Written English for business: Skimpy reading

Written English for business: Skimpy reading: "I've said it before: reading on the web isn't easy. In fact it's about 25% slower than hard copy reading*. Reading on a screen is not natur..."

Skimpy reading

I've said it before: reading on the web isn't easy. In fact it's about 25% slower than hard copy reading*.

Reading on a screen is not natural. In the first place, our eyes have to cope with the glare. After a time, and the time varies according to several factors such as eye-sight, age and familiarity with what we might call 'screen reading', the eyes tire more quickly than with hard copy reading. Many people who spend their working day in front of a screen have gritty eyes and headaches by the end of the day.

There are other physical effects of web reading. When holding a book or a magazine in our hands, we have a close physical connection with the text. Norwegian web researcher, Anne Mangen, believes that the web creates a distance between reader and text. This distance is made wider by the need to use a mouse or scrolling with keys or pads; and of course the screen itself is a barrier. Mangen argues that this distance between reader and text leads to shallow reading because the readers skim text quickly. Readers do not want to spend time analysing or considering what they read.

E-book readers such as Kindle, Sony Reader and Barnes and Nobles Nook have been developed as an attempt by the book and computer industries to overcome the problems of on-screen reading.

World renowned web reading and usability researcher, Jakob Nielsen, agrees that most web readers read text quickly. His research also shows that this quick skim reading means that readers 'take in' an average of only 20% of the text our eyes have floated over.

Nielsen has also drawn attention to how the structure of websites means that we read in chunks, fragments of texts. Again this is quite different to having a hard copy book, article or magazine in your hands.

The result of these factors is what I call 'skimpy reading' - a superficial, skimming style of reading. This in turn has major implications for how people write for web reading and includes content, design and writing style.

Clearly the content of website articles, blogs, commercial promotions and so on have to be to the point and some would say 'shallow', that is not full of in-depth analysis or argument. Website articles need to short and presented in clear, easily read design, without interference from colours or graphic designs. Lines of text also need to be short to make reading easier. Sentences should also be short and texts written in an informal, almost chatty style. These are some of the ways that can help to overcome the problems of on-screen, 'skimpy' reading.
Learning how to write effective website content is a whole new ball game!

* Nielsen www.useit.com

http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com

http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2009/06/19/paper_vs_computer_screen/

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

PUNK -TUATION

There are colons and semi-colons, hyphens and dashes

There are colons and semi colons, ellipsis and commas

Exclamation marks, full stops, question marks, and slashes

It's all too much for many people. And, 'Nobody knows what they're for or how you use them', wail bloggers. Punctuation is often abused and misused. Maybe it's time for punk-punctuation. In the mid 1970s punk rock was created: rock music was stripped back to its simple, raw basics. That's what I mean by 'punk-tuation'. But what are the basics of punctuation?

The end of punctuation has long been predicted. Text and instant messaging would wipe out all of these pesky squiggles and dots. Punctuation would be deleted. Or so it was claimed. In fact text messaging relies heavily on punctuation. "gr8 news re exam sprise nxt exam." this text message could mean many things until you add some common punctuation marks. "gr8 news re exam! srprise! nxt exam?" = Great news about the exam. A great surprise! When is the next exam?" Not gr8 communication but, for those taking part, it's enough.

So exclamation marks and question marks are definitely useful. So they're in. But what about the other stuff? Well there might be disputes about the finer points of punctuation, but its purpose is very clear: punctuation is there to help people to read.

our new security manager is tom sinclair tom comes from australia which he left in 1988 since then hes gained more than 20 years experience in the security business hes worked in many countries: the uk south africa and malaysia in malaysia tom was head of security at a large oil refinery he is strict but fair tom's nickname is iron man

Our new security manager is Tom Sinclair. Tom comes from Australia, which he left in 1988. Since then he's gained more than 20 years' experience in the security business. He's worked in many countries: the UK, South Africa and Malaysia. In Malaysia Tom was head of security at a large oil refinery. He is strict but fair. Tom's nickname is 'iron man.

The punctuated version is easier to read because our eyes are guided by the capital letters, full stops and, yes even commas. The capital letters signal the beginning of sentences and proper nouns like names. The colon like most colons is best left alone. It is not necessary. The inverted commas show that something is a quotation, in this case Tom's nickname. Without them here, the reader might be confused about the man's name: is he Tom or Iron Man? For the punk version of punctuation, the inverted commas stay.

