Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Proofreading courses - Proofreading as an acquired ability


Proofreading courses offer the accurate training essential for the process of examining books, magazines and journals for errors before they are published. Proofreading has an important role and carries a great level of responsibility, so proofreading courses are needed to get support and a better knowledge of the whole process. By joining proofreading courses you will learn handy advices and details on proofreaders and copyeditors actions, terms and proofreading marks and cryptogram, necessary punctuation and proper spelling. You will also study a greatly demanded skill - the conversion from UK English to American, suggestions in collecting money owned to you, hints in starting a freelance and much more tricks to help you excel in this job.

The only technique to get a professional qualification is by passing the exam of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, after finalizing the program of proofreading courses. This official recognition subsequent the proofreading courses inevitably confers superior membership and can bring you many business inquiries as its authorization test curriculum is linked to training proofreading courses run by both SfEP and the Publishing Training Center (PTC), and in close connection to the relevant sections of the Training Occupational Standards for Publishing. After taking the proofreading courses and becoming recognized, the next qualification is registration, for that you need official approval plus 500 hours of practice distributed among two or more clients within the last three years, proving that your competence and reliability have been assessed and valued by clients or employers. Certification next to proofreading courses is measured to be the big phase on the future for registration.

There are numerous proofreading courses you can join, based on your level or ambitions. The main choices you have while enlisting proofreading courses are:

  • Introduction to proofreading

Addressed to newcomers and consisting of introductory notions about the values and exercise of proofreading for publishing, therefore comprising, among others, practical exercises, relevant typesetting, design and publishing terms. Proofreading problems is the next level of proofreading courses, a workshop that picks up where introduction to proofreading leaves off, assuming learnings obtained in the previous course and ongoing with general and scientific texts in dealing with issues like poor typesetting and heavily edited reproduction.

  • Proofreading for accreditation

This is the proofreading course that familiarize candidates with the SfEP exam, the certification test in proofreading. It covers most aspects of the accreditation syllabus, including footnotes, illustrations and captions, headings, running headlines, filling in page numbers etc.

  • Brush up your proofreading course

Another selection for proofreading courses is "brush up your proofreading course". This classes begin with exercises concerning BSI symbols, following page proofs and problems of page design, helping you in revising, brushing up and updating it.

Proofreading courses can make you a valuable certification and turn out to be useful whether you plan to do proofreading on a licensed foundation or you're simply seeking to improve your learning. As proofreading isn't an inborn skill, but an acquired ability, the accessible proofreading courses, containing tutorial material as well as projects, will supply you the necessary means to expand this ability. Structured in chapters, they need no prior experience in proofreading, copyediting or publishing, so most proofreading courses are proper for rookies. Theoretical information is supplied during the program, followed by a series of exercises that need to be finished and marked by your personal tutor. Applicants will be able to gain from the assist of a support team available anytime for any possible matter along with a course instruction manual, projects and study guide and a personal teacher.