The english language improvement thread

[Jet Cash]

We have a lot of potentially valuable members who are receiving negative comments because english isn't their first language. I thought that, rather than calling them names and penalising them, it would be better if we could provide some advice to help them improve their english posting. I've started this thread to see if I, and some other members who have english as their first language, can provide this help.

This thread is self-moderating, and I will have to make a few rules to ensure that it remains useful.

- All posts must be about Bitcoin, Bitcoin price movements, and its place in the world economy.
- Posts about alt coins, bounties and other topics so beloved of the sig spammers will be deleted.
- Please don't give advice about the structure and content of a post if english isn't your first language.
- This thread is text only, so no fancy formatting or embedded graphics please.

Obviously your command of english isn't a barrier to posting in this thread, but please do the best you can to help us to understand the content of your post.

So lets go for it - post a comment, or ask a question

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[tmfp]

A couple off the top of my head:

Format
Walls of text are offputting, pertinent points get lost. Space is free.

Punctuate
Learn the basics; capitalization at the beginning of sentences.

Edit
Read back your draft to yourself thru a reader's eyes or to someone else, before posting.

Don't call people "Sir". We have a big, egalitarian society here /s

/s means that the preceding was sarcastic.

[Jet Cash]

A couple off the top of my head:

Format
Walls of text are offputting, pertinent points get lost. Space is free.
Punctuate
Learn the basics; capitalization at the beginning of sentences.
Edit
Read back your draft to yourself thru a reader's eyes or to someone else, before posting.

Don't call people "Sir". We have a big, egalitarian society here /s

/s means that the preceding was sarcastic.

Thanks for contributing, and you will see that I edited your quote. I really dislike emboldened text, it makes it harder to speed scan a post.

The other pointis that space is not free, it's paid for by your readers, and there will always be some who don't want to pay. However the point is valid at it's basic level. A daunting block of text will put off a reader, and he will skip to the next post. So splitting your post into paragraphs is helpful, adding bold text headings is really annoying, and it's one of the reasons I put some posters on ignore.

I had hoped that this thread would focus more on sentence content rather than post structure. Also, I think it would be useful to make it a practice and advice thread, as there are already numerous threads about the ways to structure and format posts

[sunriseme]

English is my second language and it needs improvement, for sure.
What really helps me these days is reading through the forum posts, learning from more experienced forum writers. Also thinking more before posting works wonders for me.
Do you have some favourite reading material about crypto in general?
Thanks for reaching out to us

[Jet Cash]

Thanks for supporting this thread. I decided that the first member to post here for review would be awarded a merit, and I have given it to you.

I read your post, and I was able to understand it without having to slow down or pause. We have so many variations of english that are used on the boards, that I think it would not be possible to reach agreement on a standard. The most important criterion is easy comprehension by most members, and I think your post achieves that - congratulations.

[Prompyboo]

Here i am....im trying to improve my english.
Watch TV series with ENG subtitles...you think is a good way to improve own english?

Another question, have i make some mistake?

[poptok1]

Spelling in English can be tricky.
I think that one of the best ways for improving posts of non-native English speaker, is to install additional dictionary plug-in for a browser.
Super simple and very effective way. Unfortunately it won't be much help with grammar, that's for additional extensions to take care of.
Still, with correct spelling even broken grammar won't affect the core of ones massage. It might be obvious to most but IMO worth to mention.

How about listing the best language tools/extensions for browsers?
Never tried any of those (although I should), is it worth the hassle?

BTW this thread is a great idea.

[Jet Cash]

Here i am....im trying to improve my english.
Watch TV series with ENG subtitles...you think is a good way to improve own english?

Another question, have i make some mistake?

You caught me just before I'm off for the night. This is the way I would have written that post, but it is understandable.

Here I am, and I'm trying to improve my english by watching TV series with english subtitles. Do you think this is a good way to improve my english?
Can I ask another question - have I made any mistakes?

