The Crave
Weekly tips and stories that will help you do your job and make you smile (or groan).
By Jerry Virta March 17, 2022
Dear non-native content marketing writers
I don’t have to tell you how to improve your language skills. But I wanted to write this piece for you to reach out and tell a bit of my story on becoming a content creator and sharing some tips that you can use in your work. My mom always tells the story of me learning to read. At the age of 5, I started pointing at signs at the supermarket, yelling out the words written on them. I don't know which one of us was more shocked. My sister started school two years before me, and I spent all my afternoons doing homework with her. I was particularly fascinated by the language (Finnish, at the time). I traced letters with my crayons, shadowing everything my sister did. I wanted to read and write so bad. And that fascination has gone on ever since. Languages were always my favorite subject at school. I made it my mission to master Finnish, a very complex language. Sure, I’m a native Finnish speaker, but you have to do some serious work to achieve impeccable command of it. To this day, I list my verbal and written skills in Finnish as my strengths that I’m highly proud of. After seven years of living abroad, I’ve lost some bits and pieces, but I’m actively trying to keep it up. Deciding to move away from Finland and do my studies in English worried me. Not because I felt that I wouldn’t manage it, but because I wasn’t sure if I could ever reach the same command of English that I have of Finnish. It soon became clear to me that my professional career would not be in my mother tongue. And my love for marketing and writing meant that I would be using a non-native language to create content for audiences. Yikes!
To quote one of my favorite TV Latinas, Gloria Pritchett from Modern Family: “Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?”. I don’t speak Spanish, but you get the picture.
It can be frustrating.
Being the only non-native content creator in my team working in content marketing makes me experience some levels of Imposter Syndrome or feeling lesser-than. Trying to find a phrase that fits the context (or, as we Finns say: like a fist in the eye) often results in pure confusion from my colleagues and me having to tone down my writing. To quote one of my favorite TV Latinas, Gloria Pritchett from Modern Family: “Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?”. I don’t speak Spanish, but you get the picture. It can be frustrating. I’m writing this because I know that there are a lot of content marketers that aren’t native speakers in the language that they work in. It can be scary, especially when you’re starting your career, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Working in a team that encourages me to write boosts my confidence and motivation to do better with every written assignment.
Here are the steps I take that could help some other non-native content creators:
1. I do feedback rounds and brainstorm sessions to find suitable phrases and sentence structures. Sometimes, I unintentionally translate directly from Finnish and then find out that it doesn’t exist or make sense in English. A bilingual brain is such a drag sometimes. 2. Take full advantage of having superstar writers around you. Exhale their talent, process it, and turn it into your own. I've often adopted my colleagues' writing techniques. 3. I grow my vocabulary by reading books and watching films. I know all the different terms for white wine and offensive words used by rich ladies towards other rich ladies. All jokes aside, consume content that deals with the topics you write about. 4. If you’re like me, then making mistakes scares you. That’s why I triple-check my spelling. (Sometimes I google words that I’ve known since I was 12, just to be sure!). Using a proofreading tool, like Grammarly, is a great way to keep your spelling in check. Extra tip: ensure quality assurance is part of the content creation workflow and always complete it before publishing. Here’s how I do it. 5. Last but not least, actively ask to be corrected. I know it's easier said than done, but it is the only way to learn and become a better writer.
Becoming professionally fluent in your second language is a huge deal, and you should be very proud of yourself. People from different backgrounds and cultures working in content marketing bring fresh perspectives and insights. It's great to have content that's inclusive by bringing different voices to the table. I write blog articles about my specialty, content operations. At the end of the day, who’s better to write about your daily work than you? So, if you ever feel lesser- than, that’s okay. Just consume the content and language around you and keep writing.
Let’s talk about it together!
Share your thoughts on LinkedIn using #thecravediscussion This week’s topic: What's your biggest insecurity as a non-native writer, and how do you cope with it?
Currently craving
- Think what you will of Anna Delvey, but that woman truly succeeded in New York as a non-native English speaker (until it all went south [but that had nothing to do with her language skills]). Inventing Anna on Netflix is guaranteed Shonda Rhimes quality. Bingeable.
- This episode of Storytelling Secrets podcast discusses the topic of catastrophizing: Thinking of the worst possible outcome before anything has actually happened. It introduces a book called The Daily Stoic that can help you if your mind plays tricks on you.
- I wrote an article about quality and how to guard it throughout the content creation process. It's a good read for everyone who works in content operations or production.
Jerry Virta
Content Ops
About the author
I’m Foleon’s content governance police and quality gatekeeper. Besides telling people what to do, I enjoy creating written and visual content, wandering in nature, and consuming trash tv.