Should You Blog If Your English Sucks?
Yes, you should, eventhough I find myself a bit reluctant to visit blogs with grammar errors, spelling mistakes and a flow that sucks. I am not saying my English is perfect, even some of the greatest blog in the world do have a little fault. But I came across some which are too much for me to bear.
Nor am I saying that we should write like Shakespeare or a novel writer. But if you write in broken English, then it will be harder for you to communicate with your readers or customers. (Of course, unless you are writing this way on purpose for entertainment)
Here are some often overlooked tips:
1. Read, read, read and keep reading. Read blogs, novels, books and the newspaper. Straightforward, but you will hear a lot of people telling you they don’t like to read. How on earth are you going to have people reading your blog if you don’t read yourself? And why are you writing for people to read?
2. Practice, practice, practice and practice. I think that is why you started a blog anyway.
3. Read out loud your posts. Usually you will be able to detect the errors when you do that.
4. Ask your friends to read your blog and ask them for opinions. Actually I found that many friends will be too shy to tell you if you have any mistakes at all. They will just tell you “Mine is worse. I’d be happy if I can write like you.â€
Also, drop by to read Top 5 tips for writing well from Copyblogger. I personally love to read this blog because of its many great articles and great advices.
After a few months of effort, you should begin to see your writing skill and English improved. If your English still sucks after this, cheer up! There are always better alternative out there, try podcasting !!
How have your writing and English improve as of today? What other ways do you use to improve your writing skills?
Oh look, by the way, the thesaurus is not helping much either:
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Have you heard about Mr. or Ms. Banana? My sis and bro tease me always that I am Ms.Banana. This is a chinese colq. for and Chinese who do not read or write Chinese words. Like a Banana has yellow skin but the inner portion is creamy/milky clr. All my family members study in chinese school except me. However, chances for me to polish my english is rear. At home all reading materials are in chinese, we watch chinese tv program, we read chinese news paper, we speak chinese…hence my english is always a “half past six”. I always have problem when it comes to essay writing. Even when I communicate with friends, all kinds of broken English came out from my mouth or my pen. Being a top management employee, I am ashame to said that some of my subordinate has better english grammar then me, I always worried that they caught me using the wrong grammar in my reports or memo. I also worry that my boss will find me not suitable for this position if i have no experience on my job. I admire the way you blog. It seems to me that you can write so freely without any worries. I wish to have my own blog too but “should I blog if english sucks”?
Dear yy, first off, i am so so so happy to see you here!!!
Secondly, I am also a ‘banana’. That helps too!
Thirdly, yes, you should blog even if your English sucks, you will be amazed at your improvement!!
me too, I improved a lot after reading story books. I love the romance story so far….I am still reading almost everyday…hopefully I could be better and better on my english writing and speaking…
it is not just by reading… reading and reading that you’ll improve your english. Speaking the language often helps a lot and I mean A LOT. Because a conversation is fast and needs reply fast. Makes you think fast and helps practice the language fluently.
I don’t deny reading helps a lot too.
Oh… and there are blogs around the world which has grammatical errors but is tolerable.
AND blogging really does improve your english. haha
I think yes, we should blog more if our English is not good, to me it feels like doing homework, we need to think of what words to use and how do we express ourselves, that’s a process of learning and growing.
Not everyone can write immaculately. I know entries written in poor English can be rather irksome but sometimes the content can be so good, we should just overlook those mistakes and enjoy a good read still
Hello YY, Chino, Beelee and Mischique!!
Thanks for all the opinions! There are many good blogs out there, only a minority with english problems. But I salute them for taking the action to write!
Mischique! Your blog rocks! Great personality and flow! I gotta love it!
If the content of the blog is really good and I can understand what he is writing, in fact I don’t mind at all.
As you know I am a Singaporean, many of us blog with a twist of Singlish. Sometimes, this makes the blog very “home-coming” but of course will lose readers from other countries if they can’t understand our culture and our language.
But it’s always good to practice good grammars and writings. Yeah, reading out loud do help you spot your mistakes!
