Help me find an online course (please)

[Sam]

As Mundane Thread readers might be aware, a recent change in the number of employers I have means I'm looking to diversify and maybe get into a line of work which - unlike writing about Argentine football - people will actually pay me to do.

It's not the most original choice, I'm aware, but proofreading is an attractive option, partly because spotting errors in written things has always been something that's come naturally to me, and partly as I'd be able to do it from home. But there are loads of courses online, and I don't know which would be good to take and which wouldn't.

So can any OTFers with experience in this sort of thing (and I'm assuming there are at least a couple on here) advise? Especially UK bods, as it would seem to make sense to aim at a market which speaks the same form of English as I do myself, but really any advice at all is welcome.

[Heliotrope]

Help me find an online course (please)

We used to subscribe to this organization's newsletters (but we cut back for financial reasons), and they always seemed to offer a lot of resources for people in the publication biz. It is American, though.

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

Cheers, Helio. I'll take a look.

For the moment I'm mostly after some sort of certification as I suspect 'Being a massive pedant' isn't actually going to be accepted as a qualification on a CV if I start applying for things. Plus it'd be nice to have a clue where to apply, of course.

[hobbes]

Help me find an online course (please)

I love it when Heliotrope pops by. Makes me feel like all is well with the world.

[Heliotrope]

Help me find an online course (please)

Thanks. Wish it were more often, but my work makes it tough to get really involved in discussions.

[Ginger Yellow]

Help me find an online course (please)

I'm not sure a certification is going to do much for you, at least on the journalistic/publishing side of things. Maybe technical writing puts more weight on that sort of thing, but sub-editing employment in journalism pays no attention to credentials, in my experience, and I think book publishing is much the same. It's 90% who you know and 10% previous experience on a CV.

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

How does anyone get into the profession, then? I mean, people clearly do...

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

Also, sorry (only just twigged the full content of your post), but I'm not asking about how to get into sub-editing. I'm asking about proofreading. I wouldn't pretend to try and get into sub-editing without any kind of experience in the field.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Help me find an online course (please)

Put a notice up in local universities offering your services proofreading/translating dissertation/thesis synopsises for next to nothing, but ensure you are thanked in the dissertation. When the dissertation is marked, the scholar will notice the excellent English and it's a foot in the door. I know someone in Portugal who did that.

Other that that, still not considered getting a CELTA in BA? Teaching English always guarantees regular income in a foreign country (albeit paltry). I've been doing a lot of work with the Argentinian centre of my workplace recently, seems like the Argentinian government are pumping lots of money into ELT, like most countries in Southern America.

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

I am woeful at teaching English - I did give it a go a few years ago and it just isn't my thing at all. I felt like a complete fraud for the entire duration of it. I have nothing but admiration for people who can do it well, but I'm not one of them (my girlfriend's a very good English teacher in spite of not being a native speaker, but finds it a lot harder to teach Spanish, conversely).

I might give the university thing a try, but I'd really like to be doing it remotely for folk who need UK English (in part because that's what I speak, in part because the money will be a lot better, and in part because it'll make it a lot easier to potentially relocate further down the line if I want to head back to Europe). It does sound like a promising way to get the experience though, so thanks for that suggestion, steveeeeeeeee.

Does anyone know about the Publishing Training Centre certifications? I've done some googling (obviously) and they seem well-regarded but if anyone's actually got experience of them I'd love to hear it.

[Chairman Zhao]

Help me find an online course (please)

Sam wrote: I am woeful at teaching English - I did give it a go a few years ago and it just isn't my thing at all. I felt like a complete fraud for the entire duration of it.

Hey mate, just put it into perspective for you. At the moment in China there is a dearth of English teachers with any qualifications at all. As in not even a highschool diploma. You have people teaching English, just because they look European or foreign.

Honestly, you're probably more qualified than the hundreds of thousands of these blokes making a sham of the trade. You shouldn't feel bad, at least you can conjure up a coherent sentence. Most of the teachers, bear in mind, the majority as in there are a few good teachers in China, are just there to sleep around and drink.

As long as you have a white complexion, you will be able to find a English teaching job easily and if you have a degree of any type from a Western institution, you will be eligible for salaries far higher than the average there. I remember international schools paying the educated teachers around 20k+ RMB a month, this is more than 6 times higher than the average salary of 3k RMB. You will live very comfortably if you don't mind the pollution.

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

I realise all of that. But what I'm saying is, I've tried English teaching before and it really isn't for me.

The proofreading thing isn't a whim born from a need for work, it's something I've been meaning to do for absolutely years and the fact I've lost a job recently has given me the kick up the arse to actually start looking at it seriously.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Help me find an online course (please)

Sam wrote: I realise all of that. But what I'm saying is, I've tried English teaching before and it really isn't for me.

Wasn't for me, either. Hated it for the first couple of years and only got the hang of it when I was lucky enough to be trained by others who were really good at it. But it paid the bills (just!).

Attempting to do it without training is suicidal. With a CELTA it's tough. With CELTA and good in-school support it's manageable. With diploma/MA level study, it becomes quite fascinating. The problem is with the "in-school support" bit, which is sadly rare as most foreign language institutions, even the supposed world-leader I work for, care more about revenue than quality. The industry is at a real low-point at the moment in terms of innovation and quality.

Despite this, it's an essential skill to have in your pocket if you're living abroad and worth investing in. It opens lots of doors because you're in constant contact with people, and those people are usually quite rich and influential, especially if you want to do things like proofread or translate.

Added to that, whilst the industry is failing itself around the world, EAL is in massive demand in the UK, so it is something to fall back on were you to return to the UK.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Help me find an online course (please)

Also, apologies if I'm derailing the thread slightly. However, I know lots of British people who live comfortable lives in foreign countries who earn money as writers, journalists, photographers, translators and musicians. However, everyone of them has language teaching or assessment in their back pocket. It's just an essential stand-by to give you assurance that bills will always be paid.

edit: know a couple of actors too.

[Sam]

Help me find an online course (please)

Thanks for that steveeeeeeeee; I wasn't ignoring that, but rather started with the course and forgot about this thread (I've just been reminded by seeing it right under the well-trained militia thread, which I wanted to add a post to). I guess I'd consider it in the future, but the money earned by English teachers here is terrible too, and doesn't rise at anything like an amount in keeping with inflation (inflation is about 35% annually here), which doesn't help.

Good news is a new gig has come up which should be starting soonish, and would have me back to somewhere near my earning level of the last few years. That takes the pressure off the proofreading somewhat, hopefully (the course is really bloody interesting, though, so if anyone finds this thread in the future whilst looking for advice on it, my feedback after almost completing the first module is: go for it).