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I write in Portuguese with confidence. Then I started to get confidence writing in English. Then I got confident enough to start writing a newsletter with writi

• ativzzz 7y ago
  The best thing you can do for yourself is ignore comments like that on the internet, or simply treat them as constructive feedback. Meaning, ignore the "I don't trust any writing advice" and just note the typo, fix it, and move on.
  • soneca 7y ago
    That's what I did. But even if consider my advice to be mostly "language agnostic", i.e. not about grammar and orthography, I am pretty sure the recurrent small errors and weird phrasings undermine my reputation as someone that could teach the reader something
    • ahuth 7y ago
      Maybe, but even native speakers have small errors and weird phrasings. Whoever thinks you can’t teach them because of a small typo probably wasn’t going to learn anything anyway.
    • kostarelo 7y ago
      > I am pretty sure the recurrent small errors and weird phrasings undermine my reputation as someone that could teach the reader something I'm living and working in London and English is not my native language. I'm doing lots of grammar and orthography mistakes every day. They really don't matter as long as I'm able to get my point across. That's all it matters. Even if someone was in the position to tell me that they don't trust me, I would leave BUT I would go somewhere else, I wouldn't go back to my home country. Well maybe the above doesn't completely fit your case, I just wanted to share my 2 cents. OS: I have been writing in my tech blog in English the past 5 years. Often times I'm catching my self reading my older posts and just can't stand them. They are awful. :D
    • fouc 7y ago
      That's probably sort of true, but that would only undermine your reputation with a minority of your readership. And over time your grammar/phrasings etc would improve. You could speed it up by having an editor review your work and that way you can also have confidence your reputation isn't going to be undermined.
      • soneca 7y ago
        I think a very small minority would call me out on that small mistake, but a significant number of people would kind of feel the same way. Having an editor would definitely help! Good idea to think about. Just not sure if a free blog is worth investing that money.
        • fouc 7y ago
          It doesn't necessarily have to cost money to get someone to offer a second pair of eyes. Could be a friend or interested party. You could add an attribution "Edited by <name>" so they get something out of it perhaps. It's pretty common amongst webnovels, translations, and fanfiction for an editor to help out and get attributed.
    • jonahx 7y ago
      If you're upfront about it, it's fine. If I'm reading a piece by an author whose 1st language is not English, I'll make adjustments in what I think mistakes say about them. Most readers will. And I'll be focusing on content and ideas and glossing over sentence details. It can be even be a positive, "This is impressive writing for a non-native speaker..." If, on the other hand, you are trying to pass yourself off as someone with the same command as a native speaker, I'll be turned off.
    • pjc50 7y ago
      On the other hand, you can be almost completely incoherent and still become president. It's all about what you offer your audience.
    • wooolfgang 7y ago
      I think tools like Grammarly can help solve your problem with grammatical/spelling errors. Why not give writing another try?
• JaimeThompson 7y ago
  It appears that certificated is a word at least according to 1913 Webster http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=*&Query=certificated http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=*&Query=cer...
  • soneca 7y ago
    I found the same on googling it. But to be honest it was just the Portuguese version of the word misleading to this form, rather than a profound knowledge about its accepted variations in the last century.
    • JaimeThompson 7y ago
      Maybe. But something to keep in mind is that the person who called you out has issues and most likely should be ignored. Who talks that way to others in an honest discussion?
    • ionforce 7y ago
      > misleading to this form, rather than a profound knowledge This doesn't sound native either.
• boldslogan 7y ago
  "that person has been certificated"... I mean english is funny, and that could have been right anyways. You could have said certified. For what it is worth.
• Swizec 7y ago
  "certificated" follows the rules of English phonology [0] and we all understand what it means. To have been certified with a certificate. Congratz, it's a word. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_phonology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_phonology
• abtinf 7y ago
  Certificate is commonly used as a verb in the United States in education. I've personally heard and seen the phrase "certificated teachers" in California, Washington, and Texas. I've never seen the phrase "certified teachers" anywhere. I think the usage may stem from the legal requirement for teachers to hold an actual certificate prior to being employed. I think it is different from "certified" in that no organization is attesting to anticipated performance, instead merely indicating that some past effort happened. For example, a law school graduate is certificated, but not certified or licensed. They could go around claiming they are "certificated in law" without breaking the law.
