Plain Language Workshop Date: August 26th, 2010 Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM Location: Literacy Alberta 3060 17th Avenue SW, Calgary, AB T3E 7G8 Cost: $75 $50 for Literacy Alberta members Cheques can be made out to: Further Education Society
Why is plain plain language important? Did you know… • that 42% of adult Canadians over the age of 16 struggle with basic literacy skills? • that 59.8% of recent immigrants (up to 10 years in Canada) struggle with reading? • that 82.1% of seniors 66 years of age and over read at a basic level? Source: Building on Our Competencies, Statistics Canada, 2005
What is plain language? This means that nearly half of adult Canadians may have difficulty with the kinds of daily literacy activities many take for granted: • Reading posters, brochures, newspapers, or business letters • Filling out forms • Understanding instructions • Using maps to find directions
• a way of communicating with people so that your message is easy to understand the first time • plain language imagines how the audience understands the message and focuses communication from that point of view
Plain language uses: • Shorter sentences • Common vocabulary that is heard often in daily speech • Visual organizers such as charts or pictures to illustrate main ideas • Appropriate headings to help organize information • Only 3 to 5 main ideas in a message What will happen during the 3-hour workshop? • You will learn the basic principles of plain language • You will edit your own written materials after learning the principles • You will get feedback from others in the workshop about your plain language editing • You will leave with some plain language editing completed on your documents
Workshop brought to you by:
What should I bring to the workshop? • Any short pieces of writing such as brochures, newsletters, annual reports, etc., that you distribute to the general public • You will be writing on the document you bring; have a pen or marker with dark ink handy, a highlighter might be useful as well About the instructor: • Terri Peters is a Program Manager with Literacy Alberta • A former high school English teacher, she has been involved with adult literacy for the past 15 years in a variety of roles • Her areas of expertise include plain language instruction, group facilitation, tutor training, and learning portfolio development
