Dear readers,

welcome! In this newsletter, you will regularly hear about what’s new in my neck of the woods, that is in the world of editing and translation.

In my Side Notes, I give you insights into my working style as an editor and translator and I provide you with tips for your own writing projects. Hopefully, I can even help you look at your own texts with fresh eyes.

I am so pleased to welcome you as my readers and I am excited to learn how you like my side notes!

Warm regards,

Teresa Johnson

—
Teresa Johnson, Ph.D. 姜心悦
German (native), English, Chinese

Lektorat Johnson
Services: Editing, Proofreading, Translation
Specialization: Academic Writing, Nonfiction

Tips from your Editor

Write, write, and write some more…

When we write, we often expect that we will write everything down in one go. When we get stuck, we quickly get frustrated with the process. We might even ask ourselves whether we are simply no good at writing. But wait a minute! That line of thinking is a fallacy. Because writing is a (sometimes long) process – a thought process. That’s why it is absolutely worth it to rethink and rewrite our writing! And the result will most certainly be better than the first draft.

Asian Studies

Correct citations are an important part of academic writing. Commonly used in Asian Studies and Chinese Studies in particular is the citation format according to The Chicago Manual of Style, in short: Chicago. For this reason, I would like to show you various examples of how to cite common source types with this citation style.

Citations with the Chicago style: books (monographs)

In the footnotes:

Rania Huntington, Ink and Tears: Memory, Mourning and Writing in the Yu Family (University of Washington Press, 2018), 56-57.
Klaus Mühlhahn, Geschichte des Modernen China: Von der Qing-Dynastie bis zur Gegenwart, 3rd, extended and updated edition (C.H.Beck, 2025), 85-86.

Shortened footnotes (for repeated citations):

Huntington, Ink and Tears, 149.
Mühlhahn, Geschichte des Modernen China, 88.

In the bibliography (sorted alphabetically):

Huntington, Rania. Ink and Tears: Memory, Mourning and Writing in the Yu Family. University of Washington Press, 2018.
Mühlhahn, Klaus. Geschichte des Modernen China: Von der Qing-Dynastie bis zur Gegenwart. 3rd, extended and updated edition. C.H.Beck, 2025.

Best not to write like this…

The following examples are taken from various media that I encounter in my every day life at work and at home, in German and in English. These examples illustrate that there are many texts (and spoken words) out there that could have benefited from professional editing before they were published. I am not trying to expose anyone. Therefore, I only name the general genre or medium, not the person or the exact source who published these examples.

(Unfotunate) real world examples:

• Rezeptbuch: „Im Herbst ist der Pfälzer Wald ist voll von Kastanien.“
• TV, Privatsender: „…das ist durch die Nervosität geschuldet“
• LinkedIn-Diskussion: dabei handelt es sich um „Zahlenorientierte Bereiche“

What I’m reading in February

Upcoming Events

February 2026

Stuttgarter Buchmesse, Saturday, February 28, 2026

The editor’s association Verband freier Lektorinnen und Lektoren (VFLL) has its own booth at the Stuttgarter Buchmesse. The VFLL will be represented by members of its regional branch Baden and Württemberg. I am excited and looking forward to a day filled with many visitors and of course my wonderful colleagues of the VFLL!

Interested in my editing services?

How about a trial edit?

If you would like to get to know my style of working as an editor, a trial edit is the way to go. I will edit your text for exactly one hour. Afterwards, I return the edited text to you and we discuss my feedback for you in a phone or video call.