The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market

John R. Kohl's Global English Style Guide is a very useful resource for understanding the importance and practice of writing English for a global audience. In fact, it provides an exciting and passionate case for the value of language in technical documentation. The first chapter outlines the impact of Global English on costs, quality, and usability. It also examines the growing impact of machine translation. The rest of the book consists of a rich set of guidelines to follow. The most valuable part of the book, though, is the focus on before and after examples of sentences followed by discussions of why one solution is better than another. My only frustration with the book is that it does not serve well as a quick reference, which is what I would normally expect from a style guide. However, if I have to chose, I would much prefer to engage in the logic of the author's recommendations rather than just a prescriptive list of do's and don'ts.

I have been a technical writer for more than 40 years. Over that time I have developed a style of effective communication that is understood by technical English users at all levels. This book comes closest to documenting that style. Although tuned to writers who prepare material to be translated, it is effective when communicating technical concepts, processes, and procedures.

Every technical writer and editor should own this book and refer to it often for guidance.The information is timeless,Remember, this writing style applies to everything you write because you are writing for a global audience, even in the United States.This book is a masterpiece I've been using since it was released. I know the author and I told him I wish I'd written it.You don't have to read everything, the contents and index take you wherever you need to go.Or, go to Appendix B to see the global English guidelines list.The list includes cross-references to the appropriate sections.This book supersedes the Chicago Manual of Style, that is how I use it and I am a long-time technical editor.

My copy of "The Global English Style Guide" arrived last week. As soon as I began looking through it, I realized this is a book that Technical Communicators have long needed.There has been a multitude of excellent articles and references dealing with writing English for localization. But I have never found a concise compilation of guidelines and explanations on writing Global English in a handy book format, until now. Kohl's book is well researched, easy to understand, has multiple entry points, and was written by somebody who knows the topic thoroughly.If you write any kind of material in the English language that will be localized into another language, I recommend that you purchase Khol's book, read it, follow its advice, and keep the book handy on your shelf.

If you are writing documentation or content that needs to be translated for the global market, this book is for you. John R. Kohl does an excellent job explaining how technical communicators need to write for the global market. This book is designed so the reader can read it from cover-to-cover. Yes! It is that well written. Or, the reader can glance through it daily and constantly find interesting tidbits.His colleagues consider him to be the guru on globalization, and they are correct. I bought this book on the recommendation of two people who worked with him at SAS. After reading John R. Kohl's book, your confidence on writing for the global market increases 100%.

Great for technical editors. While this is more of a reference book than a page by page read, I enjoyed it and used it in my writing class.

This is a treasure of a book that already has lots of highlighting and tape flags in it and I just got it a few weeks ago. It's borrowed frequently around the office, too. Easy to read, well laid out: a great reference book for any technical writer or others communicating in this increasingly global economy!The book is perfect bound, but solidly done, so it makes a great reference time and again with no worries about ruining the binding. Break in the binding when you first get the book for best results (as with all perfect-bound books).

I am a reader living outside the U.S.A. To purchase this book in Amazon, I asked my friend to pick up this book when she went to a hotel located in Pennsylvania on business. But because of misunderstanding of the potential delivery date, I ordered it too late. So I worried about her's failing to receiving it timely. Luckily, this book arrived in a timely manner! And I am enjoying reading this book! I am studying translation in a graduate school, English to Korean and the opposition. This book is easy and useful to me!

I have read many style guides in my time and this has to be the most readable of them all. I may favour this because it is written by someone who has worked as a Software Technical Author and this is reflected in the examples provided. It clearly illustrates how ambiguity in writing can confuse the reader and lead to misunderstandings. The examples are clearly explained and all reflect writing I have read in manuals over my 40 years working in the Software industry. I mentor new technical authors and this work will be on my recommended reading list for students.

The book gives a clear explanation about the use of English in documentation to be used globally especially concerning translations and to not use ambiguous words or sentence structures.

The book is helpful in gaining a better understanding of the current standards of global english. The examples and tips are excellent.

突如、マニュアル翻訳のお仕事をいただき、参考にと購入しました。まだすべて読み終わっていませんが、Kindle版なので検索が簡単で、すでに何度もお世話になりました。まさしく英語ネイティブでない人向けに訳さなければいけないので、非常に参考になります。

This book is packed with helpful information and case studies - invaluable to those communicating technical information in safety-critical situations.