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6 Words that Technical Writers Struggle to Break Up With in Simplified Technical English

6 Words that Technical Writers Struggle to Break Up With in Simplified Technical English

TCLoc Master article on 6 Words that Technical Writers Struggle to Break Up With in Simplified Technical English by Ms. Shumin Chen, Principal ASD-STE100 Trainer & Consultant.

First published on TCLoc Master Blog • University of Strasbourg • 26 August 2019

Product documentation can potentially be confusing, incoherent, and ambiguous in many situations. Recognising language ambiguity usually takes months, if not longer. Several aggravating factors include:

  • A constant need to churn out or translate volumes of documentation, manuals, and working standards.
  • Rarely questioning the relevance or validity of legacy documentation.
  • Allowing unclear parts of your technical content to snowball into substantial chunks that will eventually make up parts of your “user-unfriendly” help guides.

Finally, let us not forget the insidiously familiar workplace jargon that often explains why we tend to ignore simpler alternatives that could help us express our thoughts with greater clarity.

From workplace jargon to user-friendly words

Sometimes, realising the level of complexity of one’s technical content involves an epiphany of sorts once the writer catches a glimpse of technical writing in Simplified Technical English (STE). This is true for one of our clients, who is both an experienced technical author and documentation manager:

“A training course helped me better appreciate the objectives of Simplified Technical English from a technical writer’s perspective. I like the fact that STE promotes the use of less complex sentence structures and does away with unnecessary words like: ‘would’, ‘should’, and ‘might’.”

Do we have a problem? If so, fix it!

For example, if you look up the meaning of the word “fix” in a standard dictionary, the definitions are aplenty, from “fixing a technical difficulty” to “fixing up a meal in the kitchen”. Given the many possible meanings that hold true for the verb “to fix”, one could also distil as many interpretations of the word in a sentence.

According to Simplified Technical English, Issue 7, January 2017, there is a solution for this. Instead of “fix”, synonyms such as “ATTACH*”, “SET”, “REPAIR”, and “INSTALL”  powerfully extend our understanding and knowledge of what “fix” really entails when paired with various contextual clues.

The next five words: are you thinking of these too?

Keeping in mind that these are not the only unproductive words I talk about in my workshops, they are among the most frequently discussed ones.

The word “should” usually indicates duty or correctness that points to a desirable or expected state. However, it still allows the possibility of non-compliance. “MUST”, on the other hand, makes it clear that the instructions are mandatory and leaves no room for a different reading.

Besides the roughly 900 approved words found in the STE general vocabulary, the STE specification also includes a list of non-approved words. “Would” is one of those words that is easily replaced by a more straightforward and approved STE word like “CAN”.

In the STE general dictionary, the approved word examples in the 2nd column are very useful for technical writers who are transitioning from Standard English to Simplified English. This is because they provide the writer with the correct use of words in a real-life context that would be difficult to think of independently. Here, we see that “CAN” is once again a very helpful alternative to the verb “may”. Using too many words that point to the same or similar meanings can be, at times, overwhelming for your readers, especially when documentation becomes lengthier and more detailed.  

By now, the effects of STE on everyday words that pose as potential roadblocks to concise writing are clear. Instead of “transfer”, STE encourages the use of “MOVE” or “INSTALL”. This adds granularity to your choice of verbs, making technical work instructions more detailed and easier to follow.

The preference in STE for the verb “MAKE SURE” over “confirm” is again another unique characteristic of this standard. This is very likely so because the maintenance committee (made up of a diverse mix of linguists, engineers, and translators) deems “MAKE SURE” a more fitting word with more frequent usage to back their word choice. 

What are some popular words in STE that trained technical writers have adopted to date?

We spoke to more than 30 technical writers and this is by far the most comprehensive response to date:

“My favourite 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, as well as in some procedural steps. Finally, the verb ‘SHOW’ is extremely helpful when I write about background processes and how things work in general.” 

STE as a game-changer in our technical communication landscape

Can you envision a future where STE serves as the primary language reference for content creation and development in your field? 

We would like to hear from you. Leave your ideas in the comments section below!

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.

 

Why ‘fix’​ is a useless word – and four preferred alternatives from Simplified Technical English

Why ‘fix’​ is a useless word – and four preferred alternatives from Simplified Technical English

According to Simplified Technical English, Issue 7, January 2017, having these four words at hand – ATTACH, SET, REPAIR, AND INSTALL – powerfully extends our understanding and knowledge of what ‘fix’ really means.

