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  • What is SENSE?

    The Society provides a variety of services and opportunities to suit the varying tastes of all SENSE members.
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  • Special interest groups (SIGs) +Read More

    Special interest groups (SIGs)

    SENSE members regularly get together in Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for meetings, workshops, webinars and discussions about a variety of topics.
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  • Workshops & webinars

    SENSE organizes about one workshop or webinar per month. See our Calendar for upcoming events.
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  • Mentoring +Read More

    Mentoring

    The Mentoring Programme brings experienced SENSE members into contact with less experienced members seeking advice and/or training.
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  • Management

    SENSE is in the safe hands of the Executive Committee (EC), the Team Leaders (TLs) and other volunteers.
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  • Publications +Read More

    Publications

    SENSE publications include a Handbook for starters, guidelines for students who need editing services, monthly newsletters and ocassional mailings to members, and a blog with interesing articles written by members.
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  • Forum

    SENSE members have access to a private forum where they can chat, ask questions from colleagues or comment on society matters.

  • Sister organizations

    SENSE wants to actively pursue good relationships with other organisations in the language industry.
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What SENSE is

SENSE is a society for English-language professionals based in the Netherlands. We currently have about 250 members, including technical, style and copy editors, translators, proofreaders, copywriters, interpreters, journalists, teachers, researchers, academics and language/communication consultants. SENSE members usually live in the Netherlands or have a professional connection to the country, but they work with English (either full-time or part-time, freelance or in-house).

What SENSE does

SENSE supports its members in many ways. The Society:

  • helps language professionals meet the special challenge of working in English in a non-anglophone setting.
  • organizes workshops, webinars and social events for members and non-members alike.
  • hosts an online Forum where members can ask questions and discuss issues.
  • organizes get-togethers called Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to meet, discuss and learn about topics related to the group's interests.
  • operates a mentoring programme in which more experienced members provide guidance to less experienced colleagues.
  • provides a membership database where members to find colleagues and make useful contacts.
  • presents useful information and resources for starters in an online Library of files.
  • maintains an active presence on Facebook (both public and private), LinkedIn (both public and private) and Twitter.
  • engages in advocacy and promotion of standards on behalf of language professionals in the Netherlands
  • encourages communication between societies and institutions involved in language.

History of SENSE

SENSE was founded in 1990 by a small group of English-speaking editors living in the Netherlands. Their objective was to form a society that could deal with the problems of language attrition and linguistic isolation faced by English-speaking language professionals living and working in a non-anglophone country. Since 1990, SENSE has attracted many native speakers of Dutch, who bring valuable perspectives on working in the English language industry in the Netherlands.

Read this article about how it all began.

Publications

The following publications are available to the public