Simplified Technical English is an important topic for our industry. I've enjoyed learning about all the rules of STE summarised into bite-sized information over the course of 2 training days. The quality of this training has been exceptional!

Dr Frans Wijma is a very professional and knowledgeable expert in the field of aircraft engineering and aviation documentation, especially ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English and S1000D. He is also a great teacher who knows how to inspire a group of people across cultural boundaries, always having an open mind and the determination to make everybody perform as best they can. It is amazing how he can help us to convey complex technical content in a very clear and crisp way. Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity

Shumin possesses an in-depth knowledge of the English language and of Simplified Technical English (STE). We covered a lot of ground in the area of STE within a short time!

The course was intellectually challenging and stimulating. "Less is more" as an STE principle is something that I quite like :). For a beginner, there is quite a lot of material to process, and study in a short time. On the plus side, Shumin presented the material intelligibly and gave sufficient number of examples during her lectures. Her presentations were very well-prepared, and I enjoyed her classes. 🙂

I found all the STE rules to be highly beneficial for my work and certainly look forward to start applying Simplified English rules by using the ASD-STE100 specification. The two-day workshop conducted by Shumin has taught me how to use the STE rules correctly and apply them in the appropriate context. Everything has been explained very clearly.

The trainer was extremely knowledgeable and personable. She worked with us to resolve concerns and find creative solutions to challenging word choice suggestions. My preferred STE rules include: Limited accepted words in the vocabulary, limited length of sentences, and only using words for the approved meaning. A lot of writing, especially descriptive writing, can be verbose and cumbersome. It seems to me that sometimes engineers use fancy words to sound smarter or to show how complex or advanced the technology is, but that is not always helpful to the average user. As a user, I appreciate simple and clear instructions and explanations. I am hopeful that STE will let me write simply and clearly for our users. Thank you, Shumin! I really enjoyed the presentation and learning more about STE and how to use it.

I love how you can apply the concept of STE to many industries whether or not you choose to work as a technical writer. Shumin was very clear in her instructions and it's too bad I could never catch up on time to review her entire courses and pose questions "in real time". The rules concerning the technical verbs and names + the categories for the different exceptions makes STE a very flexible standard that responds to the needs of specific users.

The introduction was a good and concise way to familiarize yourself with STE basics. I’ve a background in plain language, so for example the rule on noun clusters makes perfect sense. I’m all about simplification, so substituting verbs like “eliminate” for verbs like “remove” or “stop” will be my new quest. The STE exercises were helpful in getting to grasp with STE during the training workshop. I'd very likely recommend this course to anyone planning to introduce STE as it’s got a great practical angle.

Rules about noun clusters (no more than 3 words, use of hypens and use of articles/demonstrative adjectives) and sentences (use of short sentences with a max. of 20 words without contractions and write only one instruction per sentence, but also use of vertical lists and connecting words) are definitely my favourite ones! The first session with you was interesting and carried out well! Overall, however, you did a very good job, rescheduling the assignment until we finished the TCTrainNet course, and I enjoyed attending your live meetings!

The introduction to ASD-STE100 has offered me some helpful insights into the theoretical background of this technical language standard. The STE rules are governed a logical flow of technical information. I would certainly recommend this course to writers who are interested in changing the way of technical writing with buy-in from the company. Overall, I have enjoyed Shumin's presentation!