Why are people such jerks when a person who speaks a different language gets an english word incorrect?

Question

I mean, English isn't their first language, but they are making an effort to learn, and when they get a tad mixed up, instead of answering the obvious question, people tear them to pieces. Where's the maturity in this? How many people can speak/write different languages fluently?

Answer 1

I'll tell you from experience those people that make fun of people like me which English is their second language is because they are ignorant and they think by making fun of us they will feel better about themselves sure they will feel good but they dont see that people that hear this or see this will see them as ignorant and cruel and instead of good. I mean English is not easy but still we study hard and try to do our best and you know when people make fun of me that gives me the strength to study more and get better at it.

Answer 2

We do not rate maturity in this caterory, do we???

Indeed, I found some askers here asked silly questions for fun and they do not expect any real answer for their questions, in another word, they don't take their questions serious!

It is annoying when I have to guess the meaning of the questions from their bad English / broken English, though I could simiply ignore them. When you post a question here, at least, post a literal one, isn't it a basic rule? Or else, they can post the question with their native languages in other Yahoo Q&A servers.

I do not see teasing those who make a lot of mistakes in their questions is immature, however, it may be a good way to teach them good lessons and they will not repeat the mistakes again. (if we looked on the bright side). On the other hand, read over all these responses are fun too!

P.S. to Scott,

I do not get your point. I see people critic the others everywhere not just to Americans, in fact, Americans also critic the others in sharp tone, very interactive!

"Terrible Tippers"????? Huh????? I do not know how that relates to this question. BUT ... Don't you get paid from your employor and providing proper services (without discrimination) is part of your duties?? I wish you'd gain your job satisfication more from how good you are in catering services than how much tips you got.

P.S. to Dan S

Nice answer!

Only if you could put some more "comma" or "full stop" between your lines. Then, I know where I can pause when I read over your paragraphs. (Sorry for being so demanding as a foreigner from China!)

Answer 3

I try to not be a jerk about spelling and grammar. But, I also often think badly of a question or answer that is improperly written. English is a difficult, but precise language. It is very well suited to explaining things and is fast becoming the most important language to learn. I do understand that it is also the hardest language to learn with some odd spelling rules; with lots of detail comes complexity. Occasionally I have ripped into someone when their grammar and spelling makes it practically impossible to answer their question. I also hate responses or questions that use phone speak, or email code. I think that this is lazy and a poor use of the language that only makes it more difficult to understand, especially for people that have learned English later in life.

People come to this board to get information, to learn something that they don’t know, or to share what they know with people that need that information. If you are giving out an answer then you should strive to use the best grammar and spelling. Personally I have horrible spelling, and I tend to write long answers, too long for Yahoo Answer Spell Check to run. So I often type my answers in Microsoft Word and rely on its grammar and spell check to make sure that I give out an answer that can be read and understood by other people on the board. I also re-read my response after I have typed it to make sure that it makes sense. If I am trying to give out a best answer, then what good is that answer if the reader can’t understand it? The primary purpose of this board is to educate, and part of that is to use proper grammar and spelling. When I was young my mother used to correct my grammar all the time. It may have been a pain then, but it sure is an advantage now.

I forgive a mistake or two, unless it changes the meaning of the question or response. But, when I rate a question for best answer or vote on one; grammar and spelling are a BIG factor. If the answerer has poor grammar and spelling, then I don’t put much stock in what they are saying. I confess that I have also ignored some questions because of the phone speak in them, and I as well as some other people have had to ask someone what a phrase means. To me LOL means a poor spelling of the word low, but it actually means laughing out loud. What do you think about such abbreviations? You sure won’t find them in any English dictionary.

I am a mature person, and I take the questions that I answer seriously. The best way to get rid of the immature people is to report them when they break the rules. I don't just report someone because I dislike what they say I look for those people who are just going for the two points with a stupid answer. They aren't helping anyone except themselves and that should not be the spirit on this board. That's why the best way to earn points is to submit a best answer.

Answer 4

It really depends on the person. If it's someone who has learned a language themselves, they're probably less likely to be rude about it. A lot of it's social as well. In the US, there are a lot of ignorant people who want to blame social and economic problems on immigrants, so they think that if someone doesn't speak English perfectly, they must be a "stupid illegal immigrant trying to take their job" or something like that (that's not how I feel).

I also think that we're more likely to run into these jerks online in a forum like this because of the anonymity. No one wants to be considered a jerk in person (or at least they're afraid of the consequences), but online, unfortunately, people tend to be more rude.

The reality is that it's difficult to learn a new language, and of course you aren't going to learn every single word instantly. Learning a language takes a lot of time and practice, and many many mistakes. When I speak Spanish, I appreciate it when someone lets me know I've used a word wrong, but politely. I haven't encountered any Spanish speakers who were rude to me when I made a mistake yet, but that's probably a selection bias--meaning, I generally only communicate in Spanish with people who know I'm learning and who I think will be nice to me if I mess up. But I'm sure there are Spanish speakers out there who would be a jerk if I get a word wrong, I just hope I don't meet one...

PS--Because I know that was kind of long, I'll sum it up: Amen, sister!

Answer 5

Firstly, this happens predominantly with people who have never learned a second language themselves. And the real reason behind it is lack of love for their fellow man. If we truly loved each other then we would have patience with others and understanding and empathy for each other and then this wouldn't happen. In other parts of the world people commonly know 2 - 5 different languages and then here we get pissed if someone doesn't speak our 1 language perfectly, even though most Americans would say "speak our language perfect" which is improper grammar!!! So perhaps the reason people get upset is because most Americans don't even really speak 1 language completely fluently and they feel intimidated?

Answer 6

I noticed that a lot, but I come to think that these people are very ignorants, they have no idea how difficult it is to learn another language.

I actually believe that Spanish is one of the most difficult languages to learn, because just one word has 2 o 4 definitions. The advantage of learning it is that being a romance language it opens the door to understand Italian, French and Portuguese.

In my opinion the most difficult language is Mandarin (China) or how many people do you know that speaks this language? If english is now spoken worldwide is just like the metric system because it's more easier to learn.

Answer 7

I don't act like that around every person from a foreign country, but there are exceptions. For instance, many people from abroad always criticize Americans and say that we are stupid and so forth. Then these hyprocrites try to imitate our culture. In addition, foreign people are TERRIBLE tippers. As a server in an affluent area, I wait on a lot of foreigners. If they put forth the diligent effort to learn English that you speak of, then they would learn how to tip properly. It is really frustrating when these people screw me on a tip and the busser makes more money off of the table than I do.

Answer 8

When I encounter a person who doesn't speak fluent English, I try to remember that the person knows more than I do anyway. I don't speak any language other than English.

Answer 9

the reason being, all languages exchange with the aid of the years. the adjustments between common American English and won Pronunciation are minimum whilst in comparison with the dialectal adjustments, extremely in the united kingdom and British Isles. And this is genuine - American English is nearer to Shakespearean English (Early present day English) than British English.

Answer 10

Human nature i'm afraid some can't help themselves, i speak read and write 4 languages.