John Sigler

Language consulting by John Sigler

Beyond teaching English, John Sigler also works as a language consultant. Language consulting encompasses a wide array of services that can be of use to companies, organizations and individuals that do not use English as their primary language. To date, most of John Sigler's consulting work has been focused on individual projects, but he is interested in full-time employment and/or long-term contract work in this field. If you or your organization would like to hire John Sigler as a language consultant, please contact him.

The language consulting services offered by John Sigler include, but are not limited to:

Proofreading and Editing

Proofreading and/or simple copy editing involves reviewing already composed documents, webpages, brochures, or other written materials to correct spelling and grammar mistakes as well as ensuring that the material is presented in a standardized, and appropriate, format. This service is often used by organization or individuals that have already composed the material in question and want to make sure that it is ready for printing or to be placed online.

Substantive editing involves a comprehensive review of already composed material looking for internal consistency, information flow, legibility, terminology, content structure, appropriate formatting, as well as spelling and grammar issues. After the review, substantive changes are then made by adding, removing and/or changing the material as needed to ensure a professional presentation. In this respect, John Sigler specializes in business, financial, and legal documentation; material in other specialized fields (medicine, science, &c.) would not be appropriate.

Writing

When requiring an English-language presentation, it is often a more effective strategy to provide the requisite data and a general sense of the message to be conveyed and then have the language consultant compose the document. As noted elsewhere on this website, John Sigler is already a writer and can provide this service as required. However, it should be noted that John Sigler is NOT a translator, therefore the information information provided should be in English.

Analysis and Interpretation

Analysis and Interpretation generally relates to helping clients understand English-language material that they have received from elsewhere. Many specialized English-language documents, webpages, or other material carries very specific meanings that might be missed or misinterpreted by non-English speakers. John Sigler can help review the documents in question identifying the meaning, the tone, and suggesting appropriate responses if requested.

Training and Coaching

Training usually relates to teaching specialized English terminology to groups or individuals. Customer service teams, delegations to foreign conferences, and others have found this a useful service. The idea is not to teach English from beginning, but to train groups and individuals that already have basic English on how to deal with particular situations or scenarios. John Sigler specializes in business, financial, and legal English, therefore training in other specialized fields may not be appropriate.

Coaching usually pertains to individuals, but group coaching or standby coaching for groups is also possible. The emphasis here is on oral communication and helping non-native English-speakers make their oral presentations as professionally as possible. John Sigler's emphasis is on the language usage itself (grammar, pronunciation, &c.), not on general methods of making a presentation, e.g. public speaking.

Event Consulting

Event consulting combines all of the above services as well as others, such as identifying problems that foreigners may have) related to specific international events that will involve a lot of English-language content. These may include conferences, the reception of organized delegations from abroad, exhibitions, and so on. The full range of English-language consulting services are employed to ensure that the event runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Does John Sigler have any experience as a language consultant?

Yes. Discounting a few preceding occasions, John Sigler's real experience in this field began in 2005 as Managing Partner of Andalus Graphics in Denver, Colorado. This small business primarily catered to the local Arab, African, and Indian communities and involved extensive proofreading, editing, writing, analysis and interpretation. At about the same time he also began helping an international non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Switzerland with similar consulting services. Many of the same services were also provided when he was English-language editor the Arabic/English monthly Akher Khabar newspaper and he gets regular experience with proofreading as a volunteer proofreader for Distributed Proofreaders Europe, a service of Project Gutenberg Europe. Since leaving the United States in August of 2008, he has also provided these services to individuals and small businesses in both Italy and Romania.

How are John Sigler's consulting services priced?

Excluding employment and long-term contracting, where the terms of employment or the contract will determine this; pricing is exclusively done by project. Some projects may cost very little and can be paid with pocket change (for example, reviewing and correcting a small menu for a restaurant) whereas other projects may be very expensive (such as event consulting). It all depends on how much time and work is involved, whether or not additional materials are required and what services are required. If you have a question about pricing a specific project, please contact John Sigler.

Will John Sigler accept online consulting work?

Yes. For those consulting services that can be done online (proofreading, editing, &c.) John Sigler is happy to accept online commissions. However, payment will be expected in advance via PayPal, which allows the customer some recourse should the services rendered not be satisfactory. PayPal is good with dispute resolution.

Language consultants often provide translation services, is John Sigler a translator?

No. John Sigler is not fluent in any other languages besides English and is therefore not qualified to provide any translation services.

Legal English is mentioned as one of John Sigler's specialties, does this mean he is qualified to provide legal advice?

No. John Sigler is not, and has never been, an attorney and is therefore not qualified to provide legal advice. His specialization comes from eight years of working in legal analysis and compliance for Fiserv Investment Support Services (see the Employment history at the bottom of the Affiliations page) as well as extensive research and writing on international legal topics.