Why criticize other broken English when they are trying to improve it?

It was on the rules here... no one should here is allowed to criticize one with a broken English. You are right everyone here who's English is their second language doesn't deserved to be criticize... everyone can tell it to the person if in case s/he uses wrong English but it would be said in a proper way. Are you the one who have been criticized? Just don't mind that person, if he's new here I'm pretty sure that person will not be here for long.

I don't like that either, why are some people so judgmental and judge people based on their literacy skills? Sometimes my grammar goes all over the place and make a few spelling mistakes. That's because I tend to type really fast and my fingers may go all over the place and I do fix my own mistakes too. But my English teacher always said that you might not pick up some of your mistakes and someone else who reads your writings may pick it some of the mistakes you never realized. Mylot is all about helping each other out, not laughing at those who have poor literacy skills. Why do people have to be so cruel and criticize, there are some people who are misfortunate or are not excelled in the English language and are still trying. Mylot is a great site to improve one's English skills but if the community are criticizing and bringing their spirits down then no one would want to join Mylot. Criticisms are sometimes needed to motivate but too much really discourages people and it won't help. People should be more helpful and pinpoint out the mistakes in a nice and friendly way, not a mean and scary way

Hi there, If someone here critisizes you for broken English or misspells then you should just report it. It is against the guidelines to do that. I think some do it thinking they are helping but it comes across as critisism.

hello there, with reference to your main topic discussion, well, it is not right to criticize others due to their inability to discuss an english matter. hence, they should be teach and be guided accordingly so they can easily grasp the correct grammar and its usage. aside from that, people who are poor in english should be given a special attention since they are not really good in dealing with the subject matter. as you have said, it is not a good attitude to criticize however, we should also look at the other side of the bench regarding criticism as there are also what you called a "positive criticism". And this positive criticism can somehow brought a good effect to the person involve. nevertheless, we should always take the necessary precaution in giving our point of view regarding criticism. thus, we should be careful in throwing our words to avoid hurting our fellow.

By your rant I can guess you're not a native English speaker and someone told you that your English is not that great. Am I wrong? Well, I think that if someone is trying to improve his or her English -this applies to any foreign language-, it's important that if that person makes a mistake, someone to let that person know. That's the best way to improve. If you never know that what you're saying is grammatically wrong, you can never fix it. I'm not a native English speaker, and I always appreciate help to improve my English

Hello befrindwithme26, I am also not good in ENGLISH as it is not my native language but i don't criticize anyone for their language not because i am not good in it,its because i don't have that habit.On the other hand i do accept criticism because i know we can improve our self a bit if we take it lightly it all depends on us.

As several people have pointed out, it is specifically forbidden in the Guidelines to post "discussions, responses or comments criticizing members for bad/broken English or bad spelling". If you feel that someone is doing so in a way which is not constructive or which is definitely abusive, then you should always report it. The post will just be quietly removed, if Admin agrees with you, and nothing more will be said. It is a very different matter, of course, if someone actually asks for help with their English. Then it is quite legitimate to explain and correct poor English or to suggest a better alternative. It sometimes happens, too, that someone will post something which is not clear. It is proper then to ask them them to clarify what they mean and, although this may be taken as a 'criticism', it is really a 'constructive criticism' because it is trying to help others to be understood by the rest of the community. I only know a very few words of Tagalog and, even if I knew more and felt that I could speak (or write) in the language, you would probably laugh at my attempts. Perhaps I would be a little confused and embarrassed but, if I felt that you were only trying to help me, I would laugh with you and be very willing to learn. If I felt that you were being unkind, I would be hurt, of course (though no less willing to learn). When you only have words written on a screen, it is sometimes difficult to decide whether someone is really being offensive or whether they are merely amused (and are just being friendly). There have been many occasions when someone's English makes me laugh out loud (because it is saying something different to what was meant). I usually, of course, make no comment but try to understand what the person REALLY meant and reply accordingly. Just occasionally, however, I think that the joke is worth sharing and hope that the person doesn't take my 'criticism' the wrong way. When we feel hurt or offended or embarrassed by something, the very first thing that we should do is to ask ourselves WHY! Usually, the main reason why we feel hurt lies within ourselves and NOT in the intention of the other person. It is not a matter of being 'sensitive' (in fact, it is quite the reverse - it is usually because we are not sensitive enough to what the other person's intention is and too concerned with our own comfort!) On a personal note, befrindwithme26, I do sometimes find your posts a little hard to understand and I sometimes wish that I could help you (and others) write better English but, in a discussion, it would not be appropriate to start telling you that such and such a thing was 'wrong' when, after a little effort on my part, I can understand perfectly what you mean. If I do 'correct' people at all, it is most often quite naturally by rewriting or restating what they have said in correct English when I reply. I prefer to teach 'by example' rather than 'by criticism'.

