Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I noticed that many non-native English speakers apologize for their use of English in help posts online. I wish such people knew that readers who correct their English are not doing so because they are upset by the mistakes, but rather because they had a difficult time understanding what they were trying to say at first and had to arduously work through their meaning.
My point is that if your English is weak, there's no need to apologize. Native English speakers understand and accept that many people in the world have weak English, and that it's nothing to get angry about. If you're being corrected, it's only to help others understand you better in the future, not to berate you for being bad.
This post was not directed at anyone in particular and was also not written directly after reading anyone apologizing for their English. It's just a thought I had.
I noticed that many non-native English speakers apologize for their use of English in help posts online. I wish such people knew that readers who correct their English are not doing so because they are upset by the mistakes, but rather because they had a difficult time understanding what they were trying to say at first and had to arduously work through their meaning.
I agree. If we can convey this to non-native English speakers who have a good grasp of the language, and direct the ones that have real trouble with English to the appropriate forum for the language that they speak, we can help all of them.
I thought they did it out of politeness. They excuse themselves for the higher effort readers have to make to comprehend their texts and for the aesthetically displeasing mistakes they might have made. It's also an indication that they are willing to improve and not just lazy.
Yeah, a lot of nominally unnecessary words are added to discourse in the name of being polite.
Plus, it provides some indication that the author is trying to improve -- after all, the first step to improvement is recognizing that you have a problem. :) Thus the apology tells me "This person cares about how they present themselves online, and they're doing their best." I'll be far more inclined to treat them with respect than I will be those who are just lazy and don't care that their spelling and grammar are atrocious.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Better to say "sorry for my English" than "pardon my French"... ;)
Anyways, I agree with the OP's sentiment that getting upset when someone corrects your usage of the language is silly. Personally I would probably still be making many mistakes in my English if people hadn't corrected me. (Not that my English is yet perfect. I mean mistakes that I used to make that I don't anymore.) The best way to learn a language is for people to teach you that language.
What upsets me is when people keep making the same mistake that renders the meaning of their words ambiguous, and when you try to point their attention to it, they take a defensive stance, "yeah yeah, nobody is perfect, sue me". And then they continue making that mistake.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
I think the reason people do this is to thank others for taking the time to carefully read their post despite the fact it's probably hard to read through. It's not a bad thing to do.
Personally, I'd read the post even if it didn't contain an apology, but some other people might disagree. The internet is not known to always be a very friendly place.
My point is that if your English is weak, there's no need to apologize. Native English speakers understand and accept that many people in the world have weak English, and that it's nothing to get angry about. If you're being corrected, it's only to help others understand you better in the future, not to berate you for being bad.
This is probably true for most native speakers, but certainly not all. Old-timers might remember Xkeeper's particularly retarded views on the subject, which was my forum signature for years.
Then there was the time when a very well-respected forum member continously made fun of some guy's english, to the point where my respect for said well-respected forum member dropped from ~89 to ~32, and hasn't moved back up, even years later. I have a bit of a sore spot for this issue I guess, since I find it an extremely douchtard'y thing to make fun of. Thankfully, like you say, most native speakers aren't douchetards.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
Some non-native English like me apologize their mistake because they think that's the spelling, grammar, etc are not good or just think that nobody won't understand. I admit that sometime I get upset about my English, but I always said myself not to worry about my English.
Well, mistakes can always happens, we're human and we learn from our mistake.
Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 700
Location: suffern, ny
If you native language is not english, and you are giving it your best shot, I do not care. If you butcher the english language, and its your native tongue, I do care.
[19:16] <scrimpy> silly portuguese
[19:16] <scrimpy> it's like spanish, only less cool
If you native language is not english, and you are giving it your best shot, I do not care. If you butcher the english language, and its your native tongue, I do care.
:)
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
I don't mind rule 73 either:
Dutch Multilingual Constant: 41.3 % of all multilingual forum-users that are fluently bilingual and capable of rudimentary conversation in two more languages is Dutch.
Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 700
Location: suffern, ny
moozooh wrote:
funnyhair wrote:
If you native language is not english, and you are giving it your best shot, I do not care. If you butcher the english language, and its your native tongue, I do care.
:)
I guess that is what I get for typing quickly and Not paying attention! Thanks Moozah!
[19:16] <scrimpy> silly portuguese
[19:16] <scrimpy> it's like spanish, only less cool