 

Simplified Technical English expertly divides this easily misunderstood word into specific actions that are necessarily taken based on prevailing circumstances.

Under the tutelage of an experienced STE trainer, we probably have many more ways of expressing ourselves unambiguously in technical work instructions than our informal day-to-day language knows how to recognise.

 

Find out more:

What is Simplified Technical English?

How do we apply Simplified Technical English in practice?

Which types of training are available for me as an individual writer, as a team, or as scattered teams in offices worldwide?

 

Copyright © 2019 Shufrans TechDocs. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. 

 

Middle East & Africa Online Workshop: ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop for all industries

Middle East & Africa Online Workshop: ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop for all industries

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English workshop for all industries

Dates: 27 & 28 January 2020

Plan later: 

  1. 19 & 20 February 2020
  2. 4 & 5 March 2020.

Time: 09:00 to 17:00 Gulf Standard Time [MEA]

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.

I’ve found all the rules introduced in this workshop equally valuable and applicable in my field of work. The ASD-STE100 Specification is very useful for searching examples and finding STE compliant alternatives. It was also great that we has such a large number of practical exercises. Personally, it would be more valuable to have more context available. This helps us judge how to apply STE optimally. Thank you Shumin! Your workshop was concise, clear, and pragmatic. I also liked the occasional humour! 🙂 Diane Goodrick, Information Architect/ Author Trainer, 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.

 

Instructor-led Simplified Technical English (STE) training worldwide

Instructor-led Simplified Technical English (STE) training worldwide

Instructor-led training: We offer more than just a training service

  1. Are you a manager who has to constantly worry about the varying technical English proficiency levels of your staff?
  2. As an engineer, are you facing difficulties explaining your concepts to your technical writing team?
  3. In your role as a technical communicator, do you often struggle to convert complex ideas into brilliant content?

If you answered yes to any of the above, join us at the next instructor-led Simplified Technical English training workshop sessions online:

Write effective user manuals & instructions with Simplified Technical English

Length of training: 2 to 3 days

Course registration ends one week before training commences

Shufrans’ ILT STE workshop sessions are an effective means of delivering information, as they allow for real-time feedback, questions and answers, manipulation, and changeable delivery to suit the needs of learners in a conducive learning environment. ILT is also the most widely-used method for extended enterprise training, which trains customers and partners, with an 80% usage rate.

STE stands for Simplified Technical English. It offers native & non-native English speakers alike an efficient platform to improve your technical English language competency when writing for a global audience.

  1. For technical writers: simplified wording and grammar will improve readability and safety compliance of your documentation and product respectively.
  2. For engineers and programmers: Breeze through the writing of test cases, technical documents, and business emails in a highly standardised and regulated manner. STE opens up effective communication channels, hence avoiding potential miscommunication issues at work while improving the overall professional impression that you portray.
  3. For translators, translation PMs, and localisation engineers: With STE working for your team in the background, you can streamline your preparation of translation memory/terminology based on leaner documentation, lowered translation & localisation costs, and faster delivery.
  4. For LSPs and technical writing services companies: Diversify your business portfolio with an in-depth knowledge of STE as an international controlled English language standard.

Online Simplified Technical English Programme Highlights

  1. Highly efficient: We will cover all 382 pages of the ASD-STE100 Specification in two days for immediate implementation.
  2. Practicality: cross-industry cases sharing by trainers with excellent pragmatic approach.
  3. Follow-up period: 4-month post-training consultation starts immediately after the training to ensure a seamless transition to STE writing at work.
  4. Experienced trainer: Ms Shumin Chen, Co-founder & Head of ASD-STE100 training & implementation of Shufrans TechDocs.

Our Training Service Package guarantees the following:

  1. Reduces your content development time and efforts
  2. Significantly lowers post-processing (e.g. translation) cost
  3. One-stop content quality solution
  4. Overall quality improvement.

Instructor-led training (ILT) represents 66% of corporate training and development; it reaches 76% in high-performing companies and 80% in high-consequence industries: healthcare industry, pharmaceutical industry, finance, utilities, etc.

 

 

 

Sustainable Content Powered by STE

Sustainable Content Powered by STE

Sustainable content makes a strong and positive impact, especially when implemented over a period of time. Substantial cost-savings in human and machine translation are easily achieved by simplifying your technical English content. When sentences are simpler and less ambiguous, they become easier and less expensive to translate. For end-users with a basic working knowledge of English, the idea of doing away with translations while depending on a sustainable and simplified technical language seems highly plausible.

