to all the english mother tongues of this forum

[kaomao]

Please read this before posting
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2rlZC1/:WNva6$!Q:blC30O8i/theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling/


It seems that we, the non-english mother tongues, don't fuck these things.
Yeah grammar nazi this morning lol
have a nice holiday dudes

 

[Atheist]

I'm always checking spelling and editing my posts and stuff... and then I see someone from US write "your" instead of "you're".

Anyone searching for the spelling of "definitely" would have seen this: http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/

 

[DanLights]

They forgot to put how people use apostrophes for plurals instead of contractions, that always busts my hemmorhoids hahaha

 

[ratsapprentice]

Non native speakers are almost always more concerned with technicalities than native speakers.
You'll find this with your own languages too, I'm sure British kids that learn French, Spanish or German to a proficient level at school (3 main foreign languages taught) speak in a more rigid and quite possibly awkward way than people for whom it's their first language do.
Even though they may have a good understanding of the technical side of the language, in fact it's because they have been taught rather than organically inheriting the language, and understanding how it's actually implemented.

It's because there is much less formal learning of the technical side of the English, I don't know whether that's how it goes with other countries learning their own languages.

 

[drew_drummer]

I see the flaws being pointed out.

Don't quite see how it relates to 'the non-english mother tongues don't fuck these things.' (before you get your crotchless panties in a twist, this isn't a quote; it is a paraphrase)

OP may have best English in the world. Still a bellend though.

 

[LeSedna]

I actually was corrected when I said "to lose"... I was right !

It would be even worse in French, I just don't remember most rules we were taught at school and someone learning it would correct me on a few words I would misspell because of their irregularity. Generally though its easy to spot a non native in French not for their spelling but mostly because of the awkwardness of the expressions they use

 

[DanLights]

Non native speakers are almost always more concerned with technicalities than native speakers.
You'll find this with your own languages too, I'm sure British kids that learn French, Spanish or German to a proficient level at school (3 main foreign languages taught) speak in a more rigid and quite possibly awkward way than people for whom it's their first language do.
Even though they may have a good understanding of the technical side of the language, in fact it's because they have been taught rather than organically inheriting the language, and understanding how it's actually implemented.

It's because there is much less formal learning of the technical side of the English, I don't know whether that's how it goes with other countries learning their own languages.

Oh yeah we have exactly the same stuff in Spanish, at least in Venezuela people always fuck up the words "ahí" ("there"), hay ("there is/are") and "ay!" (an onomatopeia, something like "oh" or "ouch" in English), and many other things, including many people not using the accent symbol ´ any more, which is important in Spanish (for example "Miro" is "I look", but "Miró" is "he/she/it looked")

 

[Nimvi]

I suspect that the extreme use of social media from a very young age is partially to blame for this development. It seems like the new generation learns most of their spelling and grammar there, and people in general write like half-wits on those. There is no quality control, so people just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

I see this happen in my own language very clearly. Most people of my age don't have immaculate spelling, and Dutch also has its own "your vs you're" issues which a large part of the population consistently fucks up. But in general it is still very readable and the mistakes are often understandable.

But when I see people about 10-15 years younger than me writing, I can often barely read it anymore! They make every grammar mistake in the book, they spell words like they are pronounced, they abbreviate EVERYTHING, they use no interpunction, etc.
Now, if they would only write like that on facebook I wouldn't care. But they don't. I have seen job applications that were written like an SMS; smilies included! I wish I was joking.
Schools are starting to report these problems too, so I guess it's not just me going "those damn kids!". I find that very worrying.

 

[Trevoire520]

I blame the 'Mericans. They don't even know the difference between could and couldn't ffs.

 

[Nimvi]

I blame the 'Mericans. They don't even know the difference between could and couldn't ffs.

I'm sure they could care less about that opinion!

 

[Lon]

spell words like they are pronounced, they abbreviate EVERYTHING, they use no interpunction, etc.

interpunctuation.

english is not my mother tongue but i have been taught well and through rigourous english use with real speakers i "out-english" a lot of nativespeakers even in reallife (lived with a irishlad and an englishman for a time).

