Hi, On 7/30/07, Mohan Nayaka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Slide 3 confuses me. "Grammar doesn't matter" > Bad grammar jars as much as bad spelling (sms, etc.).
Yes, they are both bad, but, bad grammar can be tolerated to some extent, as English is not our native language. Most Indian (students) in India, whom I have met have this notion that they don't want to speak in English because their grammar is bad, they are not "confident" of speaking, and that if they speak broken English, people will laugh at them or not accept what they say. But, they are confident of typing SMS, which is a pathetic means of communication. As on date, in the Industry, English is used for communication. Most students tease others in college if you speak English, with "Peter", "born abroad" jokes etc. But, because they are disconnected from the real world, and the Industry, they don't realise the facts. Put freshers from a college to a group discussion in English, they will never open their mouth. If you've attended FOSS conferences/user-group meet-ups in India, (from what I have observed) most speakers don't care about grammar, as long as they can express themselves. They don't see it as a limitation in conveying their thoughts, which is important, and that is the message we want to put across. We accept that your English is not perfect, but, we don't want you to think of it as a limitation for you to come forward and openly share your doubts/questions in mailing lists/IRC/forums/meet-ups. Also see slides (8-9): http://shakthimaan.com/downloads/glv/shakthimaan-paper/shakthimaan-paper-presentation.pdf Regards, -- Shakthi Kannan http://www.shakthimaan.com -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
