, rule 1.3: To use only approved words with their approved meaning holds the key to successful controlled language implementation. Rules 3.4, 3.6, 4.1, 5.3, and 5.5 are also among my favourites. The approved verb TO MAKE SURE THAT can come in very handy for technical writers as well. The presentation of STE rules offers quite a detailed overview that includes not only language rules but good, old technical authoring principles in general. It has been very helpful for us to learn and understand the concept of STE. I have found Shumin to be very competent in STE and will defnitely recommend her course! Eric, Head of Corporate Technical Documentation (CTD), Schindler Group.

Course outline*

  • Day 1: Classroom Training
    1. Practical overview of Simplified Technical English
    2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
    3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
    4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
    5. How to use the general vocabulary.
    6. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
  • Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
    1. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
    2. How to use STE for various documentation types
    3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
    4. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
    5. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
    6. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • Graphics specialists
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Software research engineers
  • Technical illustrators
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators.

What training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Facilitate translation
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications.

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

Europe Online STE Workshop: 2-day Training Course

Europe Online STE Workshop: 2-day Training Course

Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

Europe Online STE Workshop

Dates: 16 & 17 January 2020

Plan later: 

  1. 30 & 31 January 2020
  2. 11 & 12 February 2020.

Time: 09:00 to 17:00 Central European Time [Europe]

Length of training: 2 days

Course fee: 450 EUR**

Course registration ends one week before training commences.

**Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 90-day post-training support.

Summary of Simplified Technical English (STE)

Simplified Technical English (STE) or ASD-STE100 is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Shumin gave us a an all-rounded presentation to Simplified Technical English. Personally, rule 1.3: To use only approved words with their approved meaning holds the key to successful controlled language implementation. Rules 3.4, 3.6, 4.1, 5.3, and 5.5 are also among my favourites. The approved verb TO MAKE SURE THAT can come in very handy for technical writers as well. The presentation of STE rules offers quite a detailed overview that includes not only language rules but good, old technical authoring principles in general. It has been very helpful for us to learn and understand the concept of STE. I have found Shumin to be very competent in STE and will definitely recommend her course! Eric, Head of Corporate Technical Documentation (CTD), Schindler Group.

STE Course Outline*

This 2-day Europe Online STE Workshop includes interactive training and exercises.

  • Day 1: Classroom Training
    1. Practical overview of Simplified Technical English
    2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
    3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
    4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
    5. How to use the general vocabulary.
    6. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
  • Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
    1. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
    2. How to use STE for various documentation types
    3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
    4. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
    5. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
    6. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

The presentation on rules clarified a lot of things of which I was unaware. I have a much better understanding of how to format lists with colons, when to use obey vs. comply, and the differences between notes, cautions, and warnings. Moving forward, I will be able to utilize the ASD-STE rules more effectively to write better documents. Lauren Gelli, Senior Technical Writer, Aerotech Inc.

Who should attend this technical writing workshop?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • Graphics specialists
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Software research engineers
  • Technical illustrators
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators.

What technical writing outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

ASD-STE100 Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 200 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, she found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industrial sectors ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

Simplified Technical English STE examples

 

Alibaba Cloud Writer shares her thoughts on Simplified Technical English

Alibaba Cloud Writer shares her thoughts on Simplified Technical English

Summary

Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, is a cloud computing company. Alibaba Cloud provides cloud computing services to online businesses and Alibaba Group’s own e-commerce ecosystem. As the cloud computing arm and business unit of Alibaba Group, Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of global cloud computing services to power both international customers’ online businesses and Alibaba Group’s own e-commerce ecosystem. Alibaba Cloud offers high-performance, elastic computing power in the cloud. Services are available on a pay-as-you-go basis and include data storage, relational databases, big-data processing, Anti-DDoS protection and content delivery networks (CDN).

Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to create technical content and documentation that are more easily understood by an international audience. While it makes sense to try to describe complex processes using Simplified Technical English, the paradigm shift is not always an easy one and technical writers would require formal training in STE at least.

This article shares in more detail how the Alibaba Cloud Content & Globalisation team can potentially benefit from the use of a controlled language like STE to offer outstanding local technical service capabilities to their customers. 

 

Process pain points

Existing documents are usually translated from Mandarin Chinese. Unclear information in the source language will often obscure the meaning in the corresponding English translation. To improve the quality of translation in the English text, it is therefore necessary to rewrite the content in its entirety. This is because keeping the original sentence and paragraph structure while trying to apply sound STE writing principles will make the technical writer’s job in this case extremely difficult. A crucial point to keep in mind is to ensure that all necessary information in the original document is faithfully rewritten in STE.

When everyone is required to clarify what the original content means before writing as well as appreciate the actual working principles behind, we are definitely going to see quality improvements! Alibaba Cloud Writer’s post-training feedback.

