Sunday, January 17, 2010

I Disagree With This Statement: 'Please Blog Using Proper English'

bad english 1

I'm sure many of your have come across blogs which are written in broken English. Thus, you think/say this, 'Please Use Proper English To Blog!', 'I Hate Bloggers Who Doesn't Blog In Good English', 'KNCCB Don't Know English Then Don't Blog!'.

Okay maybe not the last statement but I'm sure most of you have had thoughts that blogs with bad english is a blog not worth reading. Actually the statement in the title of this blog post can go both ways. Either you are telling that to a blogger who knows how to use proper English but just refuses to or you might be telling a blogger who knows and uses English but isn't very good at it.

bad english 2

The story might be different if you are telling this to someone who knows how to use proper English but just refuses to. Simply said, it is the fault of the blogger. However, if someone uses English to blog but he/she is not good in English, is it okay for us to judge him/her and say that he/she has not quality in blogging thus saying 'Please use proper English to blog'.

It is not entirely a person's fault if he/she hasn't mastered the English language. I mean our country has people from all kinds of races, each having their own language. Although English is widely used, there will still be some who seldom or won't use English as their main language.

My experiences tell me based on the environment that I'm in, most chinese educated people do not use proper English. This does not mean that they do not want to use proper English, it just that they are poor in English.

So, you might say, 'Learn and Improve First!'

bad english 3

Learning English is a life long journey. We start from the time when we were still young, we graduate from school until we get old, we are still able to learn. It simply cannot be done in your education life, says 5-6years? So are you saying that if a person never gets to improve his/her English up to your standards, are you still going to say this, 'Please Use Proper English To Blog.'?

How can one learn English if he/she does not practise using it? Yes, there might be mistakes but do give them a chance to learn.

47 comments:

Unknown said...

hmm..kebanyakan kawan2 chinese i ade confidence speak in english but overall broken english..hihi..tapi, attitude macam tu la yang bagus..:) no offence..

Xiaopei said...

I don't use perfect English. People can understand what am I saying ok liao. No need to act smart like a smartass.

CW said...

agree!

hi said...

Yeah. practice makes permanent,not necessarily perfect. Hopefully, better with each try!!!

Nic Da Nic said...

I possessed a very weak English, and of course I won't be supporting "Please Blog using Proper English"

I am sure some bloggers are having high egoism on the excellency of their English. In fact of that, I do get some hurtful comments that I should blog using proper English...

In my opinion, readers are really bossy and choosy or maybe picky on the selection of words.Some they like to read excellent English, some they just prefer pictures more than words because in the end, they won't be reading all the words.

Some how, the perception of the society, if you can write great piece of English, You are great. No doubt you can write, but in my perspective, I think a blog should be written in an intermediate level of English so that it can be understood by all the people. Imagine a blog which is full of bombastic words as if that are writing a book. If I wasn't great in English, I can't read that. I simply hate flowery words that you can explain it in a direct way.Basic is enough.

I often check on the internet for the meaning of the words. SO, I totally agree with you saying that learning is a life-long basis. Everyone should be given a chance to improve themselves and not to judge the cover of the blog.

Sometimes Content is even better than flowery words.

Regards

Nic Da Nic

www.nicdanic.blogspot.com

cr3ap said...

Actually this is quite true. I see there are some who have thoughts of acting master of english and saying bad about people's blog. In my opinion, there isn't any wrong in writting broken english or broken words. It's up to the owner of the blog. As long as he/she is happy with it who cares about that. No one will purposely change for the sake of someone. But also, it's always good to speak or write proper english. We learn, but we did not practice it much. We know what is english, but most malaysians don't speak especially tarcian :D. Even in msn, most of us rather use short forms and some sort of own language as it's ezier and quite well known in the msn world :D. Well, what I really want to say is, it's ok to be not good in English and you can stay as what you like. But it's always better to improve on something as it helps you to build up your future. Cheers.

Regards from cr3ap
http://cr3ap85.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

I agree with your post. Learning English is a practice - you have to use it as much as you can to improve! I think what is more disappointing is when some people reach a minimum level of proficiency, they think they are too good but in reality they are backsliding. I had classmates who came from a Chinese school before Form 6. They didn't value our MUET teacher's lessons and I can actually see them deteriorate. That's the sad part - when you're given an opportunity to learn and you don't.

Unknown said...

Yeah. As long as the message can be easily understood and interpreted in the right way then it's okay. There's not need for it to be 'perfect'.
Cheers! (:

Janessa said...

I agree with the philosophy of practice makes perfect.
Kudos to those who try!

The reason why I think people should try despite not being strong in the language is the presentation and the first impression it gives to readers.

http://wakingupfamous.blogspot.com

~Live Life~ said...

