Originally uploaded by: ifindkarma
I must admit, there are cases that I suck big time at writing proper use of grammar. I hate when I do that. It’s not easy when you try to use a proper words to make them look, well definable. What’s worse is that, whenever I write a post, I use my tagalog words in my head and translate them to English. I write as I speak and sometimes I use Pidgin words. Sometimes it can be very difficult to put your fingers on exactly why your own translation looks inadequate. Although a grammatically sound text can still have that indefinable raw feeling, I would spend the time re-reading and re-writing my posts until I’m satisfied with it.
The other day, while looking for a Sauna Bath near Wanchai district, a receptionist approached me and asked if I want to look around inside. She introduced me their facilities and she said, “we also have ’special’ service”. Ok, it’s not what you think it is. I think their ’special services’ includes free car parking, food delivery and an extra shoe cleaning. So I took one of their pricelist and looked at it carefully. If the price is higher than HK$500 for an hour massage, would I check if their facilities are up to standards? Well, of course.
As I read thru the brochure, I caught myself laughing at what was actually written at the bottom of the card. It says, “All facilities must be accompanied by Sauna”. Like, what? For a minute, I was ’scratching my head’ there. It’s ovbiously a wrong grammar. Even the spelling of the “Manicure” is wrong. These premises should find a friend to proof read their brochures well before printing. If you work in a big firm, this awkward grammar or incorrect information can be costly. Perhaps you’ve had to reprint a report or leaflets, or perhaps you have lost costumers because of these mistakes.
Language works on so many levels at once that getting it right on each one is difficult. At first I really do not worry about the use of grammar, spelling, typing mistakes etc. It’s okay if you forgot spellings once in a while but no matter what, sometimes I want people to correct me, I’m just being honest because we’re all friends right? Sometimes my spelling mistakes come from typing too fast. I have to read my work again and again, because I miss the mistakes constantly. Thanks God for the spell checker, it highlights words that could be wrong. But I sometimes believe this does not help to improve spelling.
English is not my first language but it fits me here to the extent that I always use “Literally” most of the time. I hate it when I do that. However, I am under the impression that I use it better than most people who make fun of my accent. For the record, if I tried typing a sentence out badly to your blog, it made my head explode and I had to go back and correct it. Sometimes it makes me look stupid. Misspellings bug me to no end, but because they’ve become so acceptable on our blogs, forums, etc. we simply just ignore it without bothering anyone.
Reading improves spelling. I am willing to just sit here, read your blogs, understand the way you write in order to learn a little bit. I’m probably fast at thinking of the words but it vanished when I start writing them off. Honestly, I have seen change on the way I write now - it really takes an effort but it feels great when I finished a post that I thought sounded perfect.
I believe that good writing comes easily if we have more command over the words we used, the better can be in our writing. Do you see any grammar mistakes in my posts? I know you do. Sometimes, I regularly read my old posts just to expand my vocabulary and correct my mistakes.
What grammatical errors do you think really stick in your throat?
Featured Song: Lost Ones by: Jay-Z
[audio http://www.musicwebtown.com/knoizki/playlists/17530/468014.mp3]
Lost Ones
by: Jay-Z featuring Chrisette Michelle
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K lives in Hong Kong, who loves music, homes & architectures, movie trailers and all things . My life in this city project a lot of things - it’s all about the taxis, the billboards, the sidewalks, the cinemas, the zebra lines, the lights, the cars, the sounds, the people, the skyscrapers and the shopping malls.
English was not my first language also, it’s actually my third, Lao being first, Thai being second, and I learned my ABC in the 5th grade. When I first started blogging, I had the hardest time with grammar and using the wrong words because English wordings are a bit confusing to me. Then I had my American friend to proof read my post, but I wrote too often and about strange topics that she was a bit annoying by them. Then I visited Barns and Noble and bought 2 books, Practical English Usage, Third Edition by Michael Swan, and Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, which I’ve been using them a lot lately. My goal in writing is to improve my writing skill and grammar and I think practice makes perfect. I don’t get a lot of comment on my blog, lately it has been mostly just you, and I thought my writing might be awful or something. What do you think of my writing; you can be honest because I need a good feedback to improve, if I don’t know, how can I improve, right?
Your writing is fine, and as for me, I’ve learned to accept that my writing might not be perfect and my readers will have to accept this because English is not my first language, just like you, you understand if you see a grammatically error on my post, right?
Honestly, you write really well. When I was still in school, I enjoy learning English writing (and public speaking) because I was not really good at it (until now). I guess not everyone are equal - because no matter how good you think you are, there will always be someone better. This has taught me to work even harder and constantly push myself to the limits of my capabilities.
inthesity, honestly, your Spanish is better than my English. I’m not really judging you on this, it’s just that sometimes it’s also nice to learn another language. I think for me, English is one of the easiest language. I took Spanish class in College and I almost failed.
Do you know that the spanish language is spoken over more of the world than english? When I first came here in HK, knowing that I know how to speak english, I thought it’s easy enough for me to find a job. Most of the time, I feel frustrated when most of the jobs I want requires you to speak their local language. I hope you understand what I mean.
Americans? You made me think there.
Thanks for the feedback on my writing, my oldest sister told me that also, but she’s my sister, it’s good to hear from another person.
Redading an comenting blogs make me improve my English, but it´s still quite bad. Maybe one day I can post in English, now I do but with a lot of mistakes and garmatical errors.
Treee years ago wen to Africa and in that trip I realized that I also can speak french but only speak.
True, even on the entertainment side, a lot of Asians are now making big in Hollywood.
inthesity, I do notice tho’ that if you attempt to speak French, they’ll give you the face because they consider themselves intellectually superior. They think, only French people has the right to speak their language. Their usual attitude, ‘we are the best’, hehehe. But good to know that you read and leave comments here, at least one or another, you share ideas and learn something from my blog, likewise learning myself Spanish.