Hi Alex, good point there! Yes, and we have manglish in Malaysia…
Hi Jenny! I have to agree with you. It’s much more enjoyable to read posts that are well-written with less grammatical mistakes, but then again I’m a copywriter and a perfectionist too so maybe that’s why I’m a bit particular
Man, this post really hit me. Im the guilty one. mostly all my posts, the english suck big time. But should i just stop?
For the record, thanks for dropping by at my blog. you always welcome. come again.
I believe an interesting article with a dozen grammar mistakes strikes people more than a boring post with perfect English. As long as the posts are understandable and informative, I wouldn’t mind reading.
Hi Mariuca, i know what you mean
I find that your blog is an excellent example of great english and good flow!
Hi Papajoneh, I didn’t mean to hit anyone. Your blog is fine, of course you should continue blogging! Your english is not the worst yet!!
HI Winston, you are right, perhaps that’s why they say ‘content is king’.
Agree..if the contents are good, I will just ignore the broken English…but, the particular blog owner should also take the initiative to improve his or her blog if he / she wants to woo the international readers.
While typing , I pick up a lot of new words and idioms ! Isn’t it amazing ? You all can blog although your English sucks,but you must also brush up on your English at the same time.
Hi Vedis, I can see you smiling everytime you are back
Yup, that’s why i prefer to read something with good english so that I can grasp much more. And oh yes, thanks for the tips, I know we can all benefit from it.
Well, vedis and jenny, do you both give me some message ka?
erm… I still donno how to improve la, always do the same mistake. Need a moderator for my blog. Well, anyone wanna be moderator? 
I just love the title of your entry. “Should you blog if your English sucks? ” and the answer “Yes, you should”
Aside from earning through my several blog sites.
I blog because I want to improve my english infact I’m dying to learn more. Honestly, my english sucks but nobody can stop me from blogging.
As I see it, everyone has his/her own way to express something. It doesn’t matter whether it’s prefect English or broken English. As long as the readers are able to feel the emotion of the blogger then it is mission accomplished.
And welcome to the BANANA club!
Ya, I sort of agree with most of your commentators.
Nobody can stop anyone from blogging if their command of English is no good. Some even do extremely well.
However I am of the opinion that those who knows that their grammar sucks should do something about it.
People might be kind to say that they don’t mind as long as they understand what is written, but they must also realize that, out of the 10 kind comments they get, 20 others are laughing by the side.
Personally, I don’t really mind reading with an amazed smile when I come across such blogs.
Wah, this post so popular wan. But some comments me didn’t understood woh. U know ler, English sucking…
“Veen-Stern Who”
http://winshoo.com
What la u ! No wonder u no cum visit Lin Peh blog la !
Yes, I agree with you that one should still blog!
As long as we are not afraid to make mistakes and learn like children, we can always do better eventually.
Best Wishes
Hm..this is my major concern.
I’m running a blog in Korean but there are too much limit making money when it is not in English.
I am thinking about make one more in English, but I do not know where to start or what would I start writting about. Seems like it would be too hard for making another ‘MAKE MONEY ONLINE’ blog like John Chow.
I just wonder..
i think if english sucks should blog more lo. ^^ i think it will help cause as we write more, we’ll improve.
We would improve if we blog, but it is essential to have a certain level of knowledge before blogging. Else, simply blog in the language you know best
English is not the requisite for blogging. Passion to write and share on the topics you are interested is more important.
I cannot believe I am reading this post again. I still remember, it is this blog that make me known to you. or the other way round. I’m not sure now. LOL.
I do know one thing, i typed from my heart. whenever i backspace or wait for the spell checker to tell me wrong, i know my idea will be gone by then. I just hope, finger crossed, my visitors, my friends, understand what i’m talking about. I do hope they comment though. Laughing at the side won’t do justice to the blog owner. Just my 2 cents.
Great post! I totally agree with your every point. Blogging is great for people to learn how to write. I also can’t stand blogs with a ton of mistakes but if I see that someone is making an effort, then I will put an effort into reading it.