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Is that terrible as Grammarly Suggests?

 
 
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 04:03 am
Hi, you lot. I need to pick you guys' brains again. Here is the thing, I found some dreadful comments made by two foreigners roasting the Chinese for embracing some" misguided values and ethical standards"on a Chinese website. Exasperated, I elected to offer my two cents worth on the issues mentioned by the two foreigners by writing something on that website to rebut their arguments. At the same time, I wasn't sure about my writing skills, thanks to English is my second language. So, I chose to post my comments on its Grammaly first , which is a grammar checking website, and led it grade the sentences . The result was depressing cuz it gave me a decidedly low score for my writing style, quality and usage . My questions is: is my English writing really that terrible as Garmmarly suggests ?

I would be grateful if you could take your time to read my above-mentioned comments below -which is aimed to counter their arguments -and offer some thoughts and suggestions in terms of grammar or usage. Thank you. Here we go.

" No one would refute the claim that some perceived notions or perceptions are rampant in China, reinforced by the mounting influence of mercantilism and cronyism that play into the hands of vested interests or interest groups at the expense of the poor. And it's tempting to say that most Chinese people are keen to hobnob with white folks while giving the cold shoulder to black people as described by someone here.

However, would it be fair to single out the Chinese as the culprits of such racialism while disregarding the fact that scads of Chinese citizens or netizens have been reviled and lampooned by foreign racists online or even in reality? Let us imagine a situation in which you are Chinese and in the middle of talking to a foreigner. Then, this person launches into a tirade against China and your race, peppered with derogatory terms like gooks or other ghastly utterances. Can you put up with it ? Or let's make it more blunt, what would you do when you were being despised by a tetchy foreigner gung-ho about trashing your race in your own nation? Would you just shrug it off and titter at this person for being a dunderhead?

I bet you wouldn't condone such impertinence and misdemeanors and even feel compelled to stick up for your own people and your own nation's reputation or your people's amour-propre. The thinking goes, a courageous bloke from Belgium would take the trouble to take on anyone trying to pillory Belgium . An Argentinian wouldn't mind being a patriot in such circumstances when its nation is being denigrated by foreign racists. It's not a matter of nationalism. It's more or less a matter of pride or honor. It's a matter of self-respect and national dignity.

Indeed, We do have lots of weaknesses in our social system, not to mention some social ills vitiating the foundations of our time-honored Chinese culture or moral principles, punctuated by pervasive nepotism and paternalism reeking off snobbery, inertia and even silliness . And the above-mentioned malicious forces are the three drags for us if we fancy building up a social system in which equality or fairness is order of the day, whereas corruption, financial shenanigans and trickery are frowned upon by commoners or even ruling elites having the guts to decry bureaucracy and embrace populism. To that end, we need more higher-caliber, intrepid boffins or tech-savvy geeks rather than more self-righteous functionaries bent on fending for themselves.

It helps that more able-bodied or well-bred foreigners are content to come to China to sniff out business opportunities or seek out jobs , just like all the ladies and gents you can find on this website, making immense contributions to the development of this kind of civilized society. And it also provides the Chinese a chance to learn a thing or two from you guys about Western collective norms or social codes while strengthening bonds between us.

And it's no stretch to say that for all the misunderstandings and difficulties facing us , we can be friends who need each other when we are in a pickle, regardless their nationalities or even beliefs. Why would we square off against each other since we live on the same planet? The forces of globalization, set out in Thomas Friedman's masterpiece, The World is Flat, will take us to an integrated, harmonious world devoid of the fetters of localism and patronage, leveling off the playing field as Thomas Friedman, who is a respectable erudite, writes in his insightful book.

Well, maybe it sounds little bit fanciful in a world hemmed in nationalism and statism. But there are grounds to believe that people from China, America, Britain or other parts of the world will work together to iron out the kinks and make a better future for mankind and our posterity."