Hmm..those who said those words "Please Use Proper English To Blog!" should realize the fact of freedom and rights...plus...giving others more room for trial and error and improvements! Plus, it's not going to affect their "super-duper-high" level of English proficiency anyway...=.=

Jo-Yee said...

good post! and poor leng chai. )=

I dont really think that bloggers need to have perfect english first to be allowed to blog. and i also dont think that we should tell them to "improve first" or whatever.

bcos wats the most important in blogging is that your message comes across. not your gradiloquence or verbosity.

in fact, i hate bloggers who write too chim english and then in the end nobody gets what they r trying to say anyway. whats the point?

my philosophy: just write the way u speak. =) and be passionate!

happy blogging everybody! >__<

www.joeyjoeldavid.blogspot.com

chris federick said...

some choose not to use proper English or rojak English for humour. That works too.

Unknown said...

Nazatul shima:
that's great! at least they are brave enough to speak! i guess they will improve very soon. :)


Xiaopei:
Haha! I'm not saying those who use proper English act like smartasses.

Chia Wei:
:)

Stephen:
i do admire those people who can't really speak well but they do try.

Nic Da Nic:
you have your point there. no point witting a blogpost full of words when nobody understands anything.

and those who commented on you asking you to use proper English are probably losers.

cr3ap:
well, to say that bloggers has the freedom to type in any style they want, well, that's true. however, it will be better if they used proper sentences if their command of English is already good.
Unless, they want to create humour with the broken English of course.

PoisonKagero:
sometimes, people think that they are the best when actually they are just moderate. that's very frustrating if that person is your friend or is someone you know.
they should have realised that there is no end to getting new knowledge especially in a Language Subject.

By the way, MUET was fun. I did Form6 too!

~Live Life~:
i never really liked proud and snobbish people. Thinking that they are kings of the world.

Jo-Yee:
hey its true. it's important to get the message across. but then again not many are writing inspirational and influential blog posts these days.

chris_lim:
well it's exceptional if it's used for humour purposes. :)

ariff said...

not necessarily all the time we have to use perfect english.

i say we should write depending on audience and topic at hand. We write blog so that people read it, so give what people want and like. You dont have to follow certain rules some other people put. Be yourself.

kRaZy said...

In my opinon, I don't really agree with the "You must blog with proper English" policy. A blog, afterall is the blogger's space to speak out his/her mind. So they should be comfortable with whatever language they want to use instead of being pressured to write in "Perfect" English. But of course, by reading and writing blogs, I believe bloggers with weak command of English will somehow improve =P

joegrimjow said...

agree
as long as understood

Emeryn said...

hey good post. I dun write perfect english n still learning in the process of blogging n reading other post.

Some blogs doesn't write with proper english just to make it funnier.

Cikgu Khairul Arif said...

some people like that ma..
think that they the best in writing english and speaks ma..

cnt help with that

btw,ur nuff zzz

excalade89 said...

You know what I call them? Language hypocrites. Showing off by arrogantly jotting down people's mistakes. I mean, they don't have the rights to judge you. Though I got good English results, I don't criticize people. Not a healthy thing to do, and it doesn't even make you someone better.

atreyu strange said...

Bloggers who says that are plain egoist. They must really think highly of THEMSELVES. How would anyone learn without practice? O_o

Jocelyn Keys said...

yaya!

for asian bloggers,i love reading blogs that use ROJAK language
such as ur LENG ZAI word than goodlooking guys

sometimes too proper so sien oh:)
sorry for saying that

ween said...

i love this entry :)

I used to blog in English despite my English is very poor. I hope I could improve myself from time to time.

MsXeRoZ Nicole said...

Here comes another thought-provoking post from Dylan!

Yupz, English is an important tool for communication. It's just like any other forms of vehicle, if you write it good, it'll deliver ur msg accross faster. If you write it badly, ur msg may not be delivered or perhaps being misunderstood by others.

Therefore, it's very important for us to think, before we write. I love reading blogs, i wouldnt mind the language.

AJ said...

i dont mind if people say.. my vocabulary still weak.. i need to read more and more everyday.. thats why i read.. i blog in English but i think it stills look normal.. maybe one day if i blog like a professor, no one can't understand. trust me..

Unknown said...

ariff:
it's true. write what you feel comfortable with. but sometimes one needs to write in proper sentences too if he/she has a good command in english.

kRaZy:
people who write in poor english should be given a chance to improve. everyone needs practise, dont you think?

joegrimjow:
:) glad that you agree

Emeryn:
we are all still learning. :) i'm not talking about using broken english for humour purposes. what i meant was for the everyday normal posts. :)

jake sully..lol:
well, the way they think should change.

Victor Tan:
criticizing someone who's week never works for me.

atreyu strange:
nicely said!

CripsyCaiHong:
haha! we Malaysians always use ROJAK language right? Campur here campur there. LOL!

