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What to Expect From a Proofreading Course

Taking a proofreading course is an entirely new experience compared with any other kind of class. The expectations are different, and the format of the course feels much more relaxed than others if you’re taking it online. If you’re worried about what to expect from a proofreading course and what will be expected from you, then read on to assuage your fears.

Time management

When you take a proofreading course online that lets you go at your own pace, you have to learn how to manage your time well. You won’t have someone telling you when each lesson needs to be completed. You’ll have to ensure you do that yourself within an appropriate schedule, particularly if your proofreading course has a time limit on the subscription.

If you aren’t in the habit of using a day planner and scheduling time for tasks, it may be time to start. This is a good lesson to learn from your proofreading course, particularly if you want to make editing your career. You’ll need to know how to manage your time appropriately for deadlines if you work as a proofreader from home.

Prepare for quizzes

What would a learning experience be without methods to test your knowledge? Just because a proofreading course is online doesn’t mean you won’t have quizzes. Expect a few here and there to ensure you have learned what you’ve been taught in the lessons. Don’t be intimidated by these. Most courses have features like games and other learning tools to help you learn and retain knowledge. All these quizzes do is make sure you are getting the most from the proofreading course so you’re as prepared as possible for your future editing job.

Learning the symbols

Like almost anything else, proofreading has a technical language. This comes in the form of proofreading symbols you’ll need to use on the job. These are important for helping you communicate your message and your edits to the next person who reads the copy. In some cases, this person may even be you, returning to the copy to make the edits.

Information on the business

The last thing you want is to be thrown into the world of professional proofreading without any knowledge of how the business itself works. A good proofreading course will help prepare you for that. You’ll get knowledge on the inner workings of the business from people who have been in it for years.

You’ll learn the ins and outs of different editing options so that when it comes time to decide between freelancing and working in-house, you’ll know the pros and cons of either option. You’ll also learn what is expected of you as a proofreader. Of course, each company expects different specific responsibilities from their editors, proofreaders, and writers, based on the style or genre. With your proofreading course, you’ll be given the tools you need to follow any expectations required.

Testing your grammar

If you’re hoping to become a proofreader, you must have a solid foundation in grammar. The proofreading course should (and will) test your grammar skills. You’ll learn the rules you need to know to be a good proofreader. At times, you may find this task challenging, complicated, and convoluted. A good proofreading course will prepare you so that the rules become easy and second nature. It is best if you have some kind of foundation in the rules of grammar before starting your proofreading course.

What You’ll Learn in Proofreading Class

Mark Twain, a former typesetter turned journalist, once quipped, “In the first place, God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made proofreaders.”

That quote is often recounted on the first day of a proofreading class. It demonstrates an important lesson: great authors need a proofreader, even if they don’t always appreciate the profession.

A proofreading course from a reliable provider will teach you to confidently tackle the manuscripts of any future Mark Twains. A thorough course will help you develop many new techniques and refine the language skills you already had.

Many people think proofreading is all about finding typos and spelling mistakes, but there is, in fact, much more involved.

What to expect from proofreading class

The first lesson in a proofreading class usually covers what proofreading is and isn’t.

The aim of proofreading is to ensure that you do not submit articles filled with spelling errors and bad grammar. Ideally, an editor will have already worked on the text to make sure the message is clear.

Many people confuse editing and proofreading, but the basic difference is that editing concentrates on the content, making sure the discussion or story is logical and coherent. Proofreading focuses on eliminating errors without changing the content.

Proofreading is usually the final stage in any publication process, so proofreaders have the responsibility to be consistently accurate.

Perfection takes more than practice

Imagine you have to work on a 60,000-word manuscript. That’s about the length of a short novel. How can you possibly make sure that every word is spelled correctly and occurs in exactly the right place within its sentence?

In a proofreading class, you will learn techniques for ensuring accuracy. One useful method for new proofreaders, especially for finding omitted and repeated words, is to read the text out loud. (Don’t worry, you won’t be asked to do this with a whole novel when you’re starting out.) The idea is to get you to slow down and look at each individual word.

Usually, when we read, our eyes skim over the text, picking up patterns of words. As long as the first and last letters of the word are in the right place and the word looks about the right length, we will be able to recognize it.

You can esaliy undresatnd tihs setnecne, for emxalpe.

After some practice, you will train your eyes and brain to carefully examine the letters of each word without reading aloud. You’ll get steadily quicker, too.

Combining speed with accuracy

While proofreaders have to consider every word carefully, they have to work efficiently, too. For that reason, you will learn some useful shortcuts in a proofreading class.

For example, you will learn to look out for many commonly confused words. There are the obvious homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently), such as “their,” “there,” and “they’re.” But there are also many less noticeable bad grammar examples that even a spell-checker won’t pick up:

  • “principle” instead of “principal” (and vice versa)
  • “affect” instead of “effect”
  • “accept” instead of “except”
  • “complement” instead of “compliment”

The same, only different

Just to make it even more confusing, a proofreading class will also teach you that even some correctly spelled words will be wrong in some circumstances. Take “color” and “colour,” for example. Some publishers will only accept the American English spelling (“color”), while others insist on British English (“colour”).

As a proofreader, you will have to adapt to each publisher’s preferences. Fortunately, most major publishers, including universities, provide an overview of their particular demands in a style guide. Other publishers follow established style guides, such as the Chicago Manual of Style.

In a proofreading class, you will learn about the different spelling rules of the many varieties of English and get a crash course in the most common style guides. Be sure to sign up for an accredited training course with a good reputation.

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