• Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work

How does this sentence sound?

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I don't think it's relevant whether someone's a native english speaker unless they choose to mention it. General comment, not directed.

You're wrong.

Non-native English speakers often know the rules of English grammar, even the very obscure ones that native speakers generally don't even think about, better than native speakers know the rules, because that's not the way native speakers generally understand their native language.

But non-native English speakers often miss the appropriate register, particularly for spoken English.

Knowing that a person seeking help isn't a native speaker is helpful in terms of how to explain an issue or a solution, and in terms of identifying a pattern of errors.

For instance, non-native writers of certain languages particularly struggle with English propositions, because their language(s) don't use them.

Non-native writers also frequently struggle with the fine gradations between words, because it's not uncommon to have five words in English that are all similar in meaning, but not actually synonyms.

Knowing someone isn't a native speaker helps us know how to explain and what may be the underlying reason behind what seems like a simple question.
 

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Okay, but to put it in a different context, I don't ever ask posters if they had a shitty upbringing or a bad education; I don't ask if they're dyslexic, or a bit fragile and maybe not ready for criticism, even though all those things could be true and have a noticeable effect on writing. Even if you get it right, it may not be something they wish to discuss.

The easiest way around these things in terms of critting is to not be a total arse, which by and large I think most people manage (at least here). :tongue

Imo it's up to people to decide what extenuating circumstances they have and wish to share.

Probably I'm just unduly biased. I hate being asked if I'm ESL. If it were legal to shotgun people for such questions, I'd be a mass murderer by now.

Basic Writing Questions isn't a critting forum. It's a forum for help with basic writing questions.

Asking if someone is ESL isn't an insult.

Nor is it being ESL or dyslexic a mark of shame; it is rather a badge of honor to persevere and write anyway, despite the difficulty and enormous amount of energy it takes.

English is both one of the most forgiving of languages (you can mangle the syntax and the grammar and often still make sense) it's also one of the most illogical, confusing, and profuse languages. It is the single largest language in terms of sheer vocabulary of any known language.

To manage to learn enough English to post on a forum is a huge accomplishment. I note, moreover, that there's a specific subforum for ESL Help and Other Languages Writing where numerous people who particularly understand the difficulties of English for non-native speakers, and often, are non-native speakers themselves who can via experience be particularly useful in explaining.

Nor is being dyslexic anything to be ashamed of; but if someone is dyslexic it behooves them to be aware that they may have patterns of error; particular words that they struggle with, or phonologically similar words they've swapped, or a pattern of errors that are so numerous that they need to proofread and even draft most posts before posting.

Finally there's a report post
report-40b.png
button. If you have concerns about a post or a poster, use the button.

I'm locking this thread because this isn't Share your work; it's not a critting forum or a substitute for a crit.
 
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