 
Setanta
 
  3  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 04:40 am
@robertgreate,
Addressing people as "you lot," especially strangers, would probably be considered rude by most native speakers of English. "Hi everybody" would be more acceptable. Your sixth sentence should read:

". . . I wasn't sure about my writing skills, thanks to English being my second language"

" . . . let it grade . . . ," not " . . . led it grade . . ." Let means to allow, led means to guide.

"Cuz" is not a word in the English language, although it may be acceptable in "text speak." I suspect that a grammar checking site is not going to accept text speak. The word you wanted is "because."

I cannot judge the judgment of Grammerly, as i don't know what their standards are, nor who is responding to what you post. However, although you are clearly not a native speaker, you don't do that badly. There are legions of native English speakers out there who spell poorly, have poor communication skills and who don't express themselves coherently. I am not going to take the time to offer corrections for your posted response, which is largely acceptable--i would note, however, that it's bad form to refer to people with neuter pronouns. So if you write about an Argentinian, you don't want to say "it's." There is a problem with the use of pronouns in such a situation. You might say "his or her," which many people who are native speakers find awkward and tedious. An alternative is to use "their," which, even though it is a plural form, is often used as a singular pronoun when the gender of the person referred to is not known or is not specified. In any case, you don't want to use "it's." An Argentinian is not a thing, an Argentinian is a person.

I find your proposed response acceptable, and although, as i've said, it dosen't appear to be written by a native speaker, it's as coherent as one can expect from a native speaker, and based on what i've read online over the years, more coherent than what you're likely to get from most native-speakers. I think you did well, and there's not really anything to criticize that wouldn't be nit-picking, with the caveat that you don't want to use neuter pronouns when referring to people, rather than things.

Me, i would have pointed out their racist, derogatory statements as briefly as possible, and then i would have told them to go piss up a rope. I'm not a very nice person, though, when i encounter racists or bigots of any description.
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 05:26 am
@Setanta,
Thanks for pointing all the miscues out, Setanta. I should have said hi guys rather than you lot as u said. Sorry, my bad. I wish I could edit this post. It seems to me that the post has gone pear-shaped; just received a message from able2know telling me that I can't edit the post at the moment. Could be a technical bug or something like that. Anyway, I hope I can write well in English like you or other visitors of this website. I'm so grateful to you, Setanta. Good luck to you.
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 05:39 am
@robertgreate,
There is a time limit on editing, so you won't be able to edit it now. Don't worry about it, people will see that it's an ESL question, and no one will resent you for it. I told you so that you would know in the future. It's one of those arcane things about language, something you just have to learn which are not necessarily intuitive. You do write well in English--as i've said, better than a lot of native speakers do. Thank you for your good wishes, and i hope the same for you.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  2  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 06:39 am
@robertgreate,
Hi Robert

I'm going to comment on this paragraph

robertgreate wrote:
However, would it be fair to single out the Chinese as the culprits of such racialism while disregarding the fact that scads of Chinese citizens or netizens have been reviled and lampooned by foreign racists online or even in reality? Let us imagine a situation in which you are Chinese and in the middle of talking to a foreigner. Then, this person launches into a tirade against China and your race, peppered with derogatory terms like gooks or other ghastly utterances. Can you put up with it ? Or let's make it more blunt, what would you do when you were being despised by a tetchy foreigner gung-ho about trashing your race in your own nation? Would you just shrug it off and titter at this person for being a dunderhead?


one of the things that strikes me (North American English-speaker) is that it seems like modern North American writing with some random old-fashioned British words and a tiny bit of tech-speak in the mix.

Your message is understandable but it would read less awkwardly without the mash-up.

Netizens and dunderheads don't seem like they should be in the same paragraph, IMNSHO. I think it creates an unintentionally humourous effect.

Keep on with your writing - what you've presented is fine, it just needs to read more naturally.
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 07:49 pm
@ehBeth,
Got it, Ehbeth. Thanks for the tip.
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 08:40 pm
@robertgreate,
Hi Robert - one of the things I'd suggest for you is that you come and post in some of the more conversational threads at Able2know. It will help develop the flow of your writing.

