Re: In that case who want to be my betakianspoSeptember 1 2010, 08:33:16 UTC
i think the problem is that we are not native english speakers!
Well, as convenient as the notion is, I don't believe that's the problem here. ;)
I suppose I could write in Russian, but I don't want to, and I won't get into why, 'cause it's ancient history and not important. On the one hand, English is so much more simple than Russian as a language. It doesn't have genders, it doesn't have cases, a lot of words mean a whole spectrum of things -- which makes it difficult to translate into a native tongue such as mine, but easy to understand and use. On the other, the system of grammar is pretty alien to me, because we only have 3 tenses, not twelve or whatever, and we don't have articles at all, and -- I could go on.
I think the only way to improve is, as you said, by doing. To continue to write and to improve with each new story, picking up things one by one.
I don't think you should have a foreign language complex. I have it too sometimes, okay, most of the time, but I'm trying to shake it. Because every time a commenter tells me that I made a mistake, I go and correct it and thank them and try not to react to their tone. Instead, I remind myself that I speak 3 foreign languages, including German and French, and the person who wants to send me back to grammar school had better be ready to say the same about themselves before becoming all superior on me.
Speaking your own language well is not an achievement. It's a MUST. It's your native tongue, for God's sake. If you can't speak it well, what should one even call you?
It's the same thing with me and Russian, so if I come off as arrogant, people should remember that I apply the very same standards to myself.
The point of this lecture (sorry, my first cup of coffee hasn't kicked in yet) being, don't let this notion stop you if you have a story to tell the readers. The language is something you can work on. Lack of imaginative thought, on the other hand, is something you can't improve. Between the two, I'd choose language trouble any day.
Well, as convenient as the notion is, I don't believe that's the problem here. ;)
I suppose I could write in Russian, but I don't want to, and I won't get into why, 'cause it's ancient history and not important. On the one hand, English is so much more simple than Russian as a language. It doesn't have genders, it doesn't have cases, a lot of words mean a whole spectrum of things -- which makes it difficult to translate into a native tongue such as mine, but easy to understand and use. On the other, the system of grammar is pretty alien to me, because we only have 3 tenses, not twelve or whatever, and we don't have articles at all, and -- I could go on.
I think the only way to improve is, as you said, by doing. To continue to write and to improve with each new story, picking up things one by one.
I don't think you should have a foreign language complex. I have it too sometimes, okay, most of the time, but I'm trying to shake it. Because every time a commenter tells me that I made a mistake, I go and correct it and thank them and try not to react to their tone. Instead, I remind myself that I speak 3 foreign languages, including German and French, and the person who wants to send me back to grammar school had better be ready to say the same about themselves before becoming all superior on me.
Speaking your own language well is not an achievement. It's a MUST. It's your native tongue, for God's sake. If you can't speak it well, what should one even call you?
It's the same thing with me and Russian, so if I come off as arrogant, people should remember that I apply the very same standards to myself.
The point of this lecture (sorry, my first cup of coffee hasn't kicked in yet) being, don't let this notion stop you if you have a story to tell the readers. The language is something you can work on. Lack of imaginative thought, on the other hand, is something you can't improve. Between the two, I'd choose language trouble any day.
It'll get better. Just keep going. ;)
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