A quick suggestion

[horizon]

Et hurtigt forslag. Niveauet på engelsk på forummet er forbavsende højt og for mig en del af nydelsen af det. Men bare nogle gange går noget forkert og gør man nødt til at stoppe og kontrollere betydningen af plakaten. I øjeblikket er det forskellen mellem "din" og "du er". Det er så nemt at bruge enten korrekt. Men jeg føler, at hvis jeg rejser spørgsmålet, bliver jeg anklaget for pedantry. Og alligevel afhænger de samme folk helt på vores forumadministrator, at man ikke får et enkelt komma forkert i sin kodning og ville være den første til at klage, hvis forummet går ned. Kunne vi ikke bare komme over denne "må ikke nævne grammatik" syndrom? Vi bruger engelsk på forummet, da vores kommunikationsmidler og hvor langt vi varierer fra det, er derfor kritisk - jeg foreslår bare, at vi redrawser linjen på denne.

[Mick F]

Ukusikisela okusheshayo. Izinga lesiNgisi esithangamini liphakeme ngokumangalisayo futhi mina ngiyingxenye yokuzijabulisa. Kodwa ngezinye izikhathi, kukhona okungahambi kahle futhi kufanele ume futhi ulawule incazelo yephosta. Njengamanje, kungukuthi umehluko phakathi kwe- "yakho" nokuthi "ukhona". Kulula ukuyisebenzisa noma ngokulungile. Kodwa nginomuzwa wokuthi uma ngiphakamisa lo mbuzo, ngimangalelwa nge-pedantry. Noma kunjalo, abantu abanjalo bathembele ngokugcwele kumphathi wethu weforamu ukuthi awutholi ikhompi elilodwa engalungile ekukhoneni kwayo futhi kungaba ngowokuqala ukukhononda uma isithangami sehla. Asikwazanga yini ukuhlangabezana nale "musa ukukhuluma nge-grammar" syndrome? Sisebenzisa isiNgisi esithangamini njengoba izindlela zethu zokukhulumisana nokuthi ngabe sihluke kangakanani kulokhu-ke kubalulekile - ngiyasikisela ukuthi sibuyele kabusha kulokhu.

I agree.

[thirdcrank]

Another, less well-managed forum I visit gets a lot of spam in Cyrillic script. An obvious example was reported and a moderator came on saying it might be a genuine post from somebody with no English. Either way, it's a pita.

[Cyril Haearn]

Welsh or German please %-)

[horizon]

A number of on-line retailers now have reviews posted in a variety of foreign languages reflecting their market reach. It does bring you up with a jolt as regards the world we now live in.

English is the default language on this forum but we have members from around the (English speaking) world and a few others. I don't think it would be unfair or a lost opportunity if English was a requirement on this forum but I'm not sure if it is and if posts in other languages are deleted (I will keep an eye on the posts above).

This does raise some questions about what sort of English and again it seems that British English is the default. My own complaint (above) is fairly minor compared to these other issues.

[Psamathe]

Everybody should make allowances and accept that not all those posting here are from English speaking countries and some don't even have English as a 3rd language. I think their contributions/questions still valid and it comes down more to being pretty obvious what they mean.

And I'm 100% confident that I often misuse apostrophes (amongst other abuses of language).

Ian

[Vorpal]

Or maybe the only rule is that English grammar comments should be in English?

[thirdcrank]

I think comments about things like spelling and grammar should be kept to a minimum and then normally to clear up ambiguity. It's a bit different if a regular poster makes a typo with funny results, when a friendly nudge is OK but to jump on somebody for a bit of poor literacy is probably one of the quickest ways to lose them forever, or at least to discourage them from posting. Apart from anything else, we might lose the technical wisdom of somebody with no idea about something like the ablative absolute.

[Cyril Haearn]

I refer the Right Honourable Members to my thread, to whit "What English do you SPEAK?"

Maybe another could be called "What English do you WRITE?"

[Mick F]

I have difficulty writing these days.
My handwriting was never good, but as I've got older, it's not good at all, and as my eyes have got older too, it's got bigger as well.

Typing, OTOH, is ok as the buttons are a nice size and the screen is big enough.
I've always had good grammar and good spelling, but until the advent of the typewriter and latterly the word processor, people had difficulty reading wot I rote.

My father was the same.
Bad handwriting, but a diva on the typewriter.

[Cyril Haearn]

Plus One for writing by hand, there are discussions about whether kiddies should still learn it

[Cyril Haearn]

Could someone post a translation of the first post, cannae translate from my smartfon, mange tak

I think it is Norwegian, can understand a bit

Simple English is the thing. Short sentences

For millions of years people could not read or write, even a few hundred years ago only priests and the like could read and write, now nearly everybody can
Was the ability latent in the brain, or have brains developed fast in recent centuries?

[Mick F]

I was taking the joke a bit further, by re-translating it into Zulu.

Use Google Translate.
https://translate.google.co.uk

[Cyril Haearn]

Try translating it through a couple of other languages then back into English, see if the result is Fit for Porpoise

[Vorpal]

And because we have members form around the world, and some who do not speak English as their first language, I think that we should be forgiving, about how people use the language(s).

Does it really matter if an apostrophe is missing, as long as what someone wrote is understandable?