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Hannah Sapunor-Davis
Managing Editor
I speak from personal experience when I say that showing your work is a step that’s easy to overlook. It might feel like boasting, or stating the obvious. Or it might feel unimportant when we have to quickly move on to the next thing on our to-do list. But it’s an important one.
It not only helps our personal growth. As a growing international network, sharing our work and our results helps everyone. We can learn from one another – what worked, what didn’t, or what might be worth exploring the next time. You might be surprised to find that someone on the other side of the globe is facing a challenge that is remarkably similar to what is in front of you. And even better, they’ve given you a new idea for how to approach it.
Showing our work also helps build the growing body of expertise and research on plain language. So in that spirit, we invited members of our community to show their work – proudly.
We start this issue off with 2 case studies of companies with compelling results of the effect of plain language. First, Kim Van Den Heede details how her company uses a systematic approach to streamlining documentation, which decreased maintenance and training costs and improved customer satisfaction for clients in the pharmaceutical and mobile gaming fields.
Next, Marie-Elise Georgelin shares some compelling results that prove the invaluable role of plain language translation. As many in the PLAIN community work with more than one language, these findings are an excellent case for solidifying the relationship between translators and plain language practitioners.
Not all of us live or work in a culture where plain language is a common concept. For those of you who are trying to start a plain language network or grow awareness, Eyitayo Ogunyemi’s article outlines an approachable way that he engages with the community to show off his work in a way that both educates the public and promotes his business.
Next we have 2 exciting regional perspectives. We start with a summary of Christina Maria Müller’s research into easy language rules in Portuguese and German. Some of you might wonder why we include easy language in this plain language journal. The audience is narrower, and the outcome can look very different from the text that most plain language practitioners create. But both camps are in fact working towards the same goal: clear communication. And in the spirit of learning from each other, I think it’s important to continue to share information.
Then Heloisa Fischer gives us a fantastic profile on the progress of plain language in Brazil. This is an encouraging example of plain language gaining momentum and widespread buy-in.
This issue we have a new feature of the journal called “Ask the Experts”. Each issue we will hear from experts about their experience working with plain language, as well as their insight on the journal’s topic. Our inaugural experts this issue are Ginny Reddish and Christopher Trudeau. I’m positive that you will learn something from their thoughtful reflections.
And last but not least, we get to learn the latest from the International Plain Language Federation. Dr. Neil James, the current chair, details the latest developments of the federation’s work, as well as what we can look forward to in the near future.
We hope that you, dear reader, get inspired by this issue to share your work and your results in the PLAIN community. Whether that be in the journal, in our active LinkedIn group, or at one of our upcoming events. We invite all voices to contribute to the conversation. If you have any ideas for future topics of the journal – as well as feedback on previous issues – please send a message to publications@plainlanguagenetwork.org.
Happy reading!