You can never guess how people will react to stuff. Really, the only thing you have control over is your own behaviour & mind. I suggest, instead of focusing on other's reactions, is to learn what good you can get out of it, if any. Then do whatever it takes to improve, if & where needed. Some can be well-meaning, others not so. Use it as an opportunity to become better than your critic, in both skill & character.

I was in the UK and all my friends who went wtih me still had broken English. During our stay in London no one critized my friends' broken English. Usually those who love critizing others still have shortcomings as well, and they think their English is good enough. So, my advice is, you keep on improving it. If you still make a mistake, it is normal since English is not your native language, isn't it?

hmm.. this brought back memories of the Filipino workers on US soil that does not speak english but use filipino when talking.. yeah the americans will feel disrespected for speaking language other than english as if introducing the idea that part of america must become part of the philippines. it is the way they seen it but they have just patriotic sense as we would if we are them.

In fact, I love when someone correct my grammar mistakes. It helps improving my English skills, little by little... I just will be a lot happier if they're correcting it with respect and good manner..

I agree with you. There are just some people who loves to criticize others and always look for the imperfections of other people. I don't know why they do that. It's not good. It's better for them to just help that person out and teach that person as to what is the proper way or the correct grammar.

I don't criticize other's English. Me too is not good on this language. Actually I appreciate if somebody would correct my grammar. It helps me to improve my English skills. This is one of the reasons why I joined in mylot. To improve my communication skills specially in English language.

There are people who loves to criticize but the thing is if the criticism helps. Constructive criticism is the best way to help others to improve themselves. Me myself i know i am not good at english because it is not my mother tounge. But same as you i really like to improve. And by reading and making discussions with myLot it helps me a lot to work on with it and learn from it... Hope people who criticize knows how to handle criticism. Just be what you are befriend, and conquer the things which you really love to improve to yourself. Dont mind them because they have also imperpections.

I may not understand what you may have been through. But my friends also criticize my English and especially my pronunciation? I speak my mother tongue most of the time. So sometimes my pronunciation of English words sound Chinese sometimes. But I learn through criticism. I mean sometimes, it may be harsh, but in order not to be criticize again, I try to correct myself and learn from my mistakes. Sometimes, criticism is a way of learning. I would hate those people who ignore you even you make a mistake. That is not helping you to improve, that is helping you to fail even further, because you never knew what went wrong.

It is against mylot rules if people do this. If I cannot understand what they are saying or what they mean I usually just skip that discussion or I will ask them if what I think they are saying is what they mean. There are people here from different countries and I think thats great. We all get to learn about each others cultures. To me its really interesting. Some people always have to find someone to pick on its how they are. Its terrible but thats how they are.

there is no grammar police in mylot but i had encountered many of them in multiple messageboards, They felt like they were superior because English is their first language. As long as people understand what you say clearly, there nothing wrong with that. Plus being good in English wont make a person genius. If a grammar police attacked you again, ask them this question: How Many language do you speak aside from English?!! that silenced them easily.

I don't do that, and whats the problem in that, i mean that when the person feel ashamed then the chances are great for improvement. The guilt can make you do anything.

You are right, we should never make fun of anyone, in fact we should appreciate that other person is trying to learn something new. he needs support not embarrassment, its really very bad.

I support for constructive criticism. But unfortunately most of them do destructive criticism, that hurts others. Everyone are trying to improve in one aspect or the other so we must encourage them. Some are really bad at critics and If I come across such people I will always try to explain to them but most of the time they don't pay attention to it.