 

Based on feedback from technical writers, while writing in Standard English offers them the flexibility to keep information vague but convincing, the original technical content is not always complete or accurate. Clearly, this has changed when technical writers favour the use of a controlled language like Simplified Technical English over Standard English. Restrictions on word usage, sentence structure, and sentence lengths have compelled writers to rewrite their documents and present information with clarity and much less ambiguity. This is based on the premise that technical writers already possess a firm understanding of their products and services. In this manner, they can do away with the original formulation in Chinese, then describe the use of their products and services in a user-friendly way with the help of STE.

 

The customer’s journey

As is the practice in many companies worldwide, documents were created at the development stage before reaching techdocs. Vague wording, style, and tone of voice from Standard English have gradually influenced the way technical writers communicate with their audience in the long run. Consequently, it becomes challenging to fully distill the meaning behind technical content unless the user spends more time in reading the documentation again. This is a situation that could have been mitigated if technical writers clarified the content with the original content writers from the outset and started writing in STE sentences.

 

How the STE specification drives cohesion and consistency within technical writing teams

Because of vocabulary and writing rules standardisation, technical writers become more consistent on a word level that starts with the simple fact that they are going to use the same word whenever they refer to the same thing. This is especially important for a diverse team where the levels of language proficiencies and and understanding for technology are not the same. Here, STE may be the key to balance.

 

 

Write effective user manuals & instructions with ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English

Write effective user manuals & instructions with ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English

Quick facts

Dates: 4 – 6 September 2018

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Length of training: 3 days

Deadline for registration: 17 August 2018

Summary

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Course outline*

  • Day 1: Classroom Training
    1. Practical overview of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
    2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
    3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
    4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
    5. How to use the general vocabulary.
  • Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
    1. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
    2. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
    3. How to use STE for various documentation types
    4. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  • Day 3: Extended Writing Workshop
    1. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
    2. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
    3. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

Learning how to optimally use a documentation standard like ASD-STE100 is a substantial boost to our technical writing team’s capabilities and significantly improved our compliance rating! Raja Sureshbabu, Global Head of Aerospace Vertical, Tata Consultancy Services.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • Graphics specialists
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Software research engineers
  • Technical illustrators
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators

What training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Facilitate translation
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

Certified ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop in Hamburg

Certified ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop in Hamburg

Quick facts

Dates: 7 – 8 May 2018

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Length of training: 2 days

Early bird registration: Before 7 April 2018

Sign up early to enjoy a 20% training discount

Deadline for registration: 23 April 2018

Summary

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

All our training materials are updated according to the ASD-STE100 Specification Issue 7, January 2017.

Course outline*

  • Practical overview of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
  • How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  • Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
  • How to use the general vocabulary
  • How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  • How to use STE for various documentation types
  • How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  • Hands-on STE editing and review

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

“The Simplified Technical English course content and requirements provided by Shumin Chen were an absolute good fit with the TCLoc Master’s program. A technical communicator has to know about the existing specifications for technical documentation. Furthermore, this course helps the students to acquire new skills in order to enhance the accuracy and clarity of contents.” TCLoc Master’s Student, University of Strasbourg.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • Graphics specialists
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Software research engineers
  • Technical illustrators
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators

What training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Facilitate translation
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

The common denominator for credible & concise documentation across industries

The common denominator for credible & concise documentation across industries

TCLoc Master article on The common denominator for credible & concise documentation across industries by Ms. Shumin Chen, Principal ASD-STE100 Trainer & Consultant.

First published on TCLoc Master Blog • University of Strasbourg • 4 December 2017

Safety, efficiency, and readability are the main considerations for the use of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) in the aerospace and defense industries. For many other industries, such as machinery, automotive, electronics, IT, and medical equipment, another important consideration is to save on translation costs without compromising on translation quality. As technical communicators, navigating the tricky terrains of cost, quality, and efficiency in project management can be an extremely delicate equilibrium to maintain.

Standards

To technical communication professionals, it makes a lot of sense to use standards whenever possible to achieve similar results. However, standards in the documentation field are often disregarded. Documentation always kicks in when the product is already behind schedule, and over budget for the product life-cycle. However, we still want to stand behind what we do and make sure we provide a quality product. How does a written language standard potentially help us to achieve this and why do we need a controlled language such as STE to begin with?

Consider the following example:

Standard English:

Follow these instructions to prevent potential failures and damage and to ensure as safe and trouble-free functioning of the product as possible. Read this manual before starting to work with the filter system, familiarize yourself with the functionality and operation of the product and follow the instructions.

STE:

FOR SAFE OPERATION, OBEY THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO PREVENT POSSIBLE FAILURES.
READ THIS MANUAL BEFORE YOU START TO DO WORK WITH THE FILTER SYSTEM. KNOW THE PRODUCT FUNCTION AND OPERATION, AND OBEY ALL INSTRUCTIONS.

