Can you understand a word I am saying?

Many people jumped all over me when I posted something similar, thinking I was insulting those for whom English is a new language. That wasn't the case at all. Usually,those myLotters are very clear, even if their use of English is imperfect. The frustrating ones are just not careful, and they expect us just to know what they mean. If I remember correctly, the worst offenders were all Americans who spoke nothing but English. Their usage, however, was impossible!

There are times when I read a discussion and sit there, puzzled, wondering what the heck these people were trying to say. I, like you, have spoken English my whole life and yet, there are times when that knowledge of the language fails me. I find that irksome only when the poster is someone who should also understand English. When it is someone whose native tongue is a different language then it is okay if it takes me some time to figure out what they are trying to say. Now, if we could just get people to StOp tYpInG lIke tHiS, I'd be happier

Some posts are just hard to convey the message that the user intended and no matter how hard you try to understand the post, the harder it gets to do so. Usually I don't waste my time on such posts but I skip to others. There are several interesting discussion from which to chose from.

The thing that bothers me the most is when people type everything in one long paragraph, making it very difficult to read. I read fast, not sure if you could call it speed-reading or not, and if it is one run-on paragraph, it is hard for me to read and I often give up. If you notice, I type my discussions and responses with much shorter paragraphs, breaking up my thoughts, and it is much easier to read. Even if someone isn't perfectly clear in how they are forming their thoughts, I can usually figure it out if it is laid out in a manner that is easy on the eyes.

Yes, I find that some people do not have the skill of writing, whether they never learned properly or just have a hard time. I feel, with some people, they do IM and texting so much, that they have lost their writing skills. I had excellent teachers in English and writing and try very hard to be clear to others. I don't think it has a thing to do with speaking another language, because if you can write well in your own language, it seems to be okay in English, too. Another reason is that sometimes what you understand, as you are writing it, comes across differently. I have caught myself doing that. I know what I mean but the way I put the sentence together, it can be confusing. That's why, when I am writing something for publication, or professional reasons, I need to either have someone else proof-read it, or wait a day or two and then go back and read it again. In myLot, we are writing and don't have time to edit. Therefore, it's a good idea to ask someone to explain by asking, "Did you mean XXXX? I did not quite understand," and then give that person a chance to explain. No one is perfect (God knows I'm not!), so it's just good to clarify. It does not hurt to separate into paragraphs and before writing the next one, read over the previous one. That's how I catch some errors.

Hi Hatley, I agree with what you're saying. I try to make my discussions and responses clear enough so that they can be understood. But, I am sorry to say that I am guilty of sometimes being too wordy and therefore possibly not being able to be totally understood. I hope that I am wrong. I also stay out of discussions where I don't understand what the poster is saying whether it is a language problem or they are not making themselves clear on their topic.

your right harley, ther lot of co-mylotter make ther wording not easy to understand, specially if they post out of time, maybe they just in rush. but same to me that i dont care all about, because im friendly person so its ok to me.

I have this problem too Hatley, trying hard to understand what has been written. I feel bad though because in those cases I check the responses and others don't seem to have the same problem with comprehension as I do. English is my first language and it was my best subject at school but with a combination of slang, text language and laziness in regard to punctuation and sentence structure, I'm often at a loss to understand the words in front of me. The sad fact is that people simply don't care. Most would NOT proof read, if they did and they found errors they would not bother to correct them and we are not supposed to correct their shortcomings.

I do try to make sure my grammar is perfect when posting discussions or responses but sometimes I hit submit by mistake and the next thing I know they are posted and I couldn't do a single thing to edit it :( and yes, english is my second language

[i]Hi Hatley, I am always trying to make a point that my post is very clear to everyone since I know that this community has a lot of members who are not fluent in English! And then when I am sharing an experience, I will end up a question for the readers to drop their idea or opinion about the post![/i]

I've come across a few discussions that I didn't understand too, and sometimes receive responses to my own which are a little confusing. I've always put it down to people who don't write English too well though. I always try and end my own discussions with a question, so that they are easy to respond to.

