Let’s explore “Proofreading” as one of the most prominent freelancing careers.
Language is a remarkable human achievement that reflects our culture and knowledge. It has complex and elegant systems and rules that produce meaningful and expressive forms. Language records the emotions, history, and discoveries that humans have accumulated over time.
Proofreading is a profession that is concerned with producing language in its most aesthetic and refined forms. It aims to correct and improve texts in terms of structure, expression, and eloquence. Our Arabic language is one of the most sophisticated languages. A single word has multiple meanings, and multiple words can convey the same thing. It is also a derivational language, with meanings derived from its roots and morphological system. Moreover, its writing system is the most advanced one, as we only write what we pronounce, and rarely ever do we pronounce letters that are not written.
Proofreading the Arabic language thus requires a lot of precision and diligence to convey the intended meaning of the writer. It has increasingly become an important online job that many people pursue as a freelance career.
Back in the day, Arabic language proofreaders mostly worked in publishing houses and media outlets. But now, the Internet has created more opportunities and made it easier and faster to access them.
Therefore, new challenges have emerged for proofreaders. Since most of the content on the Internet is written or read, the text must be corrected to convey the information accurately and eloquently.
A single misplaced punctuation mark in the Arabic language can mess up the meaning of the whole sentence. Much less if it was a spelling, grammatical, or rhetorical error. Therefore, the role of an Arabic language proofreader is vital. Proofreading has become an indispensable job that has easier conditions, with the help of modern technologies.
This guide will provide you with the necessary skills to start your aspired career in Arabic language proofreading. We will also show you how to improve those skills and list a step-by-step roadmap for proofreading.
As a proofreader of the Arabic language, you should possess a knowledge of the following:
Grammar:
You should know the grammatical functions of words and the correct way to write them so that their meaning reaches the reader accurately.
You should also put the grammatical marks in their appropriate places, such as nominative, accusative, and genitive cases, or omitting a vowel letter.
Spelling:
An essential skill for proofreading, and one you should keep up to date. For example, the Egyptian Language Academy approved writing “maswuwlia” (the Arabic meaning of the word “responsibility”) in a certain way that the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus did not approve.
This requires you to heed the appropriate spelling approved for each country, according to the party you are working with.
Also, adjusting punctuation marks is vital; because they indicate the meanings of sentences, and have their importance in e-articles according to the rules of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Rhetoric:
This is where your creative sense shines. Rhetoric involves reformulating clumsy sentences, choosing eloquent words, and arranging the words of the text in a good way.
Formatting:
You should have a full understanding of the appropriate text formats for the content, as the formatting of a story differs from the formatting of an electronic article.
As a proofreader of the Arabic language, you should follow these steps when proofreading any text (These steps apply to proofreading all languages):
When proofreading the Arabic language, you should consult several sources to verify your information. Some of these are:
As we mentioned, opportunities are more varied now thanks to the Internet, as you can market yourself to the whole world by showing samples of your work. Proofreading, in particular, has expanded beyond the scope of publishing houses and audiovisual media centers to a much broader one. It now involves editing content on electronic websites, audio recording sites, YouTube and other social media platforms, and much more. This is done to refine the language and ensure the accuracy of the content and message behind it before publishing it.
In sum, the fields of freelance proofreading include:
Thus, a proofreader works to ensure that the message is delivered from the creator to the recipient in a clear and correct way.
Everything considered, a proofreader must have an understanding of the underlying meanings, not just the superficial ones of grammar and spelling, as the message lies in the nuances between words.
The journey of “Alaa Abou Jahjah” in proofreading began at the Faculty of Arts, Department of Arabic Language. There, she learned about the nuanced realms of language and pursued a master’s degree in teaching Arabic language before working in proofreading.
Abou Jahjah says: “The fine rules of accurate scientific writing in research have greatly added to my experience, as I became more careful in choosing my words.”
“And because each individual acquires a myriad of information that enriches and refines his experience throughout the course of his professional journey, I worked with great diligence and enthusiasm and edited many scientific research papers and theses, in addition to electronic articles.”
Alaa continues: “From my humble experience and brief journey in proofreading, here are some tips that will help you on this career path:
You are welcome to reach out to me and I will be happy to assist as much as I can, hoping that I have provided you with something useful.”
A proofreader’s job is as important as any other work in writing. Correct linguistic accuracy is an essential aspect of writing that cannot be ignored. Therefore, anyone who wants to pursue a profession in proofreading should be familiar with all the information mentioned in the article.
Supervision: Alaa Abou Jahjah- Proofreader
For contact and inquiries: alaaaboujahjah@gmail.com
Also read: