

Ask YC : do you write your own blog? or you get help from someone else? - ideas101

I want to know from all those bloggers whose first language is not english or from those who take help (from a pro or family/friend) for some other good reasons. I'm still not able to start my own blog due to various reasons but one of the most is (and may be few of you might have already noticed) that my english grammar is not that good - i make silly mistakes and sometime it is really embarrassing, though that doesn't mean that i dont have good/valid ideas or thoughts to share and sometime it makes me uncomfortable because i know i can write on variety of topics from IT to movies to art to culture &#38; society to current trends in business etc. so PLEASE HELP by sharing your views and experience. thanks.
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mechanical_fish
(A), your English won't improve unless you make a lot of mistakes and correct
them. So just write!

(B), There are quite a few native speakers of English whose writing is superb
but who can't spell worth a damn. I have often wished that these folks would
give edit permission on their blog to a fan or two who could sneak in and edit
the grammar. If you can find (or hire, cheap) a person who will do this for
you, there's nothing wrong with it. Pro writers all have editors... usually
several editors.

But you'll find that it's easier to _want_ cheap or free editorial help than
it is to find it. So don't worry too much about it. See Step A.

(C) Your English reads just fine to me.

(D) Why not blog in your native language occasionally, as well as in English?
There's nothing wrong with having more than one blog.

One big point of blogs is to wrangle over your own ideas by writing them down.
You might as well do that in a language which you are comfortable using.

There may be other native speakers of your language who would be ecstatic if a
tech blogger showed up and started writing things that they could read
comfortably.

Not that I don't understand why you'd prefer to use English for a lot of
things, just as many people prefer to do their writing on news.yc and live in
a startup hub.

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epi0Bauqu
Your English doesn't read that poorly to me :)

If you are so self conscious about it, why don't you just put a disclaimer at
the top of every post, e.g. something short like "Please note: English is not
my first language."

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raju
I agree with the other comments posted. Your English seems fine to me. I have
a similar problem in that though I am in the US, I was raised speaking the
Queen's English (for e.g. I refer to the boot of a car as the bonnet :D). I
normally ask a friend to review an email/proposal that I have drafted and
thats my way of ensuring that everything is kosher.

I guess you could start by putting a disclaimer on your blog stating that
English is not your first language, and probably asking a friend/colleague to
review your post prior to posting it. But I do think that this should not stop
you from sharing your ideas or thoughts. Someone's fluency with English would
(IMO) not stop people from reading what you have to say.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

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rms
Yeah. Just do it, certainly the experience will only improve your written
English.

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xirium
Your written English is better than many British teenagers. I had no idea that
English wasn't your first language. You'd be absolutely fine blogging in
English.

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mosburger
One of my favorite web-design blogs is Antonio Lupetti's "woork"
(<http://woork.blogspot.com>). English isn't his first language, and his
grammar is sometimes a little quirky, but I read all of his posts because
they're usually quite informative and entertaining despite the occasional
grammatical or spelling error.

So I guess I agree with everybody else - just write your blog. If it's
informative and fun to read, people will read it.

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vikas5678
yeah, seriously, just start writing, its not like your blog will get a lot of
attention right away and you will be embarrassed. You start posting something
regularly, and as your written English gets better and you get some readers,
you will feel much better about it all. Besides, you can always go back and
edit the post when you identify silly mistakes.

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DaniFong
I copied a technique from PG: if I write an essay, I'll send it aroud to a few
of my friends, who I can trust to be critical if they don't find it
particularly good. If they're not especially impressed, or if they don't have
anything to say about it, I'll rewrite sections or keep it as a draft, waiting
to finish it up later.

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omfut
I guess ur english is just fine for writing blog. Blog is an expression not
somekind of grammer test. Its your opinion,thoughts,ideas etc. People dont
care about the grammer, they care about the content. So just go and write that
first blog, rest will taken care.

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maheshcr
I write my own blog. My readership is minuscule but it takes to my
idiosyncrasies. And often challenges my opinions. What more could I ask!

Language should be the last reason why one does not communicate. An idea holds
itself regardless of which language its written in and with what finesse.

And like you I guess I too shift from philosophy to poetry to tech without
missing a beat. It does restrict your reader base a lot but again, if your
style can accommodate all these perspectives, I dont see why you could not
talk about all that catches your fancy.

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henning
Generally if you have solid material to discuss people will overlook a lot of
grammar and usage problems.

So if you stick to solid stuff and stay away from gossip and other nonsense
you'll be fine.

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markm
You've gotta work with what you got. If you don't try to hide the fact that
it's a foreign written blog then people will be a lot more forgiving in
regards to the grammar.

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xenoterracide
you can get help writing a blog? :P

I know a lot of native english speakers whos english on their blog is crap. I
wouldn't worry about it.

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ideas101
after posting this for 3 hours - i'm delighted by your motivational responses
- thanks to all and i welcome more users to share their views and ideas so
that not only me but many others like me can also get valuable tips ..

