Less confident English speakers

[gumbald]

Not sure if I'll get shot down for this, if people think I'm trying to highlight people, but here goes... I've seen more and more people recently posting on the forums, then apologising at the bottom of their post for their bad English. Would it be possible to implement some kind of flag in the post banner if to show this instead. It would be the user's choice whether to display this setting, depending on their confidence. This would IMO serve two features, saving them having to apologise, and ensuring that replies make good sense...

That's all :)

And wasn't sure where to post.

[daou]

I don't see where the need to apologize for one's "bad" English comes from. The fact that a person even tries to write sensible English with the knowledge they have should be enough to satisfy any native speaker.

[raqball]

I don't see where the need to apologize for one's "bad" English comes from. The fact that a person even tries to write sensible English with the knowledge they have should be enough to satisfy any native speaker.

I agree :)

[nbound]

The few times where i have seen people apologise their english is great, but even bad english should not be apologised for, the person is still learning the language, and hasnt done anything "wrong", so why apologise?

[matthew]

The few times where i have seen people apologise their english is great, but even bad english should not be apologised for, the person is still learning the language, and hasnt done anything "wrong", so why apologise?I agree. Do your best with the language and if people here can't understand we will try to ask you nicely and kindly for clarification.

[Reshin]

All your base are belong to us!



couldn't resist....

[RudolfMDLT]

I can speak the English language deliciously i just can't spell the bloody words! Thank Heavens for Firefox 2 with the spell checker!:D

[MedivhX]

If someone read my posts, what do you think how's my English??? Is it understandable?

[nbound]

Looks good to me... also... I like your taste in music :D

[gbutler69]

It is totally unnecessary for a non-native speaker to apologize for less than perfect use of the English language.

Grammar/Spelling Nazis must die (Joking)!

[daou]

All your base are belong to us!



couldn't resist....

:D
Unfortunately for Japanese people, the logical structure of their language translates somewhat comically into English when the words are only substituted with their English equivalents.

[Sef]

then apologising at the bottom of their post for their bad English.

I always tell them no need to apologize. If they ask for help with their English, then I will critique their post; otherwise, I just answer their question.

[maniacmusician]

just to make sure everyone knows, the OP wasn't saying that people who have bad english should always apologize, but that instead of apologizing every single time they could set something in their profile or whatever.

@OP: I really don't think that's a good idea, sorry. It's a little seperatist, even though I know you didn't mean it that way.

and of course I also agree with the rest of you that people shouldn't feel the need to apologize. But as non-english speakers in an english forum, they feel a little uncomfortable and will no doubt feel the need to apologize. Human nature. All we can do is just tell them that their english is perfectly fine.

[Titus A Duxass]

Non native English speakers should not apologize for their English.

Some of the English speaking natives should be taken out and shot in my opinion.

[Lord Illidan]

I don't think it is a good idea to flag, etc. I sympathise with non native speakers, and hope that they can improve their English by communicating on the forums.

[ironfistchamp]

I sometimes get a little annoyed at the "sorry for my bad English" line. I find that some non-native english writings are better than some native ones. Especially mine. I seem to think in a random order and type it like that too.

[MedivhX]

Well I got an A from English today!!! Hooray!!!

[gumbald]

It's a little seperatist, even though I know you didn't mean it that way.


I was trying to put it across as gently as I could, not separate people. It would just give them the option, if they choose, to show that they are less confident. I agree that people shouldn't have to apologise, but it is becoming more and more common as Ubuntu spreads further across the world. Didn't expect such a debate :)

[ember]

Well - I cannot assent to the idea of a flag that tells I am not a native speaker. I read these forums for quite a while and though I notice some errors, I have never had problems to understand the meaning of a post.

Also it seems like 'sorry for my bad englisch' is a often rather fishing for compliments than anything else. This is acceptable when done in an oral conversation (in fact sometimes I do it myself), but rather unnecessary in written conversation.

[gumbald]

It wouldn't have to be forced, but optional if you feel that your English isn't as good as you want it to be. I'm not trying to segregate people who's native language isn't English. This would save fishing for compliments...

EDIT: pressed the wrong button

[indigoshift]

Also it seems like 'sorry for my bad englisch' is a often rather fishing for compliments than anything else.

I'm not sure about that. It always seemed to me that "sorry for my bad English" was shorthand for "English isn't my first language, so if this made no sense, that's why!"

At least that's how I've always taken it. When I'm having a hard time understanding the post, I always check out the last line for a "bad English" warning. If I find one, I go back to the top and start again, and try to figure out what the poster's native language is. :)

At least they're not the "chatspeak/txtspeak/1337sp33k" people. I mean, OMG D00D THEY R SO LAEM DONT U AGR33???11 ;)

[daou]

If I have problems understanding a post, I simply ask for clarification. I give a list of alternative ways to interpret the post and ask the author to point to the correct interpretation.

[Bigbluecat]

In such an international forum as this I assume that English is not the first language and proceed from there.

I would not be in favour of a flag as non native English speakers may feel that they are obliged to mark it and it is a separation.

There is no obligation on this forum to reveal your location or nationality.

We are all just people looking for help, trying to help or just plain socialising. That is as it should be.

[Reshin]

1f j00 (4n 1234d 7|-|15, j00 n33d 70 937 |41d


:mrgreen:

(sad part, I understood it on first read)

[daou]

1f j00 (4n 1234d 7|-|15, j00 n33d 70 937 |41d

The truth hurts, doesn't it ;) .

[Bigbluecat]

1f j00 (4n 1234d 7|-|15, j00 n33d 70 937 |41d

I don't get it;)

Oh. Sorry. I do get it. That's why I can't read it:mrgreen:

[JayTee]

I agree with the majority here that posters needn't apologize for their english. We can always ask for clarification. If someone posted and asked specifically for help writing a clearer post I'd be happy to help them with their grammer but I think to interject in a post some correction of the grammer or spelling is kinda rude and insensitive. The fact that they've made an effort to learn english and type a post in it shows they are open to learning and shouldn't be discouraged. I occassionally like to hang out in Spanish chat rooms to try and improve my spanish. Yo hablo espanol un poco pero no no fluido. :)

[indigoshift]

I occassionally like to hang out in Spanish chat rooms to try and improve my spanish. Yo hablo espanol un poco pero no no fluido. :)

I'd help you with that, but I only learned the bad words. ;)

[chickengirl]

It's always been my impression that non-native speakers tend to say so so that they won't be thought "stoopid" if they make mistakes. But, it's always been my experience that non-native speakers and genuinely "stoopid" people are fairly easy to tell apart. The two groups tend towards different types of mistakes.

[adam.tropics]

Bring on the day when translation software is good enough that we can all traverse the web in our own language, entirely transparently to one another....well, one day!

[23meg]

I almost never have trouble understanding people who apologize for their bad English; they're usually doing much better at getting their point across than they think they are. Actually now that I think of it, I have more trouble figuring out what some native English speakers mean when they make common mistakes like you're instead of your or vica versa.