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A lot of you will have seen this already, but I thought I’d share it anyway.
Thank you Stephen Fry. You’re my knight in shining armor for saying this. (And saying it quite eloquenty and beautiful as well!)
English is my second language, and I learned most of it by spending time on the internet. I make a lot of mistakes, mostly because Dutch is a similar language, and there are a lot of false friends. Lucky for me I have friends who don’t mind proof reading my more official texts, like articles for Ergofiction, but even then some mistakes slip by.
I don’t mind being corrected, because that’s the only way you can improve something - by making mistakes and learn from them - and I’m always grateful if someone points them out.
I do mind however, if said pointing out is wrapped in a sauce of arrogance, and meant to make me feel stupid. (I’m aware that tone and intent are hard to convey on the internet, but I’m referring to the real obvious arrogant messages here). It doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does I always feel slightly angry and frustrated.
Dear native English speakers, you are not alone on the internet. There’s people out there who do their best to get their points across in a language not their own, so please show a little respect for their efforts. Feel free to correct them if they make mistakes, but do so in a polite manner. And cut the arrogance.
Seriously.
Or I’ll force you to write a text in Dutch, and see how you manage.
/Rant over
(This is really a rant about a minority, and I realize not all native English speakers are the same, but that’s why it’s a rant)