But seriously sometimes writing a normal blog post using proper English might be better too.

ween:
continue blogging in English and I'm sure you will improve!

Wo Shi Nicole aka MsXeRoZ:
well, it's the 'though-provoking' ones that gains the most response right? and want i want are responses from the public. :)

i wouldn't mind the language too. i just hope that they would improve.

Aj:
Haha! I wonder what are the professors' blog out there?

Anonymous said...

For one thing, I find blogs from asia quite interesting. They have a different way of constructing sentences and conveying their thoughts. It's raw.

It is understandable for most western readers if we commit a mistake here and there, because they know that its not our primary language. More often than not, people from asia are the one who is being so critical about proper grammar constructs.

Nice blog by the way.

junsern said...

well... blogging helps improve english wut... its by writing alot that you will slowly learn and improve.... wanna write literature meh?! english too good also boring la reading...

emi said...

i try my best not to use broken english in my post.. ( tapi boleh bilang dengan jari berapa banyak posts in english :P) i'm getting fed up when someone suddenly said.. "wah tulis in english".. well i know that my english is not as superb as the person.. but i'm trying my best.. to write in english.. even though it looks like UPSR standard.. i beleive that standard 6 pupils now days are much better than me.. heh

anyway... quality of a blog is the content itself! not the language..

if you just copy and paste someone else works... it is still not worth to read..

:P

just my thought

Tisha said...

I like this post:D
I have many chinese friends who blog in English. They know that their English isn't perfect so they search for realllllly huge words on the thesaurus and just use it randomly in a post. Haha. Sometimes the sentences don't even make sense, but I guess that's ONE way to learn? Right? O.o
Ahah.

Tisha

kRaZy said...

yup, and their friends can help by encouraging them and also correct their grammar/spelling errors in a polite manner ^^

Anonymous said...

What the.....

If this really happens to me...where someone asked me not to blog just because my English sucks to the max...I'm gonna 'diu' that fella gao-gao...lol.

Of course, it's better to blog using proper English...but not everyone is fortunate enough to master English language.

Like me...a total banana (Chinese illiterate) and I'm studying in TAR College where 100% of my friends speaks in Chinese & everyday is like hell to me...but that doesn't mean that I hafta quit right.

Seriously, if I ever met this kinda people, I'll fry your birdie until it turns out black (if it's a guy) or squeeze the 2 watermelons juice out of you (if it's a girl).

*cheese* =^_^=

Oh...by the way Dylan, Good post!

Unknown said...

caloy:
well the difference is what makes us special and aren't asians critical about everything?

junsern:
no, i don't feel like reading literature. it's too deep for me. HAHA!

Cik Emi:
good for you! *thumbs up* write more and you'll be good in no time! :)

i too agree that copy and pasting is no good.

Tisha:
sometimes when a person use the word but it does not fit into the sentence correctly which makes the sentence have another meaning, that can be very entertaining at times.

kRaZy:
we should all help and not criticize too much.

Cassie:
hi there! I'm from TARC too. I am considered a banana as I am English educated but I take time to learn how to speak mandarin. Right now, I can speak and also understand better.

Haha and your a feisty one aren't you. fry and squeeze. hmm. XD

Catherine said...

no one is ever perfect. and like you say learning is a life long journey. But we must really keep improving our English. and to those bloggers with poor English but still wishes to write in English, they must find a way to keep learning and improving. Read more materials, be it newspapers, magazines, books or someone's else blog. I'm sure they would be able to construct a proper sentence with minimal grammar error. But if what they do is to keep blogging without trying to improve, then i would say it'll be hard to reach out to people. I myself like to read blogs written in good english (proper sentence to the least but not bombastic words - its a blog, not a piece of literature)

anyway, the critic is actually being rude. but i hope 'lengzhai' and any other bloggers out there see it from a positive side. use it as a motivation instead to keep improving and one day prove to him/her, that when there's a will, anyone and everyone can write with proper english.

hcvvorld of Travels, Lifestyle and Photography said...

at least these group of people are not afraid of making mistakes....as long as they put in effort to improve then it's not a problem..unless they kept on writing those direct translated english from chinese then it's a problem..

zool said...

Relax.
I've build some English blog and my English is poor..
There are many readers condemn about my English but there's just a way to improve..
Never care about those provoke statement..

 Jıёyı . PıикaвёLŁ . Q`kiё . мё  said...

I abosolute agree with what you say.

It doesnt matter if they are using a good or poor english as long you understand and if it's interesting right?

Besides, the reason why ppl have poor english and still want to blog is because they're trying to improve their english. I admit, i was one of the broken english blogger too. But i improve my english by blogging and learning from reading other blogs.

Always give someone a chance, you may correct them or judge but not overly judge. Everyone deserve a chance to improve. (:

Nikel Khor said...

lengzai me here too....

