The Neon Peon wrote:Back on topic... I agree with the OP on this. English is my second language, but I doubt anyone on this site has noticed. Most of the population on this site is from America, which historically has had a negative outlook towards foreigners since as early as the 1830's.
Wow, I would have never guessed, as your English is always quite clear with a varied and deep vocabulary.
I don't know if I agree about your thoughts on America and foreigners, but I will leave that for another day.
To respond to the OP, I think the problem is not always imperfect English, it is laziness. There are a disturbing amount of posts that I cannot get the meaning from. It does not matter if you are 11, 13, 20, or 50. It does not matter if English is your first language, your only language, your third language, or your 17th language. You can still use the occasional capital, the occasional period, and spell words close to the way they are meant to be spelled.
Take this post for example. I am removing the poster's name, as this is not about calling anyone out.
SuicidalSnowman wrote:i would say that if you say owen shooter any one who cant see that he was a troll/ baiter (I am not saying here that he was not baited but) that does not make my point invalid. also i think that all cases like this should be private.
The problem there is not a lack of understanding of English. The problem is a lack of thought or effort to make that post coherent. Yes, it is translatable after several readings and some hard thought. But at the same time, all the poster had to do was stop at the end of the sentence and throw in a period. Or, before hitting 'Submit', looked it over even briefly. The frustration, at least on my part, comes from the lack of effort.
I would say, that if you say, Owenshooter, anyone who cannot see that he was a troll or flame baiter. I am not saying here that he was not baited himself but that also does not make my point invalid. Also, I think that cases like this should be private. Even after a solid 15 minutes I cannot determine the meaning of this post.
Take this post:
SuicidalSnowman wrote:are you in the fourms or in the join a game start a game game finder or the my games page
Honestly, you don't need to know much English to realize that this post is incoherent. Think about how many ways it could be read:
Are you in the forums or are you on the "join a game/start a game/game finder", or on the "My Games" page?
Are you in the forum, in the join a game, in the start a game, in the game finder, or in the my games page?
Is this poster asking which I browse more? I would think so, but then again, how does one browse the start a game page? Or is he/she asking if I spend most of my time making games, even more so than playing them?
How would one even answer this question? Who knows? But, all this poster had to do was add a comma or two, or phrase the question better, or literally anything, and the post would have been readable. But no, he or she was too lazy to do so.
OP, that is, at least for me personally, my problem with some posts on these (and really any) internet forums. I spend all day reading things that are dense and difficult to understand. I spent several hours today discussing the appropriate use of periods, italics, and yes, SPACES in citations today. If you want me to take your post seriously, don't make me re-read it nine times trying to figure out the meaning.
Or would you prefer this:
enlsigh language of poeple not problem on cc sure many spek enlgis but many spake other languge but we use englsh here well most use english her not n othre board for other language but bad enlgish no problem i get meaning but if proff read once twice or maybe it would be better its npt about ur languge its how u use it so if you can speak english good but need to do it so sum1 else cne read it im not going to spend moar teim tryn to read ur pots