Commas? There are many examples of how commas can change meaning dramatically. Such as the famous panda, changed from a peaceful, cuddly animal into a murdering monster!

The panda eats shoots and leaves.

A simple statement about a panda's diet. But...

The panda eats, shoots and leaves.

I this case the panda goes into a restaurant, eats dinner, shoots the restaurant owner and leaves the restaurant!

Commas also separate additional information from the main sentence.

Gareth Jones, 30, from North Wales, missing since last Monday, has been
found safe and well.

The commas here separate 3 extra pieces of information, but how difficult is it to read without the commas?

Gareth Jones 30 from North Wales missing since last Monday has
been found safe and well.

Who or what is missing? North Wales or Gareth Jones? Common sense tells us it was the man not the geographic area. But sometimes it is not that clear. It is quite easy to write short sentences that avoid the need for commas. So for punk punctuation, commas are an optional extra.

Apostrophes or lack of them make people stressed and often angry. And then there is all the apparent confusion of their/they're, its/it's, DVD's/DVDs and even potato's! In the sentence above there are two apostrophes- he's (he is- the apostrophe takes the place of the missing 'i') and Tom's nickname (the nickname that belongs to Tom). But can we read without them? Take a look at these examples:

Its a bargain at $89
It's a bargain at $89
Giovanis Pizza Restaurant
Giovani's Pizza restaurant

The apostrophe seems to be like the comma: an optional extra, to be used when it helps readers. And that is the most important point: use punctuation that helps people to read quickly and easily.

So there it is! The trimmed down, bare-bones (or barebones) punktuation: exclamation mark, question mark, full stop, inverted commas, capital letters and commas; apostrophes as optional extras.

TRANSLATING THE TRANSLATION 1

A Romanian company promoting its heavy industrial machinery in the German market; a Vietnamese travel company describing the stunning beauty of Halong Bay to a Japanese audience; or a Chinese company persuading a world audience to buy its solar energy panels- in the global market translations and translators are essential.

The quality of translation depends on what you want it for. If you translate simply for information, then some of the machine-based systems such as Google Translator are probably adequate. But if your aim is to publish material in another language, machine-based translators don’t do the job.

Tests of computer translators show between 50% and 65% accuracy. In other words machine-based translators usually can give readers the gist, the main points or ideas of a text. But machines are programmed to translate words; they are not programmed to understand complex grammar, the idiomatic use of language, like ‘pick up’ or nuances of vocabulary.

English, with its enormous vocabulary, is particularly difficult to translate. Take the word ‘dog’, for example. For most non-native users of English it’s a noun meaning a four legged animal descended from wolves. But it’s not that simple. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists 11 possible meanings for the word ‘dog’! The computer translator probably ‘knows’ 2 meanings of the word. So how well could a machine-based translation system translate this? (from a business report about an office computer networking system).

The most serious problems were mechanical. Trials of the system were dogged by breakdowns. In the main unit, for example, the central core was fastened to the main frame buy a plastic dog. The dog constantly came loose from the central core and the system stopped operating. After doggedly testing and repairing the system for a month, mechanical engineers described it as a ‘dog’.

Of course this is a made up (another idiom!) text but it shows how

a machine-based translation system would struggle to find

suitable words for these four uses of ‘dog’ and its derivatives.

And now a real translation! In the original Chinese this web page paragraph made sense but this is what Yahoo’s online translation system produced as the English version:

The company introduces United the peaceful abundant stationery industry Limited company to establish in 1997, was a fair stationery development, the production in a body's specialized company. The company since was established, gathered one group of professionals, introduces Taiwan most advanced complete set production equipment, specialized manufacture high quality folder, material book, organ package, capital feed bag and so on several series more than 200 variety work stationery products.

Apart from all of the other problems, the computer did not recognize that the words ‘abundant peace’ is the name of the company! The other difficulties include vocabulary such as ‘capital feed bag’, ‘set production’ and ‘fair stationery’; grammar- ‘to establish’ rather than ‘was established’ and non-English sentence structures. This is not the language you want splashed all over your expensive, state-of-the-art new website or colourful, glossy brochure.

