Having had a career in English language teaching, I wanted to improve my proofreading skills in case I felt like doing some part-time work for ELT publishers in the future; also to have something new and stimulating to do during lockdown.
It was just what I was looking for. The reading material was clear, well-written, not too long and had a lightness of touch, which was very welcome.
I had the head tutor, Dr Rachel Finnigan, and she was knowledgeable, friendly and supportive, and very fair in her comments.
The number of lessons was about right – not too daunting. The subject matter of each lesson was very relevant. The only lesson I found outside my comfort zone was the final one on copyright, trademark, libel etc. I’m not sure how much of the detail I retained on that.
I was already familiar with grammar, spelling and punctuation, but quite a bit was new to me: I was fascinated by the Guardian Style Guide, which has proved invaluable; I learnt not to stray into copyediting when the brief was strictly proofreading; I learnt how to edit the copy for a global audience; I struggled at first with the techie side of delivering online comments on PDFs and track changes in Word but eventually got to grips with it.
It was very worthwhile and an excellent way to use up my lockdown time. As I am in my 70s and semi-retired, I doubt I will go all out for a full-time career as a proofreader/copyeditor but will certainly feel confident approaching contacts and offering my services on a relief basis.
See our proofreading courses