On editing: gabz.micro.blog
@Gaby The point of punctuation and grammar is only to help us get our message across clearly. Punctuation and grammar ārulesā are extremely conservative by nature. They often reflect someoneās idea of how language ought to be, not how it actually is. Also, writing is a whole different thing than what we actually speak. Blind adherence to such ārulesā is best left to those being paid to write. For personal blogs let yourself be free. Use your own voice, your own words. Note: the above may be a little hypocritical of me ā I donāt entirely use New Zealand English when I write here as then few people would understand me as well as Iād like them to. Our flavour of English has heaps of words and expressions people from other countries would stumble over.
@maique My wife is from Africa and Iām born and raised in the US. Her english is so much better than mineā¦lol
@Gaby I sayā¦ que se Joda! You are wanting to express yourself, not write a thesis. Grammar punctuation donāt matter. It takes away creativity and kills the muse. One of the many reasons I donāt write/post so much. Thereās so many standards that need to be upheld ā¦ It ruins the vibe, thought and writing process. But thatās just meā¦ š¤·āāļø
@Gaby I read back over my own writing, and nitpick at it, all the time š But I agree with the others, in that what is much more important is that your writing conveys what you want to say, rather than adhering perfectly to every grammar āruleā (some of which are very artificial). When I speak IRL I do so many things that theoretically arenāt correct Englishā¦ omit subject pronouns sometimes, omit the auxiliary verbs ādoā or āam/are/isā sometimes (especially from questions) and so forth. But thatās the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammar, right? Casual communication isnāt bound by the same rules as published works š That said, I acknowledge itās a lot easier psychologically for a native speaker to say āF the rules!ā than a non-native speaker. I defs wouldnāt dare be so cavalier with my Spanish, haha
@Miraz Is NZ English very different? I regularly whatsapp chat with a friend from NZ but I havenāt noticed any phrases or sayings that I donāt understand. Of course, maybe heās mindful of that and omits them from our voice and written messages. ā
@Lynessence Itās hard to quantify how different. We have some common phrases and words that wouldnāt mean much to others. It depends on the specific speaker too.