The alternative is to contract a professional warm bodied human to translate your commercial documents and website. But wait! Before you rush out and Google ‘professional human translators’, beware – contracting human translators opens up another can of worms! 'Can of worms'!? Translate that! Into Dutch, no problem, ‘kan van wormen’. And Italian? ‘Latta delle viti senza fine’. And in English that is? Latta of the lives without end. OK- point made.

HOW COMMON?

English is a mixture of four main languages- German, French, Latin and Danish, so it has an enormous vocabulary. No-one can say for sure exactly how big the English vocabulary is, but there are around 250 000 distinct English words. Most educated native users of English, know about 50 000 words but for everyday communication English speakers use only about 2 500 words.

So some words are used a lot, and many others are not used much and maybe not known by most users of English. In writing for websites or any promotional writing, the language must be clear and easily understood by the target audience. But how do you know which words are common or used often and which are rare, uncommon, unfamiliar- see how many words express the same idea! How often words are used is 'word frequency ranking' (note that 'Word frequency' can also refer to how often words are used in a text.)

There are many web sites that provide word frequency rankings but some of these are quite technical. Two of the easiest to use are the 'Wikitionary frequency lists' which shows the most common words based on the Gutenberg Project*. Wordcount (http://wordcount.org/main.php) is a quick way to check the frequency of single words. To use Wordcount, type the word into the 'find word' box and then click the arrow. The word will appear with its frequency ranking.

Word frequency is a huge topic, but, for business writing in English, or any kind of writing for that matter, knowing a little about word frequency and word ranking helps writers to use words that their readers will understand. And avoid sentences like this (from a travel brochure): 'The style trades on a melding of familiar lines and the panache of vibrant tropical colours and appeal'. This is almost impossible to understand. Some of the words are not used correctly, but many of the words are simply very low frequency- that is they are not used often by native users of English. According to the Wordcount ranking system, 'vibrant' is ranked 1 424th. Most native users of English will know and understand this word. 'Panache' at 26 906th may be known by educated users of English. 'Melding', however, is ranked 60 940th! Very few native users of English are likely to know this word. The phrasal verb 'trades on' is also low frequency. Many of the people you want to read your material are, of course, not native users of English. They are people who use English as a second language. They have to read in English because about 80% of the published information in the world is in English. Non-native users of English do not, of course, have as big a vocabulary as native users. This is yet another reason to use familiar, low frequency words in your writing.

Does this mean that your writing will be characterless, lifeless, humdrum, stale, tedious? No, because English has such a rich vocabulary to choose from. I used five synonyms for 'boring'. The words 'boring', 'stale', 'lifeless' and 'tedious' all fall within the 20 000 word range and are likely to be known by almost all native users of English. 'Humdrum' and 'characterless' are lower frequency, 33 596th and 51 026th respectively.

Another tool that can help you create clear, easily read text is Textalyser (http://textalyser.net/). This tool analyses a paragraph or even a whole text or website for word frequency. Note, however, that Textalyser checks a whole range of other features about the text, such as how often individual words are used and the average number of syllables used per word. Although this information is useful, you are really looking for a 'readability' score. Without going into detail, readability is simply how easy or difficult a text is to read. Textalyser gives two readability scores. The first one, Gunning-Fog Index is probably the most accurate and easy to understand. The range is basically from 1 to 20, with 1-6 being 'easy' and 20 or more 'hard'. I used Textalyser to check the first two paragraphs of this article and got a score of 10.2, i.e.about the middle of the range, which is about the level of readability that you should aim for.

So, armed with a Thesaurus, a word frequency ranking tool and a text analyser, you can create text that is rich and interesting, but easily read and understood by your target audience.

References:
Wordcount- see http://wordcount.org/main.php

Wikitionary- http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Frequency_lists

Textalsyer - http://textalyser.net/ Note that the 'Textalyser'
Note: The results of the Textalyser analysis are quite academic and some of the results may not be very reliable, however it does give a general idea of how easy it is for your readers to understand your writing.


*Project Gutenberg - an ongoing project to create a library of e-books. To date over 30 000 books have been digitalised for online reading (see http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page).

GOOD BAD AND UGLY

Good written English, on websites, in brochures, in emails, in documents such as contracts and proposals, is clear, accurate and to the point. The reader has no problems reading and understanding the text.

