Back when I taught in higher-ed, I was extraordinarily fortunate to teach students in first-year and advanced writing courses. Why was this such a blessing? Let me count the ways.
First, it brought some much-needed fresh perspective to what's honestly a pretty homogenous--linguistically and dialectically speaking--situation. That is, a university-level composition class is supposed to teach students strategies for successfully using what some of you undoubtedly think of as "proper English" but which I think of as "Standard Edited English" (SEE) or "Standard American English." Moreover, students aren't just expected to know (or learn, if they don't already know) SEE, they're supposed to know (or learn) a specific dialect of SEE/SAE, the hyper-correct, syntactically dense academic dialect of SEE/SAE.
The truth is that this academic dialect is often a foreign dialect to first-year students, even those who are native English speakers.
When an international student was in class--especially those for whom English was a second language--the native speakers had almost no choice but to confront the fact that their "native" way of speaking and writing was not, in fact, the only acceptable way to use their language. When they started getting papers back with comments from me like "Your metaphor here is unclear to me. What do you mean by 'a huge deal' when referring to the importance of tone?", they might be more likely to wonder, "Why did I use the word 'huge' instead of 'important'?" They were at least more open to my asking them to reconsider and explain their choices.
Second, it gave me a chance to find out more about where and how English is being taught around the world. My African students--whether from Nigeria, Ghana, or Ethiopia--all had learned British English, with its preference for preterites spelled with "t" rather than "(e)d" (e.g., I learnt how to spell in school) and such. Same with my Western European students from Germany, Greece, and, of course, Britain. My Asian students generally had learned American English conventions, but they struggled with syntax (wide is the divide between English syntax and Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Korean syntax!). Eastern European students--from places like Kazakhstan and Serbia--had learned both British and American conventions and were often comfortable switching back and forth. Thinking about the geopolitics behind how each of my students had learned English gave me a deeper sensitivity for their difficulties in adjusting to an American first-year writing class.
Third, and least important, whenever I had a student who used British English, I was transported to my own time in Europe when I lived in London and Paris. Sometimes, it's the little things...
So, what can Laughing Saint Editorial LLC do for international English speakers?
We can copyedit a document of any length from any dialect of English into American English. We can help you with light copyediting on a cover letter for a job in the States, medium copyediting of your resume, heavy copyediting of grant, or developmental copyediting of a book you'd like to market to an American audience, just to name some examples.
We can help you write important documents in American English. This is a service we offer to anyone, but we developed it with job-seekers in mind. If you need a resume, CV, or cover letter in American English, contact us to find out more about our international copywriting services.
We can also help you learn more about American English if you've learned a different dialect. This would entail working with you on reviewing and revising documents you've already written in English and on a few reading and writing exercises we'd send you. If this is what you think you need, contact us today to ask about our hourly rates for American English tutoring.