Simplified Technical English (or ASD-STE100 Specification) is a versatile and powerful writing standard that prepares you for a future-proof content creation and management environment. Reviewing the standard manually can pose a challenge for many. By semi-automating this process of learning, trained STE writers can already start writing and editing their documents in a real-time authoring environment, supported by Congree’s robust STE compliance capability.

In this webinar, Shumin Chen (Shufrans TechDocs) will provide firsthand knowledge from the field of STE training across various industries, while Philipp Baur (Congree Technologies) demonstrates how the Congree Simplified Technical English Checker can help you kick-start the STE implementation process by allowing trained STE writers create STE compliant content in the shortest amount of time possible.

 

Missed this session? The on-demand presentation is now available below.

 

 

Smarter drilling for better value | Maersk Drilling

Smarter drilling for better value | Maersk Drilling

STE as part of your global content strategy

Simplified Technical English as part of your content strategy

Today Maersk Drilling continues to deliver operational excellence while exploring new business models and innovative technologies. Their goal is to improve safety and efficiency and reduce cost and complexity, ultimately making offshore oil and gas more competitive. This is what they mean by Smarter Drilling for Better Value.

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. To put it across plainly, STE is a form of controlled language that is guided by 53 technical writing rules that were put together by a committee of linguists, engineers, and manufacturers who established over the years that these writing rules made sense and allowed them to re-write any of their existing documentation based on these rules, making their documentation easier to understand, while maintaining accuracy, safety, and validity.

Develop, deploy, and deliver documentation with STE

STE Quick facts

Background: With the widespread dissemination of user documentation published in various delivery formats across several language translations, the relevance of global information management has become greater in an attempt to stem terminology inconsistencies, mistranslations, and the disproportionate escalation of costs associated with the maintenance, reuse, and consumption of technical content.

Year: In use since 1986

Current Version: Issue 8, May 2021.

Technical writing rules: 53

Dictionary word entries: approx. 2400 terms.

The STE specification also includes a core vocabulary of around 930 approved words and 1500 non-approved words that let technical authors write just about everything that they need for for procedural and descriptive texts. Therefore, the use of approved words, compliance with the standard, and a language quality checker tool to complement your content strategy efforts is akin to pooling your most valuable resources where people, internal processes, and innovative technologies become more aligned.

 

The role of technical authors and technical documentation managers

Technical writers are the go-between for subject-matter-experts (SMEs), engineers, designers and the end-users of documentation. Consequently, the responsibility of creating effective documentation falls on technical authors who will then endeavour to send out a clear, unambiguous, and user-friendly message about their products and line of services.

At the level of global information management, technical writing professionals should consider short-term tactics and longer-term strategies to overcome the following:

  • An ever-increasing volume of words to write and translate
  • Snowballing translation and documentation management costs
  • Overlapping information across different versions of similar document types
  • Low comprehension levels for the English language jargon.

STE in practice

If this is your first time hearing about STE, the example that follows will hopefully shed more light on the principles and best practices that govern good STE writing. Here is an original piece of text presented in standard English writing:

THE SYNTHETIC LUBRICATING OIL USED IN THIS ENGINE CONTAINS ADDITIVES WHICH, IF ALLOWED TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE SKIN FOR PROLONGED PERIODS, CAN BE TOXIC THROUGH ABSORPTION.

And here it is again in STE:

THE OIL IS POISONOUS. DO NOT GET THE ENGINE OIL ON YOUR SKIN.  IT CAN GO THROUGH YOUR SKIN AND INTO YOUR BODY.

Making the comparison between the two types of writing above, you will see that the original writing is rather cumbersome in expression. It is also very likely that the person reading this sentence will have difficulties following the writer’s line of thought because of the longer sentence length and unnecessary information included. In contrast, the text written in STE is much more to the point and simply distils what is pertinent to the person doing this work:

  1. The oil is poisonous.
  2. I must always be careful not to touch oil without protection.

From this example, STE shows us that warnings and cautions must always start with a simple and clear command that is usually substantiated by a reasoning that comes before or after.  A command informs the user about the precautionary measures to take to avoid danger. Presenting information as if it were a general comment in the original writing obscures the importance of the message and is not specific enough.

Where can I learn more about STE?