I am concerned about the level of written english in social networks, especially in the teenage bracket but the web itself has given me nearly all the proficiency and english slang so I am quite thankful for that. In earlier times you had to actually visit the country (money...). Like everyhwere in life, its about what you make out of the lemons given to you. Sturgis would be a prime analogy, he made gold out of shit just by being smart and committing.

 

[ratsapprentice]

english is not my mother tongue but i have been taught well and through rigourous english use with real speakers i "out-english" a lot of nativespeakers even in reallife (lived with a irishlad and an englishman for a time).

I can assure you that you do, in fact, speak English like a second language.
You clearly speak fluently, but still "sound" (write) like a foreigner.

 

[Lon]

I can assure you that you do, in fact, speak English like a second language.
You clearly speak fluently, but still "sound" (write) like a foreigner.

after hitting post i thought the sentence structure is quite... not english? after you mentioned it i clearly see your point. I think the tendency to use complicated sentences with a lot of secondary clauses stems from german being my mother tongue.
Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots.

 

[Nimvi]

after hitting post i thought the sentence structure is quite... not english? after you mentioned it i clearly see your point. I think the tendency to use complicated sentences with a lot of secondary clauses stems from german being my mother tongue.
Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots.

Yea, I think I do that too. I often feel that I'm over-complicating things to compensate for not being a native speaker. No shame in that though

Oddly enough, I have a lot more trouble with German, even though I live right at the border and my family-in-law is German too. I think it's because our languages are closely related, so it becomes easier to mix up words and sounds.

Hmm, and I looked up interpunction and I found this:
In`ter`punc´tion
n. 1. The insertion of points between words or sentences; punctuation.

Is that wrong?

 

[xFkx]

after hitting post i thought the sentence structure is quite... not english? after you mentioned it i clearly see your point. I think the tendency to use complicated sentences with a lot of secondary clauses stems from german being my mother tongue.
Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots, Use more dots.

Yeah, that's my little issue as well, I tend to write overblown sentences that start to lose their sense halfway, and have a highly questionable grammar structure.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Just cuz people grew up speaking a language and learned it "organically" doesn't mean they have to completely assfuck it on a daily basis I usually much prefer reading the posts of the non-Americans on here for the exact reasons mentioned above! (obviously there are more than a few exceptions though)

 

[drew_drummer]

Also, I should of thought.

Nope.

I should've thought == I should have thought.

 

[drew_drummer]

interpunctuation.

Nope. Interpunction:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/interpunction

...

Now. If you non-mother tongues could kindly go away and tongue your mothers, the rest of us can get along without your bullshit. kthxbye.

 

[drew_drummer]

I usually much prefer reading the posts of the non-Americans on here for the exact reasons mentioned above! (obviously there are more than a few exceptions though)

Actually I find this forum has a higher than average level of quality when it comes to written form; regardless of nationality or whether English is their first language. Other forums like Gearslutz and The Gear Page seem to be populated nearly 100% with idiots.

 

[drew_drummer]

i "out-english" a lot of nativespeakers even in reallife (lived with a irishlad and an englishman for a time).

Closed bracket prior to a period. You naughty boy.

But a serious point in response to this statement of yours; there are pretty vast differences in language within the British Isles. An Irishman and an Englishman have very different dialects and language cultures. Add to that a persons own distinct idiolect, and you come away with drastic differences between people who only live a few hundred miles apart.

Indeed people in the North of England sound very different from people in the South. It's like comparing people from Madrid to people from Basque country.

So using those as a comparison isn't exactly credible, and saying you "out English" an Englishman and an Irishman based on this comparison is just silly. Especially when you then go and make some rather basic grammatical mistakes.

People who type in text speak aren't doing it out of idiocy. A lot of the time they're doing it because of cultural reasons, to save time or space, or because their locale is receptive to it.

So all this elitism? Completely unfounded and unwarranted, and decidely cunty.