Tortured grammar, broken English
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Jun 24, 2009 10:02 AM EDT |
The article content isn't bad but Erlik should have had a native English speaker proofread it for him. As it stands the article is a mess, filled with tortured grammar, mismatched tenses, inconsistent capiltalization, and generally broken English. From the introduction:Quoting:After all most people received their current operating system preinstalled with their computers or purchased it in a box at a retailer such as best buy or office depot. To some extend you can still do that with Linux, however there are also others, cheaper, options. "To some extend" and "others, cheaper, options"? Oy! |
| hkwint Jun 24, 2009 10:44 AM EDT |
My first articles on LXer were like that, but nowadays I receive help from native English speaking editors (thanks to Tom, Don and Scott). However, if you read it yourself the day after you wrote it, you are able to catch about half of the errors you made, I know from my experience. Anyway, life is hard when you write in a language that isn't yours, because much of the things that spring to mind can't be translated that easily. Especially idioms and figurative speech (had to look those words up also) can almost never be translated. Therefore if you write articles in another language they'll always look silly and if they were written by a kid - if you'd ask me. Because writing in another language is a constant struggle, you are more prone to stupid errors (there instead of their, where instead of where, to instead of too, extend instead of extent, that kind of common mistakes which the spelling checker won't catch) it seems. |
| Erlik Jun 24, 2009 10:57 AM EDT |
Remark noted, I will try to improve this! I re-wrote the first paragraph as it was indeed not very good. As you may have guessed am a native French speaker (although I have been working mostly in English for about 10 years now). The French have a tendency to make longer and more grammatically complex sentences. English bloggers usually make more "to the point" sentences. I try to adopt a more English structure when writing for the blog, but sometimes I slip. |
| jdixon Jun 24, 2009 10:58 AM EDT |
> because much of the things that spring to mind As a perfect example, that should probably be "many of the things". That's not the kind of detail I would expect a non-native speaker to catch. You do a good job Hans, don't let any complaints get to you. I agree that this particular article is badly in need of a good proofreader, but I'm not going to throw stones, as I doubt I could do as well in their native language. |
| caitlyn Jun 24, 2009 11:11 AM EDT |
@Erlik: Thak you for correcting this and not getting offended. I don't write en français unless I have a native French speaker, usually my mother, to check what I write for just the reasons Hans described. So.. I do understand and I feel your pain. I'm sure that when I speak French some of the smiles I get are because I don't express myself as well as I should and sound like a foreigner, which, of course, I am when I visit France. A story I've told before: Maybe 12 years ago I made a business trip to Israel. I learned Hebrew as a child and I can converse, albeit with some difficulty, today. I traveled with an Israeli and went to our office in Tel Aviv. Everyone there spoke English and that was the main language our very international business was conducted in anyway. They made the mistake of assuming that I didn't understand Hebrew or at least not well. To make a long story short there was a conversation going on where they switched languages to Hebrew assuming that was a way of excluding me. They were talking about me and the system I had designed for the company and what they were saying was just plain wrong. Next thing I knew I had fervently interjected with, Lo nachon! (Hebrew for "Incorrect!") and explained myself in Hebrew and, from what I was told later, did a perfectly good job of it. There was a stunned silence from everyone except my Israeli coworker who was laughing uncontrollably. He said (I'm translating here): "I told you she speaks Hebrew! She understands every word." From then on I was expected to be able to conduct business in Hebrew which was more than a bit difficult for me. Fortunately the trip was almost over. Erlik, your English is actually quite good, all things considered. |
| hkwint Jun 24, 2009 11:18 AM EDT |
Quoting:As a perfect example, that should probably be "many of the things". Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Nobody proofreads my comments, you see. Google is working on 'natural language spell checking' (for their wave-platform) that could catch errors such as 'been/bean', I hope it comes to Firefox as some add-on. |
| theboomboomcars Jun 24, 2009 12:11 PM EDT |
Hans I have encountered many native english speakers who use the wrong homonym quite often, so don't feel to bad about it. Some of these encounters were in reviewing comments from a seminar for Teachers, Librarians, and those interested in education of children. It was very disappointing how many teachers would use the wrong word. |
| Erlik Jun 24, 2009 12:11 PM EDT |
@Caitlyn
Don't worry, I never get offened but constructive, justified remarks like that. In fact I appreciate it when people are not afraid to be honest with me. In this case I made the mistake of proofreading my copy too soon after I wrote it, so I missed a lot of mistakes that I found easily today. As hkwint said, you should always proofread the day after you wrote a piece, not the same day. |
| Steven_Rosenber Jun 24, 2009 3:22 PM EDT |
I'm always writing for the blog and then looking back and cringing. Half the time I get back in there and fix stuff. That's half the time ... |
| caitlyn Jun 24, 2009 3:31 PM EDT |
@Steven: Trust me, I know the feeling. |
| Scott_Ruecker Jun 24, 2009 6:27 PM EDT |
@Erlik: I am glad to proofread and give suggestions on anything for you, just e-mail to me. |
| TxtEdMacs Jun 25, 2009 8:49 AM EDT |
I had a Partner
and so very literate was he.
He wrote like a demon
but only when a check was foretold. This Entrepreneur had problems doing his part. When dollars were only an image on a simmering horizon his words ceased to flow. So my meager skills were called upon to fill the gap we needed content. That's where were we at but who better could review my efforts? Well with a pro like that whose prose were matchless. Like missing and mangled text he saw not at all, if he bothered to even read. So Erlik, it could be worse. You will be helped. Me? I am still waiting for that last half of the rent check. Your Buddy Txt. |
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