5 Tips for proofreading – avoiding Olympic failure!

5 Tips for proofreading – avoiding Olympic failure! You may well have read about the proofreading translation blunders made by First Capital Connect and the Westfield Shopping Centre (posters for Olympic visitors). It beggars belief that they didn’t check these posters BEFORE they went to print.

Westfield Stratford’s error appeared on welcome banners and on staff T-shirts.

The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) said the words were back to front and not joined up as they must be in Arabic. Caabu said what was written would be the equivalent of an English language sign intending to say “welcome to London”, instead saying “N O D N O L O T E M O C L E W”.

Full story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18971686
It is a natural part of the process to include proofreading any document that is destined for print. If you want to streamline the design and print process, why not improve your proofreading skills by following these 5 easy steps:

• Use a spell checker and grammar checker as a first screening, but don’t depend on these.
• Read the text aloud and also silently.
• Point with your finger so that you read one word at a time.
• Don’t proofread for every type of mistake at once – go through the text once for spelling and then again for missing/additional spaces, consistency, font sizes, etc.
• It can be difficult to proofread your own work and it is not advised. Find a fellow employee who can look at it objectively.

Here at Atlas we offer proofreading in English as well as any other language you may require. We highly recommend proofreading any document that is destined for print. It saves any embarrassment occurring further down the line… or even the train line….