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So you think you can proofread? Proofreader test online
May 20, 2011 | 10:13 am
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By Rich Adin
The Society for Editors and Proofreaders wonders if you are up to a challenge. To dispel the myth that anyone can be a proofreader (or an editor), the Society has specially created a proofreading test. Give it a whirl and see how you do. The test can be found at the Society’s website. Just click the proofreading test link in the “So you think you can proofread?” box. Or you can click this link to go directly to the test. Don’t worry — the results are private and I won’t ask how you did.
Via Rich Adin’s An American Editor blog
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Comments:
So is this for UK-standard usage or US-standard usage? Because they are different.
I looked at this and it doesn’t test what is “proofreading” by my definition. It requires not just proofing but fact-checking. For instance is the conversion of kph to mph correct, was George IV’s wife Caroline or Catherine?
Ellen, but that’s just it – an editor’s job does include a certain amount of fact checking. It’s not just checking if correct grammar and spelling is used.
I passed the test (barely), which kind of amuses me since English is not my native language. However the test itself does have some problems – one of the questions is whether you should add a space to “websites”, but the source text already has it as “web sites”, so no change is necessary. In addition it subtracts a point from removing / in “km/h”, when what you’re after is kph for both – or km/h for both (which I prefer, but it wasn’t an option).
Oh yeah, inconsistent space usage in “105km/h” vs. “95 mph” wasn’t mentioned in the test question. Looks like they missed that. I prefer SI usage of having a space between numbers and units, but in English this seems to be rather inconsistent. IMO put a space in there as it aids readability and also makes it easier for translators – wont you please think of the translators?
Fun test but it takes a while.
Yes, I understand an editor’s job includes fact checking. However, I distinguish that from “proofreading,” which to me would be a ways down the scale from editing. Guess I need to make sure I’m clear on what exactly is required – or offered.
81%.
I disagreed with some of their answers.
I don’t like as many commas as they do! And I prefer em-dashes.
Frode wrote:
“but that’s just it – an editor’s job does include a certain amount of fact checking”
. . . but isn’t this a test of ‘Proofreading’ ?
After all the site does say …
“Try our new multiple-choice proofreading test and discover what proofreading involves – and whether you have what it takes to do it”
It’s a test for the job “proofreader”, not simply the task “proofreading”. In that respect I think it succeeds in giving the impression that it takes more to be a good proofreader than simply having a good grasp of spelling and grammar. Note that this didn’t even go one step further like you’d have with an editor, which would question the content, not just facts, and also offer suggestions on how to improve the writing so it reads better.
Oh, wow! A bunch of language nerds, like me. Hooray! =)
I really did not think this test was very good at all and I am a Legal Secretary that proofreads on a daily basis!
Not a good test…..