I think I know how you feel. I'm not a native speaker too, and for a long time I was not confident on how to properly communicate what I wanted. Regarding HN,

I think I know how you feel. I'm not a native speaker too, and for a long time I was not confident on how to properly communicate what I wanted. Regarding HN, I think, you want to cut the fluff (contrary to what others said in the comments). You ask a question to get an answer. Here are two aspects of it: - If you ask something, I expect you to have put at least some time and thought into your question beforehand. This could be a quick google search or go to Algolia [1] and see if someone asked a similar question before you. If you find something, but the question remains, attach it to your post. Others then don't have to start over again and can give you a better answer (or follow-up question). - If you want to show good will (without clustering your post with disclaimers), actively avoid absolutisms. See what I did in my fist sentence in this comment: I can not possibly know how you feel. But I can tell you that I think I know it. I'm taking a step back and communicate that I might be wrong, but this is how I feel/ observe/ think/ reason/ etc. - you get it. Edit: For example [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=how%20to%20ask%20questions&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...