Your first language always comes first When we write in a language that’s not our first, we inevitably make mistakes – this is something we all know and just have to accept. So Finns are no exception when it comes… Lue lisää »Tailor-made tips for Finnish-speakers writing in English
The balance between sounding knowledgeable and expressing your ideas simply in academic writing. In academic writing, finding the balance between sounding like you really know your stuff and expressing your ideas simply and clearly is difficult. When English is not… Lue lisää »Sounding academic but not pretentious: a balancing act
If you’re a client for whom I’ve done a lot of language editing, then my anti-passive voice obsession will not come as much of a surprise! Although I accept that in some instances the passive is preferable and even necessary… Lue lisää »Too aggressive about the passive?
“The abstract is now 260 words, but the word limit is 250. Any corrections that shorten the text are welcome!” To an editor of academic texts, this will probably sound all too familiar! Journals’ word limits can create… Lue lisää »So much to say, so few words…Condensing texts to comply with word limits
Blog post about editing doctoral theses
One of the first things I do when I receive a text to edit is ask the client which language variant they want me to follow: American English or British English. When I return the text, some clients who chose… Lue lisää »Organise or organize? Shocking news – the z is also British English!
Quality. Every customer wants it. Every service provider assures it. But when it comes to translations and editing, what exactly does good quality mean? And how can I provide it? Text quality is actually very hard to define, so it… Lue lisää »Quality – right up my street!
Fourteen years ago, I became ‘English Language Editor’ at a research institute here in Finland. After a decade of freelance teaching, I was mainly just pleased not to have to run around all day, to finally be part of a… Lue lisää »How editing found me