  • diminoten 7y ago
    I don't know if lying to the commenter is in his best interest. One who has obtained a certificate is "certified", not "certificated" in layperson English. It's stilted English to say "certificated", even if technically correct. Obviously it's not reasonable to trust/mistrust someone who makes this mistake, but the nugget to pull from this is that "certified" has a meaning and use in English.
    • avinium 7y ago
      Certificated is definitely a valid word, though perhaps not in "layperson English". In (Commonwealth) legalese, share holdings are referred to as either uncertificated or certificated.
    • deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
• jake-low 7y ago
  For what it's worth, I just subscribed to your newsletter. I read your last couple of posts and I think they're great. Native speakers don't have exclusive rights to give advice on how to communicate. I really hope you'll keep writing.
  • soneca 7y ago
    Thanks, that was nice. I will think about it
• diminoten 7y ago
  I think this is a story that's supposed to make the reader feel bad for you, and it does, but not because someone was mean to you. I feel bad for you because you couldn't handle the inanity of the Internet. You're going to need thicker skin if you want to find success, because people will always cut you down, doubly so if you're on the right track.
  • soneca 7y ago
    Don't feel bad for me and your supposition is wrong. Your assumptions for my reaction are also wrong.
    • diminoten 7y ago
      Methinks I'm less wrong than you realize, if this is your reaction.
  • Zancarius 7y ago
    This is golden advice, especially the last bit. It sounds mean, and maybe it could be phrased nicer (minus the "I feel bad for you" part), but it's not wrong. All socially interactive sites online will eventually attract people who attack someone doing a service, as in the case of the OP, and they will do everything they can to insult you, make you feel bad, or generally fling all manner of dirt in your direction. Worse, if you stop doing what you're doing you're essentially giving them exactly what they want: Stop posting. The best solution is to continue. Double down if need be. Learn something from it and move on. In fact, if the OP really wants to get back at them, continuing to write is probably the best way forward. Hell, find someone who would be willing to edit your work. Also, recognize that mistakes will be made. Multi-million dollar publications with dozens of editors on staff sometimes have glaring mistakes slip through the process. There isn't much more you can do as a solo writer without hitting diminishing returns in the pursuit of perfection. Judging by the comments, it looks like the "mistake" wasn't, which makes this situation even more absurd, and the willingness to give in even more so! Ultimately, just recognize some people are toxic. And like diminoten said: They will always cut you down. If someone isn't willing to offer constructive criticism, or take the time to write it, nothing they've written is worth reading. Treat it that way. Amusingly, I had something similar happen to me on social media recently over my use of the colloquialism "performant" that's often used here on HN (and plenty of places elsewhere--just search Wikipedia for some examples). Except in this case, it's not a word. Rather than do what they want (I'm not sure what that would be), I doubled down. They weren't adding anything to a technical discussion (and admitted they knew nothing about the subject matter), so I politely told them that if they wanted to interject with anything, to keep it on topic. They didn't. I persisted. They blocked me. Sometimes the problems solve themselves, but it's important not to let them dissuade you from enjoying what you're doing. You HAVE to be a bit more aggressive. It's not easy (I know, trust me), but in this case, the OP is doing something that sounds like it's beneficial to a lot of people. Don't stop doing it because of one jerk. If you do, we're all worse off.
• bonestamp2 7y ago
  Comments like that are such bullshit. Nobody is perfect. Surely that person has made plenty of mistakes in writing (so why should we take any stock in their dissenting comment?). One small mistake doesn't make you any less qualified. The fact that you're actually doing it makes you 100x more qualified than someone who doesn't have any experience doing it. English is my native language and I write a popular blog. My blog won a web award and a W3 writing award, so you could say that a number of industry professionals believe that I'm a decent writer. That said, I fucked up once and swapped lightning/lightening in one of my posts and I got a very similar comment to yours. Those comments may have a tiny bit of truth - that you got something wrong - but the rest of them is bullshit; because, if we didn't trust experts who make small mistakes, we couldn't trust anyone at all.
  • Zancarius 7y ago
    I really like this sentiment, because it's absolutely true. As I wrote elsewhere: If someone isn't willing to write constructive feedback/criticism and they're reaching for the low-hanging fruit of insults and disparaging remarks, nothing they've written is worth reading. Ignore it and move on. Learn from it if you have to, but it isn't worth any further mental effort--much less going so far as to let it knock the wind out of your sails and stop posting!
    • deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
• Antoninus 7y ago
  People who make those comments are rarely fluent in more than one language. I'm a native speaker myself but the grammarly extension catches me slipping every now and then. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/grammarly-for-chrome/kbfnbcaeplbcioakkpcpgfkobkghlhen?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/grammarly-for-chro...
  • atupis 7y ago
    Yeah not native and Grammarly is god sent. The only big minus is that it will send all my writing to the cloud. Is there similar but less intrusive addons?
    • robinoh 7y ago
      Earlier discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16422166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16422166
• drieddust 7y ago
  Well you are correct as per oxford dictionary[0] . I got a similar from someone for the word "architected". In my opinion its best to ignore and carry on. [0]https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/certificated https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis...
• CalChris 7y ago
  Certificated is a word but it’s a British word and what would they know about English?
• DonHopkins 7y ago
  To my ear, certificated sounds like a technical term describing a web server after you configure it to support https.
  • benschulz 7y ago
    Really? To mine it sounds like a compound describing how someone with a Java EE certification just defecated all over our code base. ;)
  • rimliu 7y ago
    To me, it sounds like a direct transliteration from the native language to English. In Lithuanian, "certified" is "sertifikuotas" which is way closer to "certificated" than "certified."
• croo 7y ago
  Oh dear. Confidence is such a fragile thing is it? Whish I had confidence as a muscle to train it every day.
  • blankaccount 7y ago
    Confidence can be trained as a muscle every day: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Six-Pillars-of-Self-Esteem-Audiobook/B002V59R9C https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Six-Pillars-of-Self-Esteem-Au...
• cmbailey 7y ago
  The FAA deliberately uses "certificated" as opposed to "certified" when referring to pilots and flight instructors. It insists that conveys a distinct and useful meaning because they don't certify pilot quality. Instead, the pilot has been issued a certificate confirming that they passed a test to a particular minimum standard. The reason for the difference is to convey that there is no assurance or guarantee that the pilot consistently and continuously meets this standard. Unlike with a "certified used car", the FAA is not going to be held responsible if your pilot crashes your plane. Reference: I am an FAA-certificated Flight Instructor and Commercial Pilot. [Edit: typo, thank you lkschubert8]
  • lkschubert8 7y ago
    The two quoted words "x as opposed to y" are the same word. I assume that the latter should be "certified".
  • phasetransition 7y ago
    I prefer this particular word sense. Personally, it would inspire more humility about what a certificate means and my ability to consistently apply the knowledge behind it. It gives pause immediately as I consider things I could apply it to.
• elefantastisch 7y ago
  Whether something is a word or not is not binary. "Kdqroeisjxjdoeo" is most definitely not a word. "Dog" most definitely is. "Adorbs" is probably considered not a word by many. I say it is one. Language changes constantly. It is created by speakers, not by some external authority. Anyone giving the correction "that's not a word" likely has a misguided understanding of the nature of language. A word is something speakers say and hearers understand. New words are made every day and old words fall out of use every day. That's just how language works. See also complaints about using "literally" to mean "figuratively". The sense of the word is changing to include what was previously its opposite. This is neither the first nor last time that will happen. Advice on language usage should always be contextual. "Adorbs" is fine on Twitter, probably not a good idea in a contract. As others have pointed out, "certificated" has use in many contexts. Even if it wasn't in known use, the meaning is clear and this kind of pieced together with prefixes and suffixes jargon is quite common these days in technical or semiformal writing.
• cmurf 7y ago
  I'm a native English speaker, and published author, and I f* up English all the damn time. Keep writing!
• Nihilartikel 7y ago
  > "I don't trust any writing advice from someone who thinks "certificated" is a word" Viewing the world that way is its own punishment - if they're too lazy to evaluate advice on its qualitative merits and feel the need to latch on to petty ad-hominem criticism of spelling and grammar then they don't deserve the potentially valuable information that they've left on the table. Conflation of personal judgement for critical evaluation is probably a theme in their life.
• kirso 7y ago
  People are weird... don't take it personally and focus on the crowd that appreciates your writing!