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Tackling the tentacles of technical talk

Three years ago my husband and I became proud first homeowners of a property on Wellington’s

south coast. As anyone else who has been through this process will know, it is a time of high (and mixed) emotions. 

On one hand, you’ve finally got your own nest, to personalise in whatever way you desire. On the other, you nearly die of fright every time you log in to your online banking and see the 6-digit home loan figure glaring back at you.

Buying a home is often the biggest investment a person will make in their entire life. It’s a very serious matter.

A second wave of shock

We had our home loan approved by a well-known bank, offering the best interest rate at the time. They were quick to sign us up, once we’d proved our worth, and soon enough the screeds of home loan documents arrived.

I’m neither a lawyer nor a financial expert, and so the thick wad of complex pages sent to us by the bank was – to be frank – overwhelming. The fact that this loan document was tying us to an enormous financial commitment didn’t help either.

It’s natural to want to fully comprehend what you’re getting yourself into in these circumstances. But with heavily loaded words such as conveyance, insolvency, liability, and execution all littered about the contract, I quickly got the feeling that I was out of my depth.

If only we’d known

My husband and I spent considerable time painstakingly picking our way through those documents. We eventually felt we’d got a decent grasp of our responsibilities. It was clear to both of us, however, that a simple (plain language) explanation of some of the more technical terms would have been worth its weight in gold.

If only we’d known about Write’s free ebook, Unravelling Financial Jargon. This tool gives definitions of, and plain alternatives to, many common financial terms. It’s the ultimate financial jargon buster!

Get yourself a free copy of Unravelling Financial Jargon here. And let us know if you’ve got any jargon you want busted – we’d love to add it to an update of our ebook!

Read about Money Week

Find out about Write’s workshops in technical writing

Stitched up

At lunchtime, four of us walked over to the quilting exhibition at Shed 11 on Queens Wharf.

The quilt to the right was not part of the exhibition. It was a quilt made by a participant in the Shut-in Stitchers programme at Arohata Prison.

The programme, which has been going for 20 years, sees two (see update, below) Wellington women share their love of quilting with Arohata inmates. As this article and video clip explain, the programme gives the women the chance to work together, to learn a new skill, and to make something they are proud of.

The quilt I photographed was a first for its creator, but she is now working on another to give to a family member.

Shut-in Stitchers is supported by gifts from quilters and quilting shops, and by raffles to raise funds. So if you are in Wellington, make your way to Shed 11, and buy a ticket in the raffle that supports Shut-in Stitchers.

UPDATE: From an email sent by a quilter friend of my quilter friend: "Both June and Janet would be quick to point out that they are not the only tutors in the programme. Each of them leads a team of tutors from across the Wellington Region and a variety of quilt groups, not only Wellington Quilters' Guild. Sometimes as many as ten tutors are involved in the two classes that are run each Saturday."

Using language to foster peace

In the late 19th century, a young Jewish physician named Ludwik Zamenhof became deeply troubled by fractions between people in his home city of Bialystok, Poland.

Zamenhof noted that Bialystok was populated by four distinct ethnic groups at the time: Russians, Poles, Germans and Jews. He attributed much of the unrest between these groups to their inability to understand each other. He felt language diversity was the greatest cause of separation between groups of people.

So what did this peace seeking idealist do? He constructed a new language. Zamenhof used his own linguistic talent to create a neutral communication tool that’s easy to learn, with an underlying goal of fostering peace and international understanding.

Zamenhof’s language, known as Esperanto, now has an estimated 2 million users in around 115 countries.

Find out more about Esperanto at www.uea.org.