I was interested in doing a vocational course in a subject that could potentially lead to a new career path. Having done an English degree, I wanted to enrol in something related to language and writing. I consider myself to be meticulous and analytical in the way I write and the way I read other people’s writing and so I thought proofreading/copy editing would be an ideal choice in this respect.
Overall, I would say the course did meet my expectations. I had no knowledge of proofreading or copy editing prior to enrolling but I found the content easy to engage with. This was because I had no preconceived idea of what to expect from the subject or the way it would be taught meaning I was always open minded while learning and doing my assignments. Also, being able to complete the work when I wanted to meant I always had a positive outlook.
Generally, the tutorial support was useful and always very quick and prompt. The course content was, for the most part, easy to understand and follow in terms of how the information was worded with clear, simple language. I also appreciated the content summaries at the start of every lesson. These were very useful to use as reference points if I was at a certain place in the document and needed reminding what each subsection was. The overall formatting (i.e. page layout) was well done and the individual topic exercises were always useful for putting my acquired knowledge into practice. I felt each lesson introduced enough new content to add to my knowledge gradually without ever feeling inundated with too much information all at once.
I thought the first lesson was very good for giving me an overview of the proofreaders role in the publishing process and the assignments for this were not at all daunting which gave me a lot of encouragement going forward. I immediately felt a sense of achievement and was fully engaged with the course from then on as the lessons/assignments increased in difficulty.
Overall, the course was always enjoyable; some lessons were easier to engage with than others depending on the length and amount of new content to learn. However, I feel I got something out of every one and some of the content related back to what I had learnt in my English degree (spelling, grammar, references), which reaffirmed that this was the right course for me. Every assignment was a good test of my analytical skills and judgement.
I always felt challenged but never too much. I am firmly convinced that I have the ability to be a proofreader/copy editor now and can pursue this as a career path. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who enjoys meticulous work with a keen attention to detail. Thank you!
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