4 ms·
English second language speakers (like myself) often use words out of place or the wrong words. The reasons for that is simple - often you think of something bu
by w00pla 17y ago
English second language speakers (like myself) often use words out of place or the wrong words. The reasons for that is simple - often you think of something but there is no direct translation (there aren't a one to one mapping between words in languages). Another reason is that you have to keep on using new words - otherwise you will end up with the vocabulary of a five year old.
- CamperBob 17y ago(Shrug) When I need to do something outside my core competency, such as publishing a letter in Farsi, I ask for help from someone qualified to do so. How hard can it be to find someone willing to look over an English letter and offer suggestions?
- malkia 17y agoNow how practical is that? I'm bulgarian, my english is bad, my accent is even worse. I take it that there is no right language, no right accent.
- CamperBob 17y agoI take it that there is no right language, no right accent. I can't speak for Bulgarian, but English has standard rules of grammar, spelling, and usage. Anyone who's made it through K-12 public education in the US should be able to help you with those rules, if you ask them. If you're trying to communicate, why not make the marginal effort to do it right? Or is that an ethic only native-born English speakers should adopt?
- petewarden 17y agoI'm from England and I sometimes struggle to make myself understood here in the US! I'm a lot more sympathetic to my colleagues who have English as a second language now, it's far from a 'marginal effort' to do it right. I'm grateful that people are making an attempt to share something in a language I can understand, I don't see the gain in making them feel bad if they break a few grammar rules in the process.