Plain English is the Language of the Web
By Cheryl Stephens
Managing Editor, ASAP Legal Publications
Email: cheryl@plainlanguage.com
Plain language is our agenda here this weekend. Plain language is the only hope for those who communicate on the Web. Even when a page is translated, one needs to begin from plain, clear English. I just bought an IKEA expresso maker that came with instructions in 14 languages. Thank goodness the English version was clear. I can't attest to the quality of the other versions.
In 1991, The Centre for Professional Writing at the University of Waterloo offered three translation services:
- from one language to another
- between American, British, and Canadian English
- from technical jargon to standard English
When I started publishing an international newsletter about plain language (Rapport), also in 1991, I had to grapple with the latter two challenges. And in addition to American, British, and Canadian English, I found there were Australian and New Zealand Englishes, Indian and South African English. Not to mention English as a Second and Third Language and the Japanese and Chinese versions of English.
For an editor, this was an interesting challenge. For a reader it can be a major problem. And I tried to ensure my readers didn't have to grapple with it.
Today we all face this challenge when writing for the Web. Either our English text will be read by people of many cultures and languages or it will be translated into the local languages.
In recent years, American businesses have realized that they must localize their product information. They retain people familiar with the local culture to ensure that their texts are culturally and linguistically appropriate for the foreign audience.
Now the problem faces us - the foreign audience - as our national businesses seek to exploit the American market, especially through Internet advertising and promotion, and we must "neuteralize" our national accents, idioms, and sensibilities for the sake of communication -- or perhaps for the sake of a dollar?
There is a long history of advocacy for plain English: there are literary lions who have sought it for all. There are political activists who claimed it for all. You can look back 50, 100 or 300 years and find such advocacy. You also find this history for other languages.
- In recent history, plain language in Sweden is 35 years old. The two-year training program began in 1966 and the Swedish Plain Language Consultants Group, Klarspruggen, was founded in 1995.
- In the US, we can trace the recent era to Citibank in 1970s.
- The British and Australians have been active for most of the past two decades.
- In Canada, plain language for consumers flowed across the border in the 70s as well. For plain language in law and government, we mark the real surge from the Australian pioneer Robert Eaglesons' Canadian tour in 1989.
While several countries, like Canada, work with plain language in more than one language, English is going to be the language of the Web.
According to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times, English as a first language with 427 million speakers world-wide is second only to Mandarin Chinese with 726 million. And English is the second language of 350 million people. It is the most-taught language in 100 countries and has some official status in 70 nations, more than any other language.
Our movement, with years of experience translating English to English, is in a good position to lead the development of a New English standard for the World Wide Web - a standard that is clear, comprehensible, and effective. And respectful of all world cultures.
Bon voyage to you all. See you on the Internet - in Plain English if you will.