Plain English for Editors (e-learning)
Plain English for Editors is ideal for any editor who would like to achieve a broad understanding of what plain English is for, the core guidelines, techniques and tools, and how to use them in a balanced and nuanced way.
About the course
Plain English for Editors explains what plain English is, gives you the skills to use plain-English editing guidelines with thought and care, and helps you to think through how to market your plain-English services. The course gets you thinking about what can make a text unclear; sets out the six core guidelines for plain-English editing; and gives you the opportunity to practise your new skills.
What the course will teach you
Learn how to use guidelines on plain-English editing with thought and care, deal with challenges and market your services to potential clients.
By the time you’ve completed this training, you’ll understand:
- what plain English is
- what can make a text unclear and why
- some background about the plain-English movement
- the six core guidelines for plain-English editing
- how tools in Word and other software can help to speed up some plain-English editing tasks and increase accuracy
- the practicalities of providing plain-English editing services
Course contents
Unit 1: What can make a text unclear?
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If plain English is the answer, what’s the question?
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Background and resources
Unit 2: Guidelines and techniques
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Keeping sentences to a manageable length
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Editing for conciseness and directness
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Checking grammar and punctuation but putting clarity first
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Using words that readers know
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Checking that the language is inclusive
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Making sure that the material is organised and laid out clearly
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Further plain-English considerations and guidelines round-up
Unit 3: Test your plain-English editing skills
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A longer text on which to practise the skills learned in Units 1 and 2
Unit 4: Tools for plain-English editing
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Tools in Microsoft Word
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PerfectIt
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Other programs designed to help people write clearly
Unit 5: Services and challenges
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Providing plain-English services
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Challenges and myths
What skills and tools do you need?
This course follows British English spelling, grammar and punctuation conventions in the main. You’ll also need:
- basic copyediting knowledge
- fluency in English
- a knowledge of English grammar
- familiarity with the functions of word processing programs – this course assumes use of MS Word (Office 365).
Prices, timescales and upgrade points
- Member: £170 + VAT
- Non-member: £280 + VAT
- Access to course: 6 months
- Approximate study time to complete: 30–35 hours
- CIEP upgrade points: 4
Key course features
Structured training
Structured units cover a range of topics relevant to your chosen course.
Self-paced learning
With our e-learning courses, learn when you want at a pace that’s convenient for you.
Training portal
Access your course via our user-friendly online training portal. All e-learning courses are accessible through the portal for six months from the date of enrolment.
Extra help
Additional tutor support is available on our self-assessed courses for a small fee.
Self-assessed exercises
Hone your skills with self-assessed exercises and quizzes, and mark your own work against model answers.
Certificate
It was a great help to have all the core advice arranged into six 'guidelines' in one unit of the course, so I could absorb all of this before moving on to the main exercise and the units about software tools and providing services.
Please note: By booking onto an event or training course via the CIEP website, you are entering into a formal contract with the CIEP and accepting the following terms and conditions. Please make careful note of them, particularly regarding refunds and cancellations. If you have any questions please get in touch with us via email here.
