NEW: ALL New Users MUST Read AND RESPOND Before Being Allowed to Post - Page 7 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Envisage0 · 8th May 2008, 09:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouglasABaker

Absolutely.

I originally had written some disclaimers in there about the grammar part not applying to folks who could also take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foriegn Language), but finally decided that I wasn't trying to write a novel or a legal disclaimer so I took it all out

Plus, in my experience, folks for whom English is not the primary language tend to have better grammar than native speakers. The wording choices can sometimes be interesting, but the grammar is typically exceptional

d-

I agree with both you and Ard, Doug.

My point was really the other way round in asking native speakers to avoid language that could be impenetrable to non-native speakers. I say this because even I have problems understanding American colloquialisms sometimes and English is my mother tongue.

DouglasABaker · 8th May 2008, 15:54

Oh trust me, I understood your post, and agree with it wholeheartedly.

I do enough traveling to foreign (note spelling this time

) countries to know that even little things, like asking for a "bubbler" instead of a "water fountain" can cause people to have no idea what you are talking about. Accents are the equivalent of bad spelling on a message board, in my opinion, and only make things worse.

At least when writing we all have the opportunity to reflect on what we have written before pushing the "post" button to ensure it is logical, clear, concise and easily understandable...

Doug