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> 1. Poor grammar and bad writing are often a sign of poor comprehension. Or a sign of a non-native speaker.
by jules 16y ago
> 1. Poor grammar and bad writing are often a sign of poor comprehension.
Or a sign of a non-native speaker.
- gloob 16y agoIs it common practice to let a non-native speaker write your technical documentation? (Honest question.)
- pietro 16y agoYes. English is used everywhere and by everyone.
- jerf 16y agoThere are other more reliable signs of the same sort of sloppiness that are independent of native language, which if I were analyzing a bit of documentation I would use. Using inconsistent terminology is probably the biggest one. I struggle with this myself. It doesn't matter what a "widget" is within your system, but it ought to be one thing and stay that one thing and everything that isn't that thing shouldn't be a "widget". (I'm not even trying to choose a generic word to make a point; I'm literally between two sessions where I'm working on the documentation for my local "widget" concept, which isn't quite like any other widget in the world, most likely.)
- billswift 16y agoEven in a non-native speaker they are still signs of poor comprehension. If you are going to have someone write your documentation, they had better know the language. I have not bought from some companies a second time because their documentation was so bad. And, truthfully, many non-native writers are as good as many natives. Non-native speakers can be more readily identified (if for some reason you want to) through unusual word choices or stilted (overly formal) grammar.
- j_baker 16y agoRegardless of whether or not it is the sign of poor comprehension, that's unfortunately the way it's regarded: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error If you aren't a native speaker, you should at least try to have a native speaker edit for you (resources allowing).