🇬🇧 English isn’t my first language. Anyone else?
by•
I’m active here, and English isn’t my first language.
It’s actually interesting that the whole global community of builders, makers, and founders has basically one common language: English.
And sometimes I wonder: how good does your English actually need to be?
I definitely overthink it sometimes:
Is this sentence natural? Is my grammar okay? Will people understand what I mean?
Maybe it doesn’t matter that much if you have something worth sharing.
So, if English isn’t your first language:
Do you ever feel insecure about your English when posting or commenting here? - and I’m not even talking about actual conversations, calls or meetings =D
And do you use AI to help you write, or just write and hit “post”?
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I sometimes use AI to polish the wording but try to keep the original thought and personality intact.
@oliver_roberts Yes, maybe that’s the most practical thing we can do. And what’s your first language?
Yes I totally get this. I've found that people care much more about what you're saying than whether every sentence is perfect AI can help with the polish, but the real voice should still come from you.
@grace_young2 Yes, exactly! And what’s your first language?
Very active, Adana! I am Italian, but the applications and platforms I develop use English as the primary language. I always look for a taxonomy of terms, even if it is basic, when working with AI. In my view, it is also necessary to draw a distinction between written and spoken English! :)
Yes, I use AI for coaching, but with a grain of salt! :p
@fabriziodegni Grazie per aver condiviso la tua esperienza =D
And you’re absolutely right about the distinction between written and spoken English. I think that’s a really important point, especially because speaking naturally is a whole different challenge =/
I have started noticing that people rarel y remember a grammar mistake but they do remember a useful idea.
@adams_parker To be honest, I like reading handcrafted texts (even with mistake) and hearing people speak with accents. It feels more natural and pleasant to me.
I am on the same boat, but using primarily Google Translate (call me old school) and Grammarly. Have to say that somehow with Grammarly, I am learning better :)
@busmark_w_nika I myself am either from your school =) By the way, I just downloaded Grammarly.
I liked the interactive correction, but I guess rephrasing to a better way needs a pro plan.
English is my second language and I write marketing copy in it for a living, which sounded absurd to me for about two years. What helped was giving up on sounding clever, because short plain sentences are easier for me and better copy anyway. We went live with something today and the shortest lines on the page are the ones I trust most.
@yelyzaveta_kibets And what’s your first language?
@adana Ukrainian. It is the one I think in and English is the one I work in, which still feels like an odd split after all this time.
The funny part is i am more confident discussing technical problems in english than casual conversations.
@margret_rhyme Haha, that can definitely be =D
And what’s your first language? Do you usually think in your first language and then translate it into Eng?
Sometimes i rewrite one sentence five times and still post the first version.
@alira_salu What language do you draft your posts in? Do you first write them in your first language and then have AI translate them into English? Or do you express your thoughts in English from the beginning?
Very interesting indeed, English has become the default world language. It's not my first language also but I have communicated in English for almost my entire life that my native language is struggling to compete. :-). I don't feel insure at all about English language communication and it depends if it's professional email or document, thanks to AI, I can improve the grammar and vocabs.
@richatsealedvault What’s your first language?
@adana Hahaha !! my first language is called Ashanti also known as Twi. How about you?
@richatsealedvault Mine is Armenian =) one of the world’s oldest living languages.
@adana Nice! That's a treasure to keep. Don't become like me who can't speak my native language fluently anymore and don't ask about writing it.
I usually write my thoughts first without translating them mentally. it comes out more naturally that way.
@charlotte_pierce So, you first write in your first language to get your thoughts clear, and then translate them?
And what's your first language?