Liz, the proofreader

As Matt is working hard on his dissertation, I continue to work in my proofreading role for our branch in Tanzania and Uganda. I thought perhaps it was time for me to give you a few more details of what I do, and hopefully answer some of the questions you may have about how it all works!

So first off, what is my role exactly?
My role is to provide the last check before materials (usually books and booklets) are printed. I currently work on materials that are produced by Literacy and Scripture Use departments in the different projects throughout Tanzania, and recently I have also worked on some books produced by a few translation departments (so actual books of the Bible in the languages of Tanzania!). Some examples of the types of materials I’ve looked at recently include Literacy primers (a workbook to help students learn to read/write), alphabet books and story books, books about culture and development, calendars with Mother-Tongue proverbs, Bible Study guides and the books of Ruth and Jonah. I am currently checking books from most of the projects we have in Tanzania and this could expand in the future.

What does my role actually involve?
Well, to start, here’s what it doesn’t involve! Since I am the last stage of checking there have been lots of other checks that have already taken place. Firstly the books will already have had a Linguistics check, which means they will have been checked by someone who is familiar with the structure and features of that particular language (working alongside a Mother-Tongue speaker of that language). As a result most of the spelling and grammatical errors should have been picked up. Secondly the books will already have been checked by a Literacy/Scripture Use/Translation Consultant depending on what type of material it is. This person is an expert in what is necessary for that type of book and will be able to comment on its structure and layout and whether it is fulfilling its stated purpose.

Then comes me! I look at the document in detail to see that everything looks as it should do. I check formatting issues such as fonts and spacing, placement of pictures and order of pages. I check the front and back content, that the cover, title page and copyright page have the relevant information, paying particular attention that the correct people are credited for their work in the correct way. Copyright is a tricky business and there are strict guidelines, especially for Scripture portions. I then look at the content page by page, checking issues such as page numbers, page breaks and headings. I try to look at every character, be it a letter, bit of punctuation or a blank space! This requires lots of concentration, as every proofreader will know.

How can I check the text of a book if it is in a language I don’t know?!
Many people ask me that! Well, if there is text in Swahili (usually at the front of the book, or sometimes the book is diglot – two languages alongside each other, the Mother-Tongue and Swahili) I can check the spelling and grammar as I learnt Swahili to a reasonable level. (However, I never say something MUST be changed, always that it should just be double-checked.) Mostly the books are written in the local languages of Tanzania though and I don’t speak these at all! I can only check these words roughly, but remember that they have already been Linguistic checked. I can spot spelling errors if a word that looks the same is spelt in different ways in different places. Many of the languages have special characters that don’t appear in English so I must pay particular attention that these appear correctly. Also, as many of the languages come from the same language family as Swahili (they are almost all ‘Bantu’ languages) I am aware of some features of the languages and can spot if something looks unusual, such as many consonants grouped together (which is less likely to happen). Many features of punctuation, such as speech marks, full stops and capital letters, can still be checked without any knowledge of the language.

What happens after my role?
Once any possible issues have been checked and changes made I can give approval for these materials to be printed. It is a great feeling that I can help to get good quality literature into people’s hands faster, helping them to continue to learn how to read and write their language! I feel very privileged to be able to continue to be involved even from thousands of miles away!

So, that is the bulk of what I do in my role! I hope I didn’t bore you too much and it gives a better picture of how I spend some of my time! When I’m not doing this role I am studying on a proofreading distance learning course, helping learn how to do my job better! If you have any questions about any of this, do feel free to ask!