Chantal Weyermann – Language is a means to an end

Language is a means to an end – and you have to know how to use it carefully

There are indeed people who hate the red pen. They dread it, the pen that slices through letters they have so painstakingly put together like a scalpel, pulling them apart and reassembling them differently, perhaps even in a new order. And then there are writers, having been no less diligent and having often rewritten their text multiple times, who are ultimately happy for the red pen to perfect their work, ensuring everything is correct, helping to make content understood, aiding reading flow, and giving the message a nice tone. The red pen: yes, we all know it. For some a necessary evil, for others a quiet advisor or even a secret friend. Chantal Weyermann, one of the guardians of polished language on the n c ag proofreading team, laughs as she picks out the latest tag in the series above as her preferred one.

Interview with Chantal Weyermann in 2017, Proofreading & Editing at n c ag, Urdorf – Thomas Gysin

The responsibility of the proofreading and editing team is very wide-ranging and mainly geared to the wishes of the customers. For many jobs, proofreading in the true sense of the word is all that’s required, i.e. language just checked and amended for correctness. Attention is paid to ensuring that grammar is correct, spelling complies with current conventions and punctuation is used correctly. Other clients, however, are interested in more and ask for an additional final edit, involving stylistic changes, suggestions for alterations, or the checking of content. This does make sense for more demanding texts. Complex content in particular often makes it difficult for an author to write in words that outsiders can understand straight away. Here a proofreader or editor is in an advantageous position, as you have the necessary distance from the subject matter to formulate content neutrally and, if necessary, differently to make it more understandable. This gives the text what it really needs in terms of reading flow. Complex content is usually hard to formulate for people directly involved in what it covers. For those receiving a message, however, it is important to understand that message. So, for example, a doctor who explains their findings using language of such academic complexity that the patient can’t understand anything could end up scaring the patient. But if the doctor explains things in understandable language, they create trust. This is the only way for communication between someone wanting to communicate something and a person needing to understand it to be possible. Language is foremost a means to an end. This is the case with content and messages on any topic.

The language of a company as part of its corporate identity

Everyone is familiar with the visual appearance of a company or brand. The typography of lettering, the logo that goes with it, colors and shapes stick in everyone’s mind. We call this corporate design, one component of the overall corporate identity (CI). Not many people are aware that companies and brands also use their own language, names and spelling. This terminology is an inherent part of a well-managed CI. Depending on the job and the price, it is also part of the proofreading process to preserve this consistency in content and messages. If outsiders don’t even notice these features when they read the text, then you have done a good job, the terminology of the CI has been taken into account and used correctly. In contrast, phrases that are spelled differently or contain errors would attract attention. Ultimately, this damages the image of a company or a brand. In communication, the consistent use of a company’s terminology is therefore extremely important.

Wordplay – how to win or lose at it

Chantal Weyermann correcting a text at her desk - n c ag — Open-minded and inquisitive, Chantal likes to travel and is also interested in other cultures. She’s willing to dive into things she’s unfamiliar with, from the straightforward to the complex. Which of course helps her hugely in her work, as you have to understand a topic and look at it properly before judging it. Language is a means to an end – and you need to be able to use it subtly and carefully, says Chantal.

You can easily interpret a text as implying things that the author didn’t intend to write. Words, sentence structure, the way you can formulate a message are hugely varied. Caution is needed. In the case of important texts, like those intended for the public, special care is needed to avoid unintended interpretations. These kinds of mistakes can happen to anyone, anywhere: authors working on a text alone within their own four walls and relying solely on their own perspective, or when several people have a hand in a text and it’s finally passed on to third parties or even printed without a final review. The so-called quality control, which every company applies in manufacturing or in finance, is thus also advisable in communication – for example in the form of a proofreading review.

Chantal Weyermann privately sitting on a stone on the river bank - n c ag

Chantal Weyermann, Proofreading & Editing

Language was always something that fascinated Chantal Weyermann, and as a child she already wanted to become an interpreter. She eventually studied translation at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Geneva, followed by terminology and legal translation part-time. Chantal also worked for well-known Swiss companies, developing their corporate language. Today, she lives with her partner in a converted farmhouse in the canton of Thurgau, close to the Rhine. She has been part of the proofreading and editing team at n c ag since January 2016.