My comment - reading the subtitles can help you improve your english, but it depends on the ability of the translator. Watching English TV programmes can be good if you can follow the dialogue, but watch out for regional variations. Another good trick if you can get hold of an english newspaper, is to try to complete the crossword puzzle that many include.

[Eternu]

Some time ago, one member of this forum told me that my English is barely above minimum for understanding. That was hard blow for me, because I thought that my skill of speaking and writing it, is average and understandable. That made me think, and I came to a conclusion that improving is important no matter how much you think you know. Also, what helped me a lot in improving my posts, was reading them before posting.

I really like the idea of this topic, and I know how hard it can be for people for whom English is secondary language. Opinion of native English speakers is really important. But more important is, personal will and desire for improvement.

@Jet Cash, sorry it was not about Bitcoin like you said in OP, but I needed your opinion.

[jao18]

Sometimes the difficult thing about talking in a new language isn't the language itself, but how you think about it
Talk to yourself
Use a mirror
Focus on fluency, not grammar
Try some tongue twisters
Listen and repeat
Pay attention to stressed sounds
Sing along to English songs

Hope it will help..

[AjithBtc]

Most of the users here were not the native speakers of English. Majority have English as the second language, so continued working is a must to improve ourselves and become proficient in the language which is much required to be an active user of the forum.

[dmonrey002]

hi.. i just want to know your opinion about the price of the Bitcoin  10 years from now?. anything advice from you. will the bitcoin improve more?. and what do you think is it?. . cause. base on your experience.  you have. a lot of  info campare to others.. your name is familiar to other users they tell that your one of the most active member here. talk about speculate, you can share.Do you think it is ok for now to invest in bitcoin.  even the price is too high?.   or find another?.sorry for my english. i want to improve about it.  cause its not my first language.

[akamit]

Users can add Grammarly chrome extension (its free) in order to check the grammar and correct it where ever it is needed.
Sometimes it shows wrong corrections, but 95% of the time it is right in my opinion.

But at the end, we will be able to see some quality posts from those posters who has grammar problem.

[Jet Cash]

hi.. i just want to know your opinion about the price of the Bitcoin  10 years from now?. anything advice from you. will the bitcoin improve more?. and what do you think is it?. . cause. base on your experience.  you have. a lot of  info campare to others.. your name is familiar to other users they tell that your one of the most active member here. talk about speculate, you can share.Do you think it is ok for now to invest in bitcoin.  even the price is too high?.   or find another?.sorry for my english. i want to improve about it.  cause its not my first language.

Thanks for posting that, and it raises some interesting issues.
[hi..]
It's the first word of a sentence, so the "H" should be capitalised, however, this is a forum post and not a PM, so I don't think I would have started the post with it.

cause. base on your experience.  you have. a lot of  info campare to others.. your name is familiar to other users they tell that your one of the most active member here. talk about speculate, you can share

I'm assuming that this post ws intended to be included in a discussion thread, and if that is so, then that comment, although itis flattering, is not really relevant to the topic, unless you are targetting a specific member. In this case you should prefix the comment with a prompt for him to reply, you can do this  with an entry such as @dmonrey002 .

sorry for my english. i want to improve about it.  cause its not my first language.

I would have written - I apologise for my english. It is not my first language, but I hope to improve this by reading the threads on Bitcoin Talk ( a bit of grovelling never hurts ).

With regard to the min question, I would flesh it out a bit -

The price of Bitcoin has been fairly volatile recently, and it looks as if it may still be in a bear trend. I am a long term holder of Bitcoin, and I would be grateful for opinions on its value in 10 years time. If you believe that it's value will increase significantly, do you think that now is the time to buy, or should I wait for a positve break through the current resistance level.

[Jet Cash]

Here is a surprise for some of you. I gave a merit to each of the posters who asked for comments on their post. This was a thank you for taking part in a project to improve the quality of Bitcoin Talk.

This is a one off, and it will not be repeated.

