The introduction to STE gave me a more detailed idea about the STE concept. STE favours simple and short sentences to give the audience a clear idea of how information develops. It was also good to know that some verbs that ar evry commonly used in Schindler vocabulary are not acccepted in STE. Instead, shorter, simpler verbs can be good enough. To add, rules and tips provided during the training has been very helpful for my work. The exercises were practical and useful and I wish we had more time to go into more detail. Everything had been clearly explained and Shumin was very specific. I would most likely recommend this course to technical authors.
Corporate Technical Writer, Schindler Group
The course was intellectually challenging and stimulating. "Less is more" as an STE principle is something that I quite like :). For a beginner, there is quite a lot of material to process, and study in a short time. On the plus side, Shumin presented the material intelligibly and gave sufficient number of examples during her lectures. Her presentations were very well-prepared, and I enjoyed her classes. 🙂
TCLoc Master's Student Technical Communication and Localization
Rules about noun clusters (no more than 3 words, use of hypens and use of articles/demonstrative adjectives) and sentences (use of short sentences with a max. of 20 words without contractions and write only one instruction per sentence, but also use of vertical lists and connecting words) are definitely my favourite ones!
The first session with you was interesting and carried out well!
Overall, however, you did a very good job, rescheduling the assignment until we finished the TCTrainNet course, and I enjoyed attending your live meetings!
Master's student, TCLoc Programme University of Strasbourg
My fave STE Rule 3.6 - Active voice, as it is easy to spot and I like to figure out how to transform the sentence from active into passive voice I also liked working with the dictionary and finding and replacing words, I guess that's Rule 1.2. Yes - great information! Definitely an interesting course delivered by Shumin. Simplified Technical English Rules 1.2 and 1.3 were challenging because to always apply the intended meaning of a word and to use it as the approved part of speech and to select the correct words present in the dictionary can be tricky, but it's the activity I liked the most.
Student at Master's TCLOoc in Technical Communication & Localisation. University of Strasbourg
This course shares a good overview of structure, purpose, history, and contextual information about STE. The limited vocabulary and restricted list of words, short sentence constructions, active voice, and imperative verb usage are valuable takeaways messages to act upon in Simplified English. The examples used in this training are quite realistic and it is very likely that I will recommend this STE training to someone else.
Roland Kiser, Terminology Coordinator, Schindler
Shumin is personable and easy to work with, so it was great to work together on aviation management related events during her tenure. She is a good communicator, and a consultative manager who would often involve others in problem solving, team building, and focuses her time on more important activities while providing proper recognition, which I am appreciative of.
Joyce Tay Senior Executive, Programme & Event Management at Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
The course was quite challenging for me intellectually, in the way that there were a lot of rules to take in in order to be able to apply them to the text given in the assignement. To spot the errors in the text and choose the correct rule for the problem wasn't always easy, but I thought the assignment itself, i.e. the practical application of the theory, was an effective way to evaluate the learning curve of the student. To cut a long story short, yes, I think the content and the assessment are appropriate. After what I have learned in the course, it seems appropriate and relevant for technical communicators to know STE at a professional level!
Master's Student, TCLoc Master in Technical Communication & Localisation University of Strasbourg
The ASD-STE100 course I attended by Shumin was very intensive yet enjoyable. Besides the standard format and company templates used when creating documentation, STE rules helped me understand that there is an alternative approach to technical writing. By shrinking the size of my vocabulary, I am effectively using only one word for one purpose. With STE, my goal is to focus on what I would like to communicate effectively, rather than to simply place information into a template.
Mehmet Emin Ozmen Manufacturing Engineer, FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş.
Frans is an exceptionnally talented linguist, in addition to an excellent marketing and technical representative for his company. Boeing has had the pleasure of working with Frans as the liaison for our activities and hopes to continue having him support us in that role and any future role he may have with the company.
Ligia McLean International Business Mgr., The Boeing Company
Shumin gave a good introduction to Simplified Technical English. Instead of writing long sentences that are difficult to read, I prefer the STE rule of presenting long sentences in a list that makes it much easier to understand the work that is required to be completed. The STE exercises were pretty engaging, and this is particularly so for day 2 of the rewriting workshop that gave the team a lot of insight into our documentation. Trainees also had the opportunity to replace many unapproved standard English words with STE ones that helped us better appreciate the application of STE rules in a real-world context. This is a training that I have rated 10/10 for.
Thuraya Al Mehrzi Production Engineer, NIMR Automotive
