English writing skills

English writing skills

Since TBforum went international I thought that it would be helpfull to all our members and entrepreneurs that have Dutch as their native language to bring a English writing skills article. Therefore I will try to tell you all some key issues that one should look after while writing an article or website. I will also give some examples so that all of you will understand where I am talking about.

- Adapt your writing style
First of all, determine your audience. Your writing style should be adapted to your audience. For example, if you are writing for a students or so, write as simple as possible because of the simple fact that a lot of you have a small English vocabulary and do not know all the more difficult words. On the other hand, if you are writing for a journal or you have got to write a professional report adapt your style. In the next two sub-chapters I will give two examples of both the audiences.

- Students example
“Hey there, I’m looking for 2 new books and I saw that you’ve got some books over there. Can I come over to your place to read them through?"
Everybody knows what you mean, but please, do not come up with this kind of writing skills if you are writing a formal letter for instance.

- Formal example
“Dear mr. de Vries, It was brought to my attention that you are offering several books at your school. Since I am searching for two specific books, I wondered whether it is possible for me to visit you on a time that is suitable for you to see if you got the books I am looking for. If you are willing to help me, could you than please contact me via this e-mail address.”
As one can see, I do not use abbreviations like I’m and I am writing in a way that is professional. You should always try to use verbs such as: could, should in stead of: can or shall. Can and shall are two really strong verbs that are almost aggressive.

- Typing for websites
Since we are all in the IT business, I will give you some tips for writing on websites:

1. Do not use abbreviations (Less clear and downgrading your SEO)
2. Write in third person (E.g. as one can see in stead of as you can see)
3. Try as much as possible to write in British in stead of American English (E.g. Forwards in stead of forward)
4. Do not degradate Dutch words into English words (E.g. “… zijn er?” into “… are there?” is absolutely not done!)

If you are all interested in a larger article, please respond on this one and I would update it into a larger one.

Do not degradate Dutch words into English words (E.g. “… zijn er?” into “… are there?” is absolutely not done!)

You're doing it yourself, it's "degrade". And the same goes for 'could you than please contact me' (than?? or 'in that case')

Your informal example is actually better than your formal example:
Formal:

if you got the books

The verb is 'have':
Informal:

that you’ve got some books

Unfortunately, there are a lot more grammatical and spelling errors in your article, like 'helpfull' (helpful), 'write as simple as possible' (simply) and 'in stead' (instead).

About your 'forward(s)' tip, I will recommend the opposite. Use 'forward'. This is because there are some occasions where you cannot use 'forwards' (if used as an adjective, like 'I am looking forward to my date tonight'). If you use 'forward', you're always safe!

So I've got one advice, and not just for the topic starter but for anyone who wants to write text for a foreign website.

Just don't.
Don't write text for a professional website in anything else than your native language. Hire a professional translation agency. You might not notice the difference yourself, but your audience will.

Richard, can you read minds? Because what you've just posted, that was on my mind! I agree with you.

I think it's bad practice to write an article in English about English writing skills if you're not a native speaker.. That said, I think a native speaker should post an article about proper English writing for forums..

I don't agree with you on point 1 and 3, using abbreviations is commonly accepted ( definitly on IT forums ). Writing British English or American English is the same to me, as long as your sentences are constructed properly. You'd probably use both at the same time anyway.

Thank you for the reactions guys. I just read it threw again and I understand your points. It was a little bit to early to post the article, but thank you for the reactions.

Abbreviations are accepted on IT forums, but not in formal writing. And the 3rd point is perhaps discussable, but that is how I (and many of my fellow students) think about the British English.

Furtermore, I thought that degradate is the word for 'verbastering', but my apologies for the (grammatical) faults.

Using abbreviations is bad for SEO, I agree with Chris on that.
British English is absolutely more 'fancy', but if you want your content to be found easily, stick to the most common spelling (i.e. American English).

@Chris: you mean 'degenerate', I think.

Please, please, please check your spelling and grammar in any topic you post. That way silly mistakes like "I just read it threw again...", "It was a little bit to early..." and "Furtermore,..." can be avoided.

This reminds me of the time my grandmother was puzzled by her crossword puzzle. She just couldn't get the words to match although she had filled them all in. When I checked her answers I understood her problem when one word was described as "één (engels)" and she had filled in the answer "wan".