Clear presentation style and a very knowledgeable introduction to STE by Shumin! Great practical exercises where certainly the lessons are clear 🙂 The STE rule presentation was also a 10/10 for me and my favourite is rule 2.1: Do not make noun clusters of more than three nouns which is one of the best ways to eliminate ambiguity! If I could fix one thing that would have the biggest impact on our manuals, it would be this!
Trish York Linguistic Services Manager, Medtronic
The introduction provided a well-rounded history of ASD-STE, the types of industries that use it, and how they use it. I now have a better understanding of what ASD-STE is and how our company should be using it.
My favorite writing rule is Rule 1.3 (Use approved words only with their approved meanings.) This rule is the heart of STE. It makes consistency, clarity, and comprehension ubiquitous across all documents regardless of who writes them. It is the main rule that unifies writers with one voice.
My favorite STE verbs are Apply, Attach, Make Sure, and Show. The verb Apply has multiple use cases for our documents. The verb Attach is a great utility verb because common alternatives like “mount” are not approved. The verb “make sure” is extremely helpful in cautions and warnings, also in some procedural steps. Finally, the verb “show” is extremely helpful when I write about background processes and how things work in general.
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.
I appreciated the exercises because they helped me immediately practice and enforce the ASD-STE rules. I like the fact that they were timed. Writing under time-constraints forced me to think quickly and fully concentrate on my writing.
I will definitely recommend this training to writers of many fields, especially technical fields. The material, presentation, and instructor are fantastic. I learned a lot about ASD-STE. Even though I’ve been using this writing convention for almost eight years, formal training brought much clarity and comprehension that I had not previously realized. I now know that an aptitude for writing and a copy of the STE rules is a good start, but not enough. This course takes your understanding to a professional level.
Lauren Gelli, Senior Technical Writer Aerotech Inc.
I've worked with Shumin Chen when she was a Localization Program Manager for large projects into multiple languages. She was always very professional and confident. I would work with her again in the future.
Ulisses Bognar Account Manager, All Tasks
"No phrasal verbs" is my favorite rule. Forming phrasal verbs in the English language remains as one of my biggest challenges in English grammar. STE Rule 9.3 makes it easier for me to fully understand technical English sentences.
TCLoc Master's Student Technical Communication and Localization
Airbus is widely known to have strict STE quality checks that are difficult to meet for outside suppliers. 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
One of my favorite STE writing rules is the use of active voice. This rule is easy to implement when using word document. I like your energy when you teach and when you answer our questions. Thank you and it was a fun, clear course to go through with! All the best to you, Shumin!
Master TCLoc Programme in Technical Communication and Localisation University of Strasbourg
STE Rule 1.3 Use approved words only with their approved meaning is my go-to rule. My favourite STE verbs are “examine”, “measure” and “make sure”. I always use the non-approved verbs of “check” and “inspect” before. I highly recommend this course to other people. If most people write with STE, technical work steps will become clearer and easier for understanding.
Kevin Zhao Kai Vibration Analyst, Maersk Drilling
Introduction to Simplified Technical English (STE) was comprehensive and gave me the full picture of this technical writing standard and its related implementation processes. Rule 6.6 is something that I appreciate very much as there is a prescribed limit for the length of every paragraph. This will make the reading process much easier and user-friendly. The exercises were challenging and do take some time to get used to. Nevertheless, this part of the training session is a 9/10 for me. Shumin's delivery of the training was very clear and succinct. Her knowledge of the STE language standard spans both breadth and depth!
Mckeena Neo Technical Writing Team Leader, Thales Group (Previously, Gemalto)
Both the introduction to Simplified Technical English and presentation of technical writing rules were great and received a 9 out of 10 score from me. I have very much enjoyed this face-to-face workshop session with Shumin CHEN and in terms of her training evaluation it is a 9 out of 10 again for me!
Adrienne Brieffies Technical Writer, Alfa Laval
Frans was both consultant and trainer to my authoring team as we developed a version of STE specifically targeted for the information technology sector. His tremendous experience in the field and passion for conferring that knowledge to our writers was instrumental in our success in adapting the authoring process as well as the documentation itself. In the long run, controlled authoring initiatives are only as good as the writers themselves and the enthusiasm with which they adopt the changed working environment. I believe Frans was critical in assisting with the cultural reformation of my team. Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
Karen Toast Conger Director, Product Training & Publications, WatchGuard Technologies Inc.