How do you feel about english written by foreigners?

Hi all,

There are many CPFers who don't speak english as their mother language - including me. I've been wondering sometimes how do you people speaking english as your mother language find this - you see every day posts written with very different english skills varying from poor to excellent. Are you sorry for seeing english text filled with mistakes? Or are you smiling when reading an expression that is technically correct when it comes to grammar, but simply extinct in UK/US. Are you glad that you have a very useful mother language, practically english is nowadays what esperanto was supposed to be? Or you don't care as far as you understand the point in post? Feel free to tell your attitude

-N

Finally I have to tease you a little bit: Two dice, one die. Like two mice, one mie. Well ok, that is two mice, one mouse. Like two hice, one house. Peculiar language, english!

I don't think most native English speakers understand what a difficult language it is to learn due to the irregular grammar, the words that have multiple meanings, the slang, etc.

When CPF members from non-English speaking countries make a post I don't expect it to be perfect; I appreciate the effort that it takes.

I don't mind it at all. I work with lots of people whos native language isn't English and I am always impressed they have made the effort to learn another language. I am also appriciative of the many folks in foriegn places that add to this site because they can speak english. Being born an raised in the USA you hear an old saying. A person who speaks 3 languages is Tri-lingual, a person that speaks two is bi-lingual and a person that speaks only one is an American.

I personally find it much easier to understand most people that speak english as a second language, than trying to understand some of the garbage that comes from the mouths of the youth in the USA today. :thinking:

Blake

I have complete admiration and respect for any person who can speak and write in more than one language! What an accomplishment! I love the fact that CPF is an international group and I am happy to ship lights/items to buyers in different countries in an effort to make the non-U.S. members feel as much a part of CPF as us U.S members. Spelling, grammar or other errors in posts - who cares!

blake711 said:

I personally find it much easier to understand most people that speak english as a second language, than trying to understand some of the garbage that comes from the mouths of the youth in the USA today. :thinking: Blake

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I agree completely: I'm only 28 and I have very hard time understanding what finnish teenagers say... Maybe that's why my brother calls me "old fart"

-N

Personally I find it incredible how fluent many of those that do not live in the US or a totally english speaking country are in english, when many of our very own citizens either do not know or refuse to speak English

also, I can't even fathom thinking a thought in my head in one language and having it come out of my fingers in another - or when you're typing in english are your thoughts in english or your native language?

After studying italian for 5 years in school I could still never get my brain to switch over to italian - it was always being translated, not just natural

Non-native speakers using English doesn't bother me at all, I don't feel proprietary about the language. In most cases they can use it with more skill than I can use whatever their first language is.

The thing that does bother me is native English speakers who can't speak English--I have the same problem others have mentioned with teenagers and kids these days. Maybe I'm an old fart, too.

myk said:

also, I can't even fathom thinking a thought in my head in one language and having it come out of my fingers in another - or when you're typing in english are your thoughts in english or your native language?

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I find myself more often translating from English to Norwegian than the other way around.

I often get surprised at seeing how bad the spelling, grammar and reading comprehension is for some of the native English speakers

Studies have shown that foreign students at US Universities have a better English vocabulary than the native students

Sigbjoern

Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I don't have to type in another language because I have enough trouble getting people to understand me in my native language.

I'm never bothered by a few mistakes in grammer. Mostly I'm amazed at how well the non-English speakers are able to communicate. I studied German in high school and college but would have a terrible problem trying to use it now. And, yes, sometimes reading the less than perfect posts do make me smile.

Geoff

I would be happy if the English speakers could just type right.

blake711 said:

...a person that speaks two is bi-lingual and a person that speaks only one is an American...

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I guess that I'm bilingual then; I know English and 6510 assembly language. :laughing:

Nothing worse than an illiterate TXT'er (mostly UK it seems, where we tend to use our mobiles to text more) and trying to read / decipher their post.

Not necessarily on this forum, though I have seen a couple.

And every "foreigner" who writes or speaks English does it so much better than I can use their language.

Best I can tell, most foreigners type much better than myself and the handful that do not I can follow along with what I think they meant.
I think it is great that CPF has members from all over the world. whether they spell good or not is not important for me.
Topper

abvidledUK said:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/1282718&mode=linear#post1282718

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Absolutely hilarious (or hilarios ??? ) thread, thanks for the link!

-N

The majority of posts I've seen in English from people in non-English speaking countries have much better grammar and spelling than those of native-born Americans. There was one person posting on a train simulator site whose English was so poor that I actually asked him what country he was from. He said he was born in the US. I was shocked, since his math skills were nothing short of genius level. It left me wondering how someone who was obviously educated and intelligent enough to do what he did lacked the skills to effectively communicate what he was doing. Seriously, 75% of the time if not for my own math abilities I just would have been clueless what this guy was talking about. Because of this you can't always say poor writing skills are due to lack of intelligence or lack of schooling. Sometimes the writer just never felt such skills were worth learning since they were able to get by due to proficiency in other areas.

As an American living in Turkey (presently) I find speaking American English VS Queen's English VS Slang to be highly amusing. Mixing English and Turkish terms together in the same sentence slows things down a bit but we do learn each others language that way. In a way, if you hold your mouth right.

Lately, we have been practicing "Turklish" or mixing English words, Turkish words and mixing parts of both into the same word. Mix well and add a heap of slang from both lanugages and serve warm. The best way to learn Turklish is by drinking Efes Dark (local beer) and watching Turkish MTV. Turkish youth keep me informed about the latest "American Slanglish" so I'll know what is going on when I return to the states after two years.

American English is starting to cause brain damage and that is my native language. It evolves so fast on the technical and slang sides I am surprised that those of you that speak/write it as a second language perform as well as you do! :thumbsup:

The object of the internet is to allow the world to communicate. As long as the point is conveyed, the exact "rules" are not a concern of mine. Maybe it has been years of bumbling along with Italian, Egyptian, Korean, Iraqi and now Turkish that lowers my demands of correct English usage. Somehow people in those countries have put up with my hacking their language in my weak attempt to communicate...I won't mind any attempt to communicate with my freakish language.

I'm in total agreement with everyone who posted and have the utmost respect for the effort our "foreign" members display in being understood. It's remarkable how many US natives have a poor understanding of the English language. Or is our problem one of lazy attitudes regarding communication?

It's too bad former president Jimmy Carter's desire to convert the USA to the metric system disappeared with his term in office. I'm happy that many CPF members are trying to standardize our measurements by using metric rather than English.

My mother tongue is Dutch but I'm happy this board is in English. It makes me practice my English more and as a student of an international university it is very important to have a decent knowledge of the English language. I'm also very thankful most CPF members make an effort to write proper English