JTT
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 10:35 pm
@robertgreate,
Quote:
Grammaly first , which is a grammar checking website, and led it grade the sentences . The result was depressing cuz it gave me a decidedly low score for my writing style, quality and usage . My questions is: is my English writing really that terrible as Garmmarly suggests ?


I'd really like to see what this Grammarly said about your writing, Robert. Would you be willing to post it?
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 11:23 pm
@JTT,
Grammarly's conclusion: Grammarly found 37 critical writing issues and generated 49 word choice corrections for your text. The score: 43 of 100. Meanin Grammaly, the automatic proofreading application, thinks I had better keep on trucking or try writing like a brainy sort. JTT, I'm not suggesting that I have a beef with Grmmarly or my text has been" lowballed " by Grammarly. I just felt bummed after seeing the score and even said how mortifying for you to myself. To my mind, It's customary to think a score less than 60 is just awful here ; it's widely preceived as a flop.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions. I will strive to write like an educated native speaker. Good luck to you all.
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Mar, 2013 11:42 pm
@ehBeth,
Thanks again. I will heed your advice, ehBeth. Sometimes I can't express my thoughts in English just like most English learners, and my mind just becomes a muddled one when it comes to finding the most appropriate phrases or words to express my views in English. And as you may have noticed, my writing style, by and large, is a mix of American and British English. I know it sounds zany, but I thought it would be more wise for me to emulate native speakers' writing style first. It's by no means a no-brainer for someone who grew up speaking another language, considering that you have also to think in English as you talk or write in English. I still have a long way to go. Take care of yourself.
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Fri 22 Mar, 2013 08:26 am
@robertgreate,
Quote:
Grammarly's conclusion: Grammarly found 37 critical writing issues and generated 49 word choice corrections for your text. The score: 43 of 100.


Next, I bet you had to pay to find out just what those "critical writing issues" were, right, Robert?
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Fri 22 Mar, 2013 08:45 am
@JTT,
Not by a long shot. JTT. Who would spring for it? At least not me. I didn't get hold of the each explanation because I'm not one of the subscribers of Grammarly. You are allowed to post some sentences on that website and let this software grade it and pin down any mistakes in your sentences. That said, you do have to shell out some dough for corrections or suggestions doled out by this software if you care to sound it out. I use its free checking service now and then and have no intention to be a paying subscriber.
0 Replies
 
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Fri 22 Mar, 2013 09:09 am
@JTT,
I mean you do have to " pay to find out what those critical writing issues were " as u implied . I didn't get my hands on it because I had no plans to pay for it.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  2  
Reply Fri 22 Mar, 2013 10:48 am
@robertgreate,
Robert, I'm very sympathetic to the difficulties of learning to communicate in different languages.

I learned English when I was a child, but it was not my first, second or last language. It is the language I use the most but there are still moments when it seems completely foreign and odd.

I think you will find if you start a thread to describe where and how you live, you will find some friendly A2kers appearing to ask questions. You may find the resulting discussion helpful in your development of a more 'native' sound in your English writing.
robertgreate
 
  1  
Reply Sat 23 Mar, 2013 03:42 am
@ehBeth,
EhBeth, I hear you. It's truly hard for us to learn another language. I have never been to America or Britain, so learning how to talk like a native speaker is an onerous undertaking for my part. Luckily, I can check out lots of well-written articles crafted by American or British scribes and journalists online.

Thank you for giving me such suggestions. I hail from a small Chinese city, a place where you can hardly come across foreign expats or even tourists. I hear we do have some foreigners doing business or teaching English in this backwater city, but it's hard for me to meet them or sound them out as a commoner; they are wont to live in gated communities and mingle with each other or rub shoulders with local C-suit execs or the powers to be.

Accordingly, I have to be a self-taught English learner, working hard to be a pukka English speaker like you or other friends on able2know. I'm so grateful to you all.
0 Replies
 
 

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