Why Lang-8 pisses me off sometimes
I love the idea of Lang-8, a site where I can post texts in other languages and have them corrected by native speakers of those languages. I learn a lot there. But there's one recurring problem that really pisses me off. For some reason I can't really fathom, a lot of users assume that rambly posts are supposed to a letter to the President or something because it must sound AS FORMAL AS POSSIBLE!
Seriously, when you're writing a blog post about something random in your life and you want to involve your friends in a conversation, even if in writing (online), do you really write it with formal words and fancy grammar? No, I don't think you do, unless you're some sort of pedantic stick-in-the-mud. Normal people write blog posts in a casual, colloquial sort of language, as if they were actually talking to their friends face-to-face. They don't try to use "formal words, more appropriate for writing".
When I post to Lang-8, I often try to keep my tone light, casual, as if I were talking to my friends. I thought that was pretty obvious, but apparently it isn't, because there's always some idiot who rewrites it so that it sounds more formal. It's even worse when they don't even explain that my original text was correct, they just thought it should be more formal. They just strike through my original text as if it were WRONG WRONG WRONG and make it all formal, ready for Mr. President to read.
You might be thinking, "Oh, I bet it's those Japanese, right? They do love to keep things formal, after all!" But no, speakers of all languages are guilty of this, even those from more informal cultures. Yes, even Brazilians do this to other users and it pisses me off when I see it.
GET REAL! NOBODY ASKED YOU TO MAKE THE POSTS FORMAL, YOU WERE ASKED TO CORRECT THEM!
Example: i'm a student.
I'm a student. --> This is an acceptable, helpful correction. Thank you!
I am a student. (Avoid contractions in writing because it's too informal, tee-hee!) --> Go fuck yourself.
Seriously, when you're writing a blog post about something random in your life and you want to involve your friends in a conversation, even if in writing (online), do you really write it with formal words and fancy grammar? No, I don't think you do, unless you're some sort of pedantic stick-in-the-mud. Normal people write blog posts in a casual, colloquial sort of language, as if they were actually talking to their friends face-to-face. They don't try to use "formal words, more appropriate for writing".
When I post to Lang-8, I often try to keep my tone light, casual, as if I were talking to my friends. I thought that was pretty obvious, but apparently it isn't, because there's always some idiot who rewrites it so that it sounds more formal. It's even worse when they don't even explain that my original text was correct, they just thought it should be more formal. They just strike through my original text as if it were WRONG WRONG WRONG and make it all formal, ready for Mr. President to read.
You might be thinking, "Oh, I bet it's those Japanese, right? They do love to keep things formal, after all!" But no, speakers of all languages are guilty of this, even those from more informal cultures. Yes, even Brazilians do this to other users and it pisses me off when I see it.
GET REAL! NOBODY ASKED YOU TO MAKE THE POSTS FORMAL, YOU WERE ASKED TO CORRECT THEM!
Example: i'm a student.
I'm a student. --> This is an acceptable, helpful correction. Thank you!
I am a student. (Avoid contractions in writing because it's too informal, tee-hee!) --> Go fuck yourself.