I don't normally start discussions so I am not the one to really comment on this topic.. But, I do respond to many discussions and when I read a new topic and can't understand what is going on in the mind of the persone who posted it, then I just ignore it and go on to one that I can understand..

i surely do the same before hitting the post response button coz you could no longer retrieve it unless you cancel it. i believe it is wise and appropriate to check your post before sending it and if you really hit the mark on what you want to ask or intend to portray whether it's a discussion you started or a response you made. but the downside of this is that, there are so many around the world who had no formal education in english and if they do they are not well versed or unable to practice it well and that often leads to errors. specially to those country that english is a second language spoken or written. they just have difficulty in expressing their point and at the same time lacking in grammar usage and sentence construction. did i make any sense? or i am one of those who don't?

Lol, if I don't understand a discussion or what the discussion was all about, i would choose to move on, and forget about it. Afterall, I had only been answering discussion to which I have a personal interest in, or when I feel that I have something to contribute to the particular discussion on hand. If it's worded in a way that I could not understand, chances are that I would not be all that interested in what the discussion is all about as well. SO leave it and move on, I would say. How that happened is that they are using their own native language to communicate, and then just translate them word by word into English. As our native language's structure is very different from how English is like, it would be impossible for a non native English speaker to grasp the meaning of that easily. And that is something that I understand. If the discussion is a direct translation from Chinese, i would still be able to understand what the writer is trying to convey, but if it's translated from some other languages, then I would have a problem with that. Why would you want to respond to a discussion that you do not understand. Lol, that is something that I could not understand on your part. Hehe.. Perhapes you could care to clear up some of my misunderstanding here? I am a perfectionist and I love to make things as clear as sky when I am creating new discussions or responding to a discussion. That is why you will notice paragraphs when I am writing long discussions or comments, and they will be sub divided into different points and sub-points to get my opinions across clearly. I am also very careful in starting discussions that at least my friends would be able to understand, as some of them are just followup discussions on my previous discussions. Hehe.. but of course new mylotters who happened to chance upon my new discussions would not be able to understand what I am trying to say in that particular followup discussion. Lol I hope that you are following me on this. Hehe. But then I am usually very careful, and hopefully everybody else would also be when they are posting their comments. It's nice to hear that you would be even more careful on what you are posting that in such a way that it would be clear to everybody! Well, take care my friend and happy mylottinG!! =D

I sometimes find some posts hard to understand, but after going through them I soon figure out what the poster wanted. I think they may think that others may get angry at them or they may get laughed at so they go about it in a roundabout way. You just have to read behind the lines. As for me making my posts understandable, they will if you have a good education, but I will not write so only a child can make it up. Oh if they do not get it, I will ask the main question at the bottom. Oh I never get irritated about people who do not write clearly unless it is a rant that I have to take twenty minutes to read through.

I have to be careful as to how I word things in Mylot also to make sure that everyone who wants to respond, understands me. I think you do just fine. I understand you very well.

Hi Hatley, I have seen a few that I really don't understand what they are going on about and yes English is the first language so I tend not to respond to thos. I tend to write about something and then at the end ask for thoughts and advice or I will ask a clear question so it is understandable even if the person can not relate to the situation I have described they can answer the relevant questions asscoaited with it. Huggles. Ellie :D

you know i run across those sometimes and just dont respond as i figure its clearly over my head. the problem is, i strongly suspect i may start some discussions the same way especially when theres either no or very few responses.

I do have a hard time interpreting what a post is explaining sometimes but I try my best. I understand that there are some members here who are not native to America and are trying their best to get to know the English language. When I post a discussion I do try my best to make sure it clarifies what I am trying to get across. I even think a while before I post it and have it worded in my mind before typing it in.

You can't expect everyone to get your point because each one of us has different perspective even in reading. Keep up the good work. Write what's in your heart and what you believe is right.