STE Rule 1.3 Use approved words only with their approved meaning is my go-to rule. My favourite STE verbs are “examine”, “measure” and “make sure”. I always use the non-approved verbs of “check” and “inspect” before. I highly recommend this course to other people. If most people write with STE, technical work steps will become clearer and easier for understanding. 

Frans provided a useful and insightful course about Simplified English. This course enabled Tellabs to start a terminology bank and to implement language checker software. I am impressed with Frans’ command of language, and the manner in which he trained our organization. I highly recommend Frans to anyone who wants to be in control of their language. Top Qualities: Personable, Expert, Good Value

Rule 3.6 Use only the active voice in procedural writing is my favourite STE rule. Use the active voice as much as possible in descriptive writing. In my opinion, this rule would avoid a lot of translated texts misunderstandings.  Thank you for the course and being flexible. You accepted moving the course to September to give us the opportunity to complete the TCTrainNet unit.

Frans provided a multi-day training on STE in my company, Hansem EUG, and impressed every participant with his profound expertise in the subject matter and his kind and witty manner which had made the training much more enjoyable. I am glad to have known him and expect to have a sound, professional relationship for our mutual benefit.

As advisor to her ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English on-the job-training, Shumin adopts a very structured approach to learning. She observes, absorbs and analyses to come up with relevant and insightful questions as well as ideas regarding the subject matter and improved ASD-STE100 training methods. Shumin is a very driven and highly intelligent professional who works very well either independently or as part of a team. She has strong analytical skills and expresses herself very well both verbally and in writing. Her sense of responsibility and passion about achieving the set objectives while meeting and exceeding clients' expectations is very inspiring and is a great asset to the company and its customers alike.

Shumin gave an excellent introduction to the concept of ASD-STE100 as an international writing standard in documentation. The most relevant STE rules for my industry are those related to WARNINGS, CAUTIONS, AND NOTES. The STE exercises in this workshop are very helpful for letting me put those rules into actual practice. Some of the exercises I find pretty challenging as well. I would very much recommend Shumin's training workshop to any professional out there whose work scope encompasses clear, concise, and unambiguous communication.

I find that STE rule 2.1 extremely useful in technical documentation to avoid ambiguity. Rule 3.6 is one of my favorites because you need to master well syntax and language to always avoid passive voice. It was a good excercise, thanks Shumin for this interesting and challenging topic!

The introduction provided a well-rounded history of ASD-STE, the types of industries that use it, and how they use it. I now have a better understanding of what ASD-STE is and how our company should be using it. My favorite writing rule is Rule 1.3 (Use approved words only with their approved meanings.) This rule is the heart of STE. It makes consistency, clarity, and comprehension ubiquitous across all documents regardless of who writes them. It is the main rule that unifies writers with one voice. My favorite STE verbs are Apply, Attach, Make Sure, and Show. The verb Apply has multiple use cases for our documents. The verb Attach is a great utility verb because common alternatives like “mount” are not approved. The verb “make sure” is extremely helpful in cautions and warnings, also in some procedural steps. Finally, the verb “show” is extremely helpful when I write about background processes and how things work in general. The presentation on rules clarified a lot of things of which I was unaware. I have a much better understanding of how to format lists with colons, when to use obey vs. comply, and the differences between notes, cautions, and warnings. Moving forward, I will be able to utilize the ASD-STE rules more effectively to write better documents. I appreciated the exercises because they helped me immediately practice and enforce the ASD-STE rules. I like the fact that they were timed. Writing under time-constraints forced me to think quickly and fully concentrate on my writing. I will definitely recommend this training to writers of many fields, especially technical fields. The material, presentation, and instructor are fantastic. I learned a lot about ASD-STE. Even though I’ve been using this writing convention for almost eight years, formal training brought much clarity and comprehension that I had not previously realized. I now know that an aptitude for writing and a copy of the STE rules is a good start, but not enough. This course takes your understanding to a professional level.

The trainer was extremely knowledgeable and personable. She worked with us to resolve concerns and find creative solutions to challenging word choice suggestions. My preferred STE rules include: Limited accepted words in the vocabulary, limited length of sentences, and only using words for the approved meaning. A lot of writing, especially descriptive writing, can be verbose and cumbersome. It seems to me that sometimes engineers use fancy words to sound smarter or to show how complex or advanced the technology is, but that is not always helpful to the average user. As a user, I appreciate simple and clear instructions and explanations. I am hopeful that STE will let me write simply and clearly for our users. Thank you, Shumin! I really enjoyed the presentation and learning more about STE and how to use it.