Ugly writing
Ugly English uses fancy words and/or long, difficult sentence structure. Readers need a map and a dictionary to find their way around the text! A good example of ugly English is this from a travel brochure: As you stumble upon the exquisite little offerings left all over the island that materialise as if by magic, you'll see that their tiny tapestry of colours and textures is a metaphor of Bali itself. Did you keep going until the end of the sentence or did you give up? The 'exquisite little offerings' comes out of nowhere. There is no explanation in the previous sentences. And what 'materialises'- the island? The offerings? The sentence makes the reader struggle. Readers don't want to struggle. They just want the information.

When this sentence was analysed for readability* it was 21.6 points In other words it is difficult. I tried to rewrite the text:

People leave offerings to their gods all over the island. You find these suddenly in many places. The colours, feel and look of these offerings reminds you of the variety and richness of Bali itself.

It's not great but the readability of this text is 57.5 points, i.e.'quite easy'.

Word frequency and readability
There are about (it’s impossible to say exactly how many) 250 000 distinct words in English, but we only use about 10% of these words regularly. This is 'word frequency'- how often words are used. So, for example, 'that' is ranked the 8th most common word in English. 'Materialise', on the other hand is ranked 20 176th! There's a good chance a native English speaker would not know this word, and a second language English speaker would almost certainly not know 'materialise'. When you choose words to write, always keep the audience in mind and use words that they are likely to know.

Bad writing
Writing may be 'bad' because it is inaccurate, such as poor spelling, punctuation or grammar. Or it may be the wrong use of words, or words left out of sentences. For example, We are cycling in a farm road through the pineapple and rice fields at 36 kilometres. We can guess that 'in' is meant to be 'on', and probably the pineapples and rice are not growing in the same field. But what about 'at 36 kilometres'? Is it 'at 36 kilometres per hour'? Or 'for 36 kilometres'? Bad writing makes readers confused. Also when the writing is not accurate, the reader has a low opinion of the company because the company hasn't bothered to proofread the material before it was published. Sometimes the writing is so bad that it is impossible to even guess what it means. For example, Real legends coming from the Tunnel are over human imaginativeness. When readers are faced with a sentence like this, they look for a rubbish bin or their mouse to click to a new website.

Translation
The sentence 'Real legends coming from the tunnel are over human imaginativeness' is probably a writer trying to translate from one language into another, in this case English. Transposing from one language to another doesn't work! Different languages usually don't work the same way.

City authorities in non-English-speaking countries have often tried unsuccessfully to translate information signs into English. One famous example is this in a Shanghai Metro station: 'After first under on, do riding with civility'. Apparently it means something like: Be polite. Let other passengers off before boarding (the train). But, of course, to a user of English it is meaningless. It is a direct translation using the Chinese words and sentence structure. Ideas can be translated, but usually not words.

So, when you write in English, always remember your audience. Before you publish, check
• will the audience be able to read and understand the words easily?
• is the writing accurate? (spelling, punctuation, grammar, word order)
• is this real English or a direct translation from my language?

* Readability simply means how easy or difficult a text is to read. It is based on vocabulary, sentence structure and accuracy (spelling, punctuation etc.)

OOPS! PROOFREADING DOES COUNT

The need for careful proofreading hit the headlines recently. The publisher Australian Penguin Group had to spend $18 000 reprinting 9 000 copies of a cook-book. The reason? One, yes one single word was spelled wrongly!

Many recipes in the Italian cook-book included the instruction to add "salt and freshly ground black pepper", but on one page, a recipe for tagliatelle, a pasta dish, the recipe read "salt and freshly ground black people."

Some readers complained to the company about the use of the words 'ground' and 'black people'; they complained that these words made the book sound racist. The company had to withdraw the book from sale and send the withdrawn books to be pulped- turned into paper porridge!

The publishers called the error, a 'silly mistake' and it seems to have been a simple, honest error. However, the audience for any published material are often quick to take offense or make judgments about errors.

And this week more books have had to be pulped because they had not been proof read. The publishers of American novelist, Jonathan Franzen's new novel had printed and started to sell the book when it was discovered that a draft of the book had been printed. There were only about 50 errors in the published book but that was enough for the publisher to withdraw the book and turn the 80 000 copies into paper porridge!

These events highlight the need for careful proofreading. It can save a lot of pain- and money!