[SlimShadyMmp]

Jet Cash You have actually provide a valuable presentation and seriously i appreciate what you do. Is really annoying when people comments post with shitty remark it makes the person feels bad so why not just correct him and he may actually feel encourage to write better and also learn better..With You and Others providing such guide things are going to change for sure here. I will make sure to follow your guide and all others that provided help here..Thank you guys

[NavI_027]

This is a good thread Sir jet Cash, I'm pretty sure that many users out there (including me) will learn here some of the tips on effective English speaking/writing.

Though English is not my mother tongue, I can confidently say that I'm not too bad but not also too good in this, maybe just between the middle. Honestly, English language serves as a form of communication barrier for me before simply because that's a foreign language — a language that I'm not well familiar with. But with my eagerness to learn, I study hard and push myself to adapt. Here are some of my tips for improving your English communication skills.

1. Be a bookworm. Always read any kind of literature using English language whether it is  a simple pamplet or a novel because it will develop your vocabulary.

2. Watch English movies frequently. Doing this will improve your comprehension skills and will enhance the way you pronounce by mimicking the dialogue of the actor/actress.

3. Always write. Don't push yourself to write a series of paragraphs at first, just start in simple thoughts and try to express it in a sentence. Then if you think you become better, try now constructing paragraphs or short stories. Doing these will enhance your technical writing skills, grammar and even your style of writing.

I hope my tips help you a lot.

[tbct_mt2]

Several essential components which form a good thread are:

Topic sentences: which states about writers' main ideas.
Detailed sentences: which should expand main ideas as logical as possible.
Linking words: which help to make threads more smoothly, and improve coherence.
Vocabularies: of course, writers should use as appropriate vocabularies as possible.

To sum up, writers should have good topic sentences, and avoid making distractions during their threads; focus on their main ideas instead.

[anobtc]

My experiences, maybe it'll useful for someone:
- Have learnt basic English, and read comments in this forum.
- Don't translate your language to English word by word, i make this mistake a lot when i first joined Bct forum.
- If you have an uncertainly words or phrase (You've learnt new words and want to put it together), try searching it on google first, if there are not result matching > you was wrong, find that word in oxforddictionaries.com to know how to use it.
And the most important: learn about Collocations in English to know how to matching words, also you'll improve your Vocabulary, Grammar quickly.
(English is my second language, maybe i don't write grammar correctly  )

[r1s2g3]

We have a lot of potentially valuable members who are receiving negative comments because english isn't their first language. I thought that, rather than calling them names and penalising them, it would be better if we could provide some advice to help them improve their english posting. I've started this thread to see if I, and some other members who have english as their first language, can provide this help.

This thread is self-moderating, and I will have to make a few rules to ensure that it remains useful.

- All posts must be about Bitcoin, Bitcoin price movements, and its place in the world economy.
- Posts about alt coins, bounties and other topics so beloved of the sig spammers will be deleted.
- Please don't give advice about the structure and content of a post if english isn't your first language.
- This thread is text only, so no fancy formatting or embedded graphics please.

Obviously your command of english isn't a barrier to posting in this thread, but please do the best you can to help us to understand the content of your post.

So lets go for it - post a comment, or ask a question

Thanks Jetcash
This is very good and constructive lead. I am very  happy that  instead of calling names you decided to help.

Below are the points I take care while posting:
1. Words that are underlined with red line : I correct them, just right click them,Google automatically provide suggestions of correct spelling.
2. Read my post again before clicking "Post" :  While reading the post again sometimes I got the idea that particular sentence is not clearly mentioning the idea that I want to convey. I re-frame these sentences.
Even English is not our native language but these  checks at least  improve the communication.

For improving English I am more interested in reading books and newspaper (that can vastly increases the vocabulary.)
If not sure of exact meaning of a word, then better to check in dictionary rather than assuming meaning.

Note: It is very important  to learn correct because "unlearning"  is much more difficult than learning.