Customer Reviews

The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market

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My copy of "The Global English Style Guide" arrived last week. As soon as I began looking through it, I realized this is a book that Technical Communicators have long needed.

There has been a multitude of excellent articles and references dealing with writing English for localization. But I have never found a concise compilation of guidelines and explanations on writing Global English in a handy book format, until now. Kohl's book is well researched, easy to understand, has multiple entry points, and was written by somebody who knows the topic thoroughly.

If you write any kind of material in the English language that will be localized into another language, I recommend that you purchase Khol's book, read it, follow its advice, and keep the book handy on your shelf.

John R. Kohl's Global English Style Guide is a very useful resource for understanding the importance and practice of writing English for a global audience. In fact, it provides an exciting and passionate case for the value of language in technical documentation. The first chapter outlines the impact of Global English on costs, quality, and usability. It also examines the growing impact of machine translation. The rest of the book consists of a rich set of guidelines to follow. The most valuable part of the book, though, is the focus on before and after examples of sentences followed by discussions of why one solution is better than another. My only frustration with the book is that it does not serve well as a quick reference, which is what I would normally expect from a style guide. However, if I have to chose, I would much prefer to engage in the logic of the author's recommendations rather than just a prescriptive list of do's and don'ts.

Many people who do not speak English as a first language struggle to understand English texts. Human translation is expensive. Machine translation frequently does not work. Global English offers a solution to these three related problems.

Many good style guides exist. Why do technical writers need another style guide? Unlike other style guides, this book covers grammatical structures, not only particular terms. The author writes clearly, and he explains the reasons for the guidelines. The book is not an academic paper. The guidelines are based on practical work at SAS Institute, where the author works.

Most technical writers know some of the guidelines already. For example, restrict the use of the passive voice, use language literally, and simplify the writing style. However, many guidelines may be new to some technical writers.

Both of the following sentences are grammatically correct:
* Set up the system.
* Set the system up.

Now, as far as possible, I always use the first structure, and keep the parts of a phrasal verb together. Keeping the parts of the verb together increases consistency, improves machine translation, and helps non-native speakers who do not know the particular verb.

The subtitle of the book refers to writing documentation. However, most of the guidelines apply to copywriting as much as to technical writing. All writers who want to reach a global audience, to decrease translation costs, or to make their texts as clear as possible will benefit highly from this book.

This book is simply a must-read for every technical communicator writing documentation that is either read by non-native speakers of English or translated from English into other languages. It contains a multitude of examples on how to revise sentences to make them more concise, avoid ambiguity and make them easier to translate. The author explains in detail how a translation memory works, and the unexpected hidden pitfalls related to it. Highly, highly recommended!

This is a treasure of a book that already has lots of highlighting and tape flags in it and I just got it a few weeks ago. It's borrowed frequently around the office, too. Easy to read, well laid out: a great reference book for any technical writer or others communicating in this increasingly global economy!

The book is perfect bound, but solidly done, so it makes a great reference time and again with no worries about ruining the binding. Break in the binding when you first get the book for best results (as with all perfect-bound books).

Very few products stay in one country and be successful. "The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market" is a guide to writing technical manuals that translate easy across language barriers. Calling the style Global English, John R. Kohl states how to create something that avoids questionable words and translates most clearly and easily when a translator sets to work on it, saving time and costs. "The Global English Style Guide" is a must for any business expanding their products abroad.

John's been a long time and respected colleague of mine. His research on this subject began when he was working on a doctorate in rhetoric and technical communication. I consulted with him when I was writing my book, International Technical Communication: How to Export Information about High Technology (Wiley Technical Communications Library), and included some things that he shared with me. I've often referenced what he taught me in workshops I've taught as well. Isn't sharing our wisdom wonderful?

I received a pre-publication copy of this book and found it to be excellent. It's an excellent desk reference for anyone who writes for a global audience and who is hungry for a well researched, structured approach to writing for translation.

From teaching this subject for over two decades, I've learned that most companies want someone to tell them exactly what to do. They don't have time to think about it or do the research. I think John's book is very useful to companies who want this kind of direction. And I trust his suggestions, because I know what he went through to garner it.

I taught English in Japan before becoming a medical translator and now a consultant for Japanese Pharma companies. This book is truly useful in helping my clients prepare regulatory documents for international submission. The principles help them write with confidence in English (and to write English that requires less 'fixing"!)

I bought the Kindle version of this excellent book to read on my iPad. Unfortunately, the formatting is really messed up and it is almost unreadable. Even worse, there is no linked index, no linked table of contents, and no search, all of which would make the book a useful reference. Without being able to quickly find the information one needs, this book has absolutely no value as a reference.
Profoundly disappointed...

I have been a technical writer for more than 40 years. Over that time I have developed a style of effective communication that is understood by technical English users at all levels. This book comes closest to documenting that style. Although tuned to writers who prepare material to be translated, it is effective when communicating technical concepts, processes, and procedures.