***
As we move through the EDX course I am being reminded about
information I learned long ago and am being challenged to improve my writing. Years
of being asked for short summaries at work and writing for social media have hampered
my creative writing abilities. I am going to try to write more after this course
and see what I can create.
That said, the most valuable thing about this class so far
was reading blogs from the class. I do some freelance work and spend time
proofreading papers for individuals for whom English is not their first
language. I’ve read some really amazing pieces of work and am pleased when I
can help turn a phrase or make their meaning clear.
My favorite example of what I do for those clients came very
shortly after I started that job. I was reading a paper from someone whose
primary language was Asian. They were
describing some individuals and were trying to portray enthusiasm and exuberance
in their account. As I was reading along
a phrase appeared just wasn’t right. They had written “it was above the wall.”
For the life of me I went blank. I knew that wasn’t right
but I really struggled to determine the meaning. I ended up flagging the line, finished
the chapter and then went back. Upon the second review it dawned on me that
what they wanted to say was “it was over the top.”
I finished editing it and believe that I maintained the
spirit they wanted to portray. It was an eye-opening experience of how sometimes
terms just don’t translate well. I hope
it has made me a better editor and listener in that I want to hear what a
person is trying to say even if the words come out jumbled.
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