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In today’s globalised world, clear and concise technical documentation isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s a necessity. That’s where Simplified Technical English (STE) comes in, providing a set of clear writing rules and a controlled vocabulary to ensure your message is understood by everyone, regardless of their native language or technical expertise.

While many training programmes adopt a broad, less individualised approach, potentially leaving participants to navigate the complexities of STE implementation in relative isolation, Shufrans TechDocs has, since 2006, championed a more refined educational experience. Our approach is rooted in the conviction that learning & mastery of the STE standard flourishes within intimate, small group settings, complemented by the assurance of comprehensive post-training support.

At Shufrans TechDocs, we believe there’s a better way. Since 2006, we’ve championed a more human-centred approach to STE training, built on the power of small group learning and unrivalled post-training support.

The Deliberate Distinction: Personalised Learning in Focused Groups

We consciously move away from the paradigm of expansive online cohorts, favouring instead online STE training limited to a carefully considered maximum of five participants. This deliberate selectivity cultivates an environment where learning becomes a more nuanced and interactive process. Within these focused groups, participants can expect:

• Direct and Personalised Attention: With fewer participants, you’ll have ample opportunity to interact directly with the instructor and get your specific questions answered in detail.
• Relevant Discussions: The smaller size fosters a more collaborative environment where we can delve into examples and scenarios that are directly relevant to your industry and needs.
• A Supportive Learning Space: Feel comfortable asking questions, sharing challenges, and learning from your peers in a more relaxed and engaging atmosphere.
• Tailored Insights: Where possible, the content and examples can be adapted to the specific backgrounds and requirements of the individuals within the group, ensuring the training is truly impactful.

We understand that the learning journey doesn’t end when the training session concludes. That’s why Shufrans TechDocs offers a unique and comprehensive 120 days of post-training support.

This isn’t just a cursory follow-up. It’s our commitment to your long-term success in applying STE. During this period, you’ll have access to:

• Direct Email Consultation: Got a question about a specific rule or how to apply STE to a particular document? Reach out directly, and you’ll receive personalised guidance.
• Feedback on Your Work: As you begin to implement STE, you can submit examples of your writing for constructive feedback to ensure you’re on the right track.
• Clarification and Reinforcement: Need a refresher on a particular concept? We’re here to provide the clarification you need to solidify your understanding.

We believe that mastering STE is a skill that develops over time, and having expert support in those crucial initial months of application can make all the difference between simply knowing the rules and confidently implementing them.

Why Personalisation and Support Matter in STE Mastery

In a world often dominated by scale and automation, we believe in the power of the human touch. Learning is a personal journey, and having dedicated support can significantly enhance your understanding and application of STE.

If you’re looking for STE training that goes beyond the generic, that prioritises your individual learning needs and provides ongoing guidance to ensure your success, then Shufrans TechDocs offers a different approach.

The Shufrans TechDocs Approach

With two decades dedicated to Simplified Technical English training, our commitment is to empower individuals and organisations to communicate clearly and effectively. Our focus is on providing not just knowledge, but the practical skills and ongoing support needed to truly master STE.

Ready to experience the difference of personalised STE training with unrivalled support?

www.shufrans.com

*Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 120-day post-training support.

⁺⁺A group discount of up to €500 is applicable when two or more participants sign up for the same event. Send us your questions: enquiry@shufrans-techdocs.com.

🏷️ A €210 fee discount is applicable when you also sign up for 🆕 Certified STE Masterclass | US Canada Online.

Summary

Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in 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 show 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 frequent incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Course outline*

We’re committed to providing the highest quality learning experience in all our online workshops. Therefore, we’ve made the decision to cap all our online workshop session sizes at just five participants, starting 5 May 2025.

This intimate virtual environment fosters richer discussions, more personalised feedback, and a greater overall impact on your understanding and application of key technical communication standards like Simplified Technical English. Learn better, communicate better, across all our courses. This three-day Online STE Workshop includes interactive training, exercises, and a 120-day post-training consultation.

• 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.

• Day 2: Application & Exercises
  1. How to use the general vocabulary.
  2. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
  3. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  4. How to use STE for various documentation types.

• Day 3: Review, & Exercises
  1. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
  2. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
  3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation.
  4. 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.

What customers are saying..

I was looking forward to the training and was not disappointed. I think that the training was valuable and would recommend that my colleagues take the training either on line or in person. Being able to send a sample document and then working on it together using my new STE skills was very helpful and valuable. Shumin was extremely knowledgeable and gave many practical examples. I hope to be able to make use of the support period post-training. Deborah Tonkin, Technical Information Engineer, Komatsu

Why select a Simplified Technical English training with Shufrans?

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. Jeppe Friis, Technical Inspector, Maersk Drilling Maintenance Support

Who should attend this ASD-STE100 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 ASD-STE100 workshop training outcomes to expect?

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

• Enhanced Communication & Efficiency: Authors will gain the skills to create clear, consistent, and easily translatable technical documentation, facilitating effective communication with a global audience and streamlining the writing process.
• Improved Operational Safety & Reduced Downtime: By mastering STE principles, teams will produce unambiguous documentation that minimises misunderstandings, directly contributing to improved operational safety and a reduction in costly AOG/downtime.
• Optimised Lifecycle Support & Cost Reduction: Training will enable modular writing and content reuse, leading to maximised consistency, optimised product lifecycle support, and a significant reduction in the overall cost of creating and maintaining technical publications.

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 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.