Shufrans TechDocs regularly hosts online training workshops for technical writers, SMEs, and engineers at different time zones for your convenience. To learn more about our diverse course offerings and workshop customisations that we can do for you and your global technical documentation team, speak to us today!

 

What customers are saying.. | Maersk Drilling

Jeppe Friis, Technical Inspector, Maersk Drilling Maintenance Support
“The introduction to ASD-STE100 was good and informative for someone like me with zero knowledge of the STE standard before. Rule 6.3 in STE writing summarizes the best of what I can take with me. There was quite a lot from the STE exercises to consume regarding grammar. Nevertheless, the worksheets were very good and helpful. I gained quite a lot of knowledge from them and they were the best part of this training workshop. Shumin was very professional and sharp as a razor. The best takeaway for me from her workshop is to give more thought to how I build my sentences rather than focussing on specific ‘allowed’ or ‘approved’ words.”

Terence Ong, Maintenance Systems Team Lead, Maersk Drilling
“A good 1 slide introduction on the history of STE100. Not too lengthy and still comprehensive enough to inform us about how the standard came about and who is the committee behind the updates. My favourite rule will definitely be the half rule since I can decide if I want to follow it or not. Jokes aside, I think all the rules will take some time to remember and put into practice. Interesting exercises during this training that allow us to practise what was just taught. Good that the answers were provided so we can refer back in future. Shumin enunciates her words well and is understandable, so I would recommend anyone who is interested in getting some knowledge about Simplified Technical English to take up this course with her. Having the class address the rules individually keeps us awake and on our toes!”

JD Hong, Maintenance Superintendent, Maersk Drilling ”

Good explanation with history and background of STE to illustrate the importance of using STE in the aircraft industry. Rule 6.1: To give information gradually is my favourite. My favourite verbs are DO, PREPARE, REPLACE, REMOVE and STOP.

I am now conscious of writing in shorter sentences for better clarity and getting the point across. Before STE100, I tend to include too much information for fear that the message was misinterpreted. These verbs are commonly used and I agree that the intrinsic meaning of these are sufficient to get the message across efficiently.

There were good practice sessions to reinforce the essence of the respective rules. I would most certainly recommend Simplified Technical English as a standard to maintenance related fields since I personally do not like to read instructions in a disorganised manner. “

An innovative approach to consider for your global documentation landscape

Over the last three decades, STE has emerged as a rather important and universal standard for technical English. Predictably, as a result of language standardisation, STE helps us to achieve a number of benefits. Technical writers become more consistent on a word level. This 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 and consequently quality improvements.

 

 

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.

US, Canada West Coast Online Workshop: Book your seat today at our ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training!

US, Canada West Coast Online Workshop: Book your seat today at our ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training!

Quick Facts

Dates: 22 & 23 January 2020

Plan later: 

  1. 6 & 7 February 2020
  2. 24 & 25 February 2020.

Time: 09:00 to 17:00 Pacific Time

Length of training: 2 days

Course fee: 799 EUR**

Course registration ends one week before training commences.

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

I’ve found all the rules introduced in this workshop equally valuable and applicable in my field of work. The ASD-STE100 Specification is very useful for searching examples and finding STE compliant alternatives. It was also great that we has such a large number of practical exercises. Personally, it would be more valuable to have more context available. This helps us judge how to apply STE optimally. Thank you Shumin! Your workshop was concise, clear, and pragmatic. I also liked the occasional humour! 🙂 Diane Goodrick, Information Architect/ Author Trainer, Schindler Group.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

 

 

US, Canada East Coast Online Workshop: Book your seat today at our ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training!

US, Canada East Coast Online Workshop: Book your seat today at our ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training!

Quick Facts

Dates: 22 & 23 January 2020

Plan later: 

  1. 6 & 7 February 2020
  2. 24 & 25 February 2020.

Time: 09:00 to 17:00 Eastern Time

Length of training: 2 days

Course fee: 799 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.

I’ve found all the rules introduced in this workshop equally valuable and applicable in my field of work. The ASD-STE100 Specification is very useful for searching examples and finding STE compliant alternatives. It was also great that we has such a large number of practical exercises. Personally, it would be more valuable to have more context available. This helps us judge how to apply STE optimally. Thank you Shumin! Your workshop was concise, clear, and pragmatic. I also liked the occasional humour! 🙂 Diane Goodrick, Information Architect/ Author Trainer, 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.

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.

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.