[TYPO3-doc] Hello & Suggestion on a new Guide for non-native English speakers.

[François Suter]

Hi Jacob,

> Though I don't have a formal degree in Technical Writing, I'm currently
> employed as a Technical Writer at InfoTrax Systems. I got that job thanks
> in part to a Technical Writing class I took in school (all of the other
> English classes looked quite useless and boring). Plus, I like to write,
> and so, sometimes I'm a bit verbose in my emails. Just in case that bugs
> someone here, I'll just apologize ahead of time. Sorry!
>
> I also happen to natively speak American English because I grew up here in
> the states (In Salt Lake, Utah to be more precise). ;)

That's great, we definitely need people with your skills!

> Maybe we could have a guide--not specific to FLOW3--that lists some of the
> common non-native mistakes I have seen in the TYPO3 documentation and
> communication. That way, I can express things like the following in a
> neutral place without sounding 'mean', 'rude', or 'overly critical of
> someone's personal style'. There are people who speak incorrectly on
> purpose, because that's their style. I don't want to step on toes or make
> anyone feel uncomfortable when I make corrections or re-word things to
> sound 'better', or more 'native' to me.

That would be great and your example certainly drives the point home ;-)

> So, where could something like that go?

As Philipp said, the best place would be the TYPO3 wiki for now and it 
could evolve into a full-fledged manual later.

I created a page for it: http://wiki.typo3.org/Documentation_Style_Guide

Obviously it would be good to report in the ML about the evolving 
content of this page, so that we don't forget about it.

Cheers

-- 

Francois Suter
Cobweb Development Sarl - http://www.cobweb.ch