MissionAssist have spent a number of years researching simplified forms of English. As a result, we have developed our own form of simplified English, which we call EasyEnglish. We have produced a writers' manual, a lexicon, a biblical glossary and a computer program to help us produce EasyEnglish materials to a consistent standard.

The applications of this are enormous, including Bible Commentaries for the developing world, translations into EasyEnglish of materials for Christian societies and missions, instruction manuals for software and computer Help screens. There are estimated to be a billion people in the world who are able to read EasyEnglish.

EasyEnglish Vocabulary

EasyEnglish has two levels of vocabulary, known as A and B.

• Level A (very easy) has about 1200 words. It is suitable for people who are learning English as a foreign language.
• Level B (easy) has about 2800 words. It is suitable for people who speak English as a second or foreign language. It is about the same standard as the Cambridge First Certificate in English, which is a widely recognised standard throughout the world.

EasyEnglish Grammar

EasyEnglish is a formally defined subset of ordinary English. It uses ordinary English words (but only some of them!) and standard English grammar (but only some of it!). EasyEnglish is therefore perfectly good standard English, but because the words and grammar are restricted it is much easier to read than ordinary English.

The rules that our writers follow include:

• Short sentences
• Only one topic per paragraph
• No passive verbs
• No split infinitives
• No idioms
• No rhetorical questions
• No ambiguous pronouns
• Not more than two clauses per sentence
• Not more than two prepositional phrases per sentence

The EasyEnglish Writing Team

We have a team of people who are involved in producing EasyEnglish materials. This team includes:

• Writers - People who write original material in EasyEnglish.
• Translators - People who translate already existing material into EasyEnglish.
• Linguistic Checkers - People who check the linguistic consistency of the work. Our linguistic checkers normally have a degree in Linguistics or English (or similar) and a TEFL qualification. Experience of the developing world is also useful.
• Theological Checkers - People who check the theological accuracy of the work. Our theological checkers need a degree in theology (or a similar qualification).
• Editors - People who check drafts and final output for accuracy and consistency.

Printed and Electronic Formats

We supply our commentaries free of charge in electronic format. We distribute them via the Web and on CD-ROMs.

We also provide some of them in printed booklet form.

| EasyEnglish Home Page |