Which set of instructions lets you understand and complete the procedure with greater ease?

 

2018 ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training workshops in Singapore

2018 ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training workshops in Singapore

Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

18 – 19 April 2018

13 – 14 August 2018

3 – 4 December 2018

Location: Singapore

Length of training: 2 days

Deadline: Registration ends two weeks before the commencement of every workshop

Summary

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate.

This two-day professional training course is intended for technical authors to familiarise themselves with the ASD-STE100 controlled language specification through a series of classroom- and workshop-type instruction and interaction.

STE improves quality, both in the aviation and defence industries, where it is often mandatory for safety & security reasons, and in any other technical industries. 

We use the latest version of the ASD-STE100 specification: Issue 7, January 2017.

Course outline*

  • Practical overview of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
  • How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  • Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
  • How to use the general vocabulary
  • How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  • How to use STE for various documentation types
  • How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  • Hands-on STE editing and review

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

“The introduction to the ASD-STE100 gave me a nice and clear overview of what to expect in the two training days that followed. Consistent language and spelling in STE are the rules I like best. The list of approved and unapproved verbs was a nice surprise for me. Shumin gave a highly practical STE training using relevant and pragmatic examples that relate closely to our field of work.” Maikel Kornuit, Technical Author, Triview.

This training workshop is organised in collaboration with Asia Technical Services Pte Ltd, our preferred training partner in the ASEAN region.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators

What will I learn?

Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Facilitate translation
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

 

 

 

 

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop for all industries, 27 – 29 September 2017 in Ankara, Turkey

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop for all industries, 27 – 29 September 2017 in Ankara, Turkey

Quick facts

Dates: 27 – 29 September 2017

Location: Ankara, Turkey

Length of training: 2.5 days

Early bird registration: 5 September 2017

Sign up early to enjoy a 20% training discount

Summary

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

It is important that operation and management information be understandable to the target audience. Sometimes, operation information is conveyed through a less-than-optimum selection of words. The manufacturer’s technical language can result in incomprehensible operation documentation.

Course outline*

  • Practical overview of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
  • How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  • Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
  • How to use the general vocabulary
  • How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  • How to use STE for various documentation types
  • How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  • Hands-on STE editing and review

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation managers
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • ILS managers
  • Maintenance managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality managers
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators

What training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Facilitate translation
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 170 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

 

 

Customise your Simplified Technical English Workshop with us today!

Customise your Simplified Technical English Workshop with us today!

Design your own Simplified Technical English writing and editing workshop in Holland

Amsterdam, 9 – 11 April 2018

Eindhoven, 4 – 6 June 2018

Utrecht, 10 – 12 December 2018

Length of training: 1, 2, or 3 days

Deadline: Registration ends two weeks before the commencement of every workshop

Cost per participant: From 395 EUR onwards

Summary

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in such a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. Language standardisation helps us to achieve a number of benefits. We become more consistent on a word level that starts with the simple fact that we are going to use the same word whenever we refer to the same thing, so that means an improved level of consistency. The same happens to sentence structures or phrases.

Followed this course last February and truly learned a lot. Shumin is very experienced and really knows what she is talking / teaching about. Recommended for all manual writers!

– Hans Harlé, Entecst Technical Communication

Course outline*

Participants have the flexibility of attending a 1, 2, or 3-day training session with us.

  • Day 1: Classroom Training
    1. Practical overview of ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
    2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
    3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
    4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
    5. How to use the general vocabulary.
  • Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
    1. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
    2. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
    3. How to use STE for various documentation types
    4. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  • Day 3: Extended Writing Workshop
    1. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
    2. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
    3. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised technical English training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises or at our offices in Singapore.

Who should attend?

  • Compliance managers
  • Communication managers
  • Content specialists
  • Content strategists
  • Content quality analysts
  • CIO, COO, CTO
  • Customer support managers
  • Documentation specialists
  • Editors
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
  • Field support engineers
  • HSE managers
  • ILS managers
  • Information developers
  • International process managers
  • Operation managers
  • Product managers
  • Programme managers
  • Project managers
  • Quality assurance managers
  • Safety inspection engineers
  • Service & Maintenance managers
  • Supply Chain Managers
  • Technical administrators
  • Technical documentation consultants
  • Technical information managers
  • Technical linguists
  • Technical publications managers
  • Technology services advisors
  • Technical writers
  • Translation managers
  • Translators

What will I learn?

Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

  • Author more efficiently
  • Communicate more effectively with a global audience
  • Improve operational safety and reliability
  • Reduce AOG / downtime
  • Facilitate machine and human translation
  • Facilitate modular writing and reuse
  • Facilitate teamwork
  • Maximise consistency
  • Optimise product lifecycle support
  • Reduce the cost of creating and maintaining technical publications

Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.