Helen D

North Shields, United Kingdom

“Your second pair of eyes!”

Specialist subjects:

History Hospitality International Relations Language & Literature Leisure Librarianship & Information Management Linguistics Marketing Medieval & Modern Languages Politics Recreation & Tourism Translation Studies

Editing formats:

Education:

MA in Modern Languages (French & German)

University of St. Andrews

2000–2005

Favorite referencing style

Chicago – it was the first referencing style I ever used (at university, for my dissertation), so I have a little soft spot for it!

Why I became an editor

I have always been fascinated by languages and studied French and German at university. Studying foreign languages gave me a greater understanding of my native language, too. That, coupled with my natural tendency for perfectionism, has drawn me toward proofreading.
Following a career break to bring up my children, I decided to brush up my skills by taking the 'Becoming A Proofreader' course, and now I am excited by the prospect of helping others polish and perfect their texts.

Background and experience

After graduation, I worked as a proofreader for RWS Translations. This involved checking texts translated from French and German into English, ensuring that the grammar, spelling and punctuation were all correct.

Why I love proofreading and editing

I enjoy the process of proofreading and editing, be that through removing grammatical errors, correcting spelling mistakes or clarifying a point for a non-English speaker. Ultimately, I find it hugely fulfilling to know that I have helped produce a text that is as error-free as possible and reads fluently.

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Favorite book:

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

Hobbies:

When my three children are not keeping me busy, I love playing tennis, cooking and reading.

Editing tips:

Check your brief to see what dialect, formatting and referencing to use. Start and finish with a read-through of the text as whole; you should be able to spot inconsistencies with the intended tone.

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