Where To Learn To Write International Or Global English

Cindy King — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:00:07 +0000

Recently a translator asked how to write in International English. A client of his specifically requested International English content. And he asked whether American English or British English was considered International English.

To understand how to choose either American English or British English have a look at this recent article on Get International Clients.

In either case, whether you start with American English or British English, the first step is to take out all culturally specific references. Cultural references that can only be understand by people with a similar cultural background to the writer.

But International English is a bit more than that. There is also a question of how you use English grammar.

Reasons For International English

First you need to understand why you need International English.

There are a few reasons why businesses like to have content written in International or Global English:

To reach a broad international market
To communicate more effectively with non-native English speakers
To prepare for easy translations, multilingual websites

You also need to consider the document itself. Is it a technical document, or sales and marketing materials?

Where To Read More

I recommend two books if you would like to learn how to write International English.

The Global English Style Guide

Do you need to:

Write in International English?
Want to make the text you write easy, fast and cheaper to translation?

Then this is the book for you…

The Global English Style Guide – Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Marketplace, by John R. Kohl.

This book provides all the information you need on what to write and how to write it. It gives easy to follow examples. Yes, it is written by a grammar expert. But you do not need to be one to follow this book.

There are many “rules” in this book to write International English. Don’t be daunted though. It is so well explained that it is a quick read and an easy to use reference book.

The Elements Of International English Style

Another good reference book is:

The Elements Of International English Style – A guide to writing correspondence, reports, techical documents, internet pages for a global audience, by Edmond H. Weiss.

This book is more business oriented. It gives specific guidelines for different business documents. For example, it tells you how to make an agenda for a meeting easier to read for international audiences.

It also gives many comparisons between British and American English.

Both books complement each other and are a good place to start to learn how to write International English.

International Communication Skills

But there is also another element to writing International English.

You must not forget to include international communication skills. And you can only acquire international communication skills through international exposure. These are the international communication skills you pick up through communicating with different cultures.

You need to have basic international communication skills to implement the written techniques outlined in these two books for best results.

When you write technical content for translation, good international communication skills may not be of primary importance. These skills will improve your technical writing.

But…

Do you want to write web content or sales and marketing materials and want to also make this content translation-friendly?

Then good international communication skills are just as critical as implementing the International English language skills.

You see, these international communication skill:

Add in a layer of international politeness
Take away any abrasiveness
Make your content more appealing

The first step in creating international content is to strip off all cultural-specificity. A writer with international communication skills puts a little bit of flavor back into your content. To appeal to a broad international audience.

What you need to know about International English:

International English Guidelines

Cindy King's International Business Blog » the global english style guide

Where To Learn To Write International Or Global English

Reasons For International English

Where To Read More

International Communication Skills

More on Internationalizing Your English:

What you need to know about International English:

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