If you are not a native speaker and writer of English, you have my deepest admiration and respect. Although I’m a native English speaker, I’ve studied several languages (more on this below), so I know what a struggle it is to produce a solid piece of writing in a language that you don’t speak as a native.
I have years of experience working with speakers of other languages—particularly Russian and Arabic—and editing texts translated into English from other languages. I love taking interesting and beautiful ideas, no matter how they were originally expressed, and finding the best way to capture their essence in clear, colloquial English. In order to do that, I always work closely with the author to make sure that I completely understand his or her intent.
I can work with you at any stage in the writing process: as a developmental editor, during the original drafting; or as a line or copy editor, to refine an existing text so that it reads as though it was originally written by a native English speaker. Along the way, you choose the level of feedback you want. If you want your text just edited and corrected—I can do that. If you would like detailed feedback, along with the reasons why I made changes, I can do that too—and actually, that is my preference, so that you can grow and develop as a writer of English.
Just in case you’re curious—the languages I’ve studied are Russian, German, and Turkish. My strongest, and the only one in which I’m reasonably fluent, is Russian. So, пожалуйста, давайте работать вместе!
Stephanie made the editing of my non-native writing a wonderful experience. She praised me on sections which she considered well-written and put forward her suggestions in such a way that I felt that my text was being improved, rather than corrected. What’s more, Stephanie was remarkably careful about my content: she involved me in the editing process by asking questions and my opinions, thus making it feel like a collaboration. I truly got the impression that she loved my text as much as I did. For me, the fact that Stephanie speaks Russian was an absolute stroke of luck. I could not choose the editor for my textbook because I was working through a publisher, but if I could have chosen, it still would have been Stephanie.
Natalia Parker, Author of Russian in Plain English