How to Write Accessible English for a Global Audience.

Do speakers of English as a foreign language understand the things you write? In just two hours you'll learn and practice a range of simple strategies which will transform the way you write.

By following these tips you can improve the accessibility of your services, or sell products to new customers who are not native English speakers.

Why it isn't easy to write for a global audience

It requires skill to simplify your text without-

• dumbing down your message
• omitting information.

Other techniques for simplifying the written word are not suitable for adults who grew up abroad-

• 'Easy Read' text can seem overly simple for readers without a learning disability.
• The 'Plain English' movement was not created with a multi-cultural readership in mind.

So what is the alternative?

My name's Shelley Purchon. I taught English to adults from around the world for 20 years before founding my workplace training company English Unlocked. I know how to present complex information simply, and in this workshop I'll show you how.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is for fluent and confident writers of English - your fluency and confidence can interfere with your ability to write for readers who are coming to English from another language. By the end of this course you'll be able to see your written content through fresh eyes and rewrite it with English learners in mind.

It is possible to preserve the complex nature of your subject matter while adopting a style which is easier to read.

Some things you'll learn-

• How it feels to try and read something in a foreign language (try it yourself)
• The difference it makes if you add images
• Where to find images which represent a global audience.
• How to see the subject from your reader’s point of view (so that you can spot the difficult things that need explaining)
• How to grab your reader’s attention (in socal media posts and adverts)
• How to encourage your audience to keep reading (for complex or lengthy texts)
• How to spot and restructure sentences of more than one clause.
• A simple hack for making jargon easier to decode.
• Why simplifying using colloquial terms is unhelpful (and what to do instead)

A chance to practice using these strategies is included in the workshop. Please bring a written communication from your workplace, maximum length 200 words (or practice using a text provided by us.)

What are the benefits of learning to write this way?

• You have global reach.
• Complexity is retained.
• Your message is clearer for people who struggle with reading but does not alienate competent readers.
• Your text becomes more engaging.
• Machine translation becomes more accurate.
• Translation is done more efficiently by humans if the source text is clear.

Nobody else does exactly what we do. Find out about this and our other courses here-

www.englishunlocked.co.uk