Nikel Khor

Jard The Great said...

ahahaha......... the language not important.. the message is =)

Kristin said...

Very well said & a great entry.

Although most people in my country speaks English, my grammar, spelling and sentence structure sucks! But that doesn't mean that people with bad English can't blog. A blog is suppose to be a place for people to write and share their thoughts or whatever. Since when it's a must for them to write in a perfect English -__-

-JayLeo™- said...

agree with xiaopei, Jard & Kristin (plus almost everyone)... as long as we understand what the blogger is trying to convey, proper english or not is not an issue. Blogging is just an expressing method for most people today.. Still, its always better to have proper English for the ease of the reader (optional)

Unknown said...

Catherine @ Soo Khoon:
one should always be independent when it comes to gaining knowledge. teachers can only do so much, the rest is just up to ourselves.

practice more through blogging sure helps but of course one needs to be more involved with the language first.

Of Tr@vels, 3nvironment and bl@bl@bl@:
*thumbs up* to them.
haha! direct translation sometimes makes no sense at all!

zool:
those who condemn your English are pure losers.

Jıёyı . PıикaвёLŁ . Q`kiё . мё:
well, your english looks okay to me. haha! you are right, we hould always give encouragement more than criticism.

Nikel Khor:
:/

Jard The Great:
message is important. hopefully the people can understand the language. XD

Kristin:
which country are you from Kristin? My English is not that good either. As a matter of fact, I think it is getting worse. :S

-JayLeo™- said...

agree with xiaopei, jard, kristin (and most of'em) that the most important thing is still the message behind the blog post.

some prefer blogging in broken english (or manglish/singlish) which tends to be their style. others prefer in proper english..

blogging is just a way to express one's thought, opinion or feelings.

I don't see any reason for some people to stop blogging with improper English (though it may be irritating at some times) as long as the communication process (if there is any la~) between the reader & author is fine.

some people may think: Blog only ma! need write essay meh? haha

like ur blog dylan. 1st-timer here. cheers!

Ken Wooi said...

it is not necessary to blog in total proper english.. as long as the blogger is enjoying it, it's good enough.. however, if he has readers that are concerned for this grammar, perhaps he can try to improve.. =)

Unknown said...

wow...all the comments are so interesting but I kinda lazy to read them all. I'm gonna post a LONG comment and I hope you don't mind.

These so-called "perfect bloggers" are just ignorant people to begin with. There is NO ONE in this world that can speak or write in perfect English. They are not even aware of this and they had to simply criticize others. Using bombastic words or having a wide range of vocabulary doesn't mean that he or she is a perfect English user. English is not as simple as that. The grammar and the sentence construction is important in determining the perfection of the English language.

Many be no one is aware of these cases that most people used English wrongly including poets and writers. Do you know that George Bush made grammatical error in almost every single sentence he made? By the time he talked for 10 minutes, we could actually lost count of how many mistakes he made. And do anyone know, one of the greatest English literature maestro, William Shakespeare who invented words like assassination and eyeball had actually made numerous grammatical errors in his works? He need 40 editors to actually screen through his works before publishing them in order for the works to be perfect.

Most full-time writers need to revise their sentences and editors need to go through their work before publishing them. More often than not, there are many mistakes needed to be corrected.

Seeing how these professionals are unable to write or speak English perfectly, how are we as normal bloggers could actually get them perfect? These bloggers might think their English is perfect but actually they are not. So, stop being such a know-it-all.

I'll say this is a great post in reminding these people to actually appreciate the content of the blog posts rather than the quality of the language because there is no one in this world that could master a language perfectly...As log as people can understand then everything is good...XD

missDes said...

i think i got a solution for ur probs here dude...

SIMPLE....

IF U HATE BLOGGERS WHO DOESNT BLOG IN GOOD ENGLISH....

DONT BOTHER TO READ IT...

NOBODY FORCE YOU TO READ THEIR BLOG
("those u called bloggers with a broken english")...

even "THEY" dont want kind of person like u reading their BLOG...

PERHAPS THE PROBLEM IS "YOU" not "THEM"...

Unknown said...

Eric Lee:
wow! did great writers actually have mistakes too? i did not know that. i've gained some knowledge today.

and you have said everything there is to say. i have nothing to comment on that. :)

content above quality. ^^

missDeSS:
erm, i'm afraid that you might have mis-interpreted my whole blogpost wrongly. my blog post is all about disagree the fact that blog post should be written in proper english. I am not dissing anyone. :)

DocG said...

There is nothing wrong with blogging in "broken" English, as long as you can make yourself understood and have something interesting to say. However, there is also nothing wrong with making an effort to improve.

I have created a blog that might be useful to people like yourself, who want to improve their English. It includes posts with helpful tips and you can also send in samples of your English that you need help with. Check it out and see what you think: http://englishproper.blogspot.com/