About this course
The videos included in this course are recordings of a live class. The instructor is not available for questions or feedback at this time.
In this webinar, Jana Bianchi and Diogo Ramos, Brazilian writers and editors who have Portuguese as their first language but write fiction in English, will share tools and tips they use when revising a draft in English—simple habits that, besides allowing writers to overcome recurrent obstacles (like vocabulary range, false cognates, untranslatable words, and problems with idioms, collocations, grammar, and punctuation, among others), also help them to gain confidence in writing in English.
Topics Covered
- Vocabulary range
- False Cognates
- Untranslatable words
- Idioms
- Collocations
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Bonus tools
Student Takeaways
- Main challenges related to language as non-native speakers
- How to access and navigate online and print tools and resources for composition and language learning
- How to develop your own personal tools
Duration of Class
55 minutes
Course Curriculum
About Diogo & Jana
Diogo Ramos is a teacher, writer, and editor-in-chief of Revista A Taverna (Twitter @atavernarevista), an online Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine that publishes short stories written by Brazilian authors in Portuguese. Based in Rio de Janeiro, he’s been teaching English as a foreign language for almost fifteen years. In Portuguese, his fiction has appeared in renowned Brazilian SFF magazines such as Faísca and Suprassuma. Once in a while, he dares to translate stories from English to Portuguese.
Jana Bianchi is a Brazilian writer, translator (from English and Spanish to Portuguese), and editor-in-chief of Mafagafo magazine (Twitter @mafagaforevista). Her fiction has appeared, in Portuguese, in several Brazilian collections and magazines. In English, her work has been published or is forthcoming in Clarkesworld, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Fireside, among others. She also attended Clarion West in 2021, and gave several in-person and virtual workshops on writing, narratives, and podcasting in renowned Brazilian institutions.
Together, Diogo and Jana edited the bilingual anthology Positive Views of Democracy (Mafagafo + A Taverna), funded by the NDI—an NGO from the USA which works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms, and values—and organized by Dr. Amy Johnson (MIT). They also gave other versions of this course in institutions and events like Clarion West and Flights of Foundry, with attendees from several different countries.
