Native English Speakers

Well the best way to test whether a person is a native speaker or not, give that person a intellectual topic to write on for about 500 words...and if the person is good at writing english (whether they are native speaker or not) he/she will turn that article to be a Quality one. This is the best way to write..

I am pressing on the INTELLECTUAL topic because, it will not only require them to write but also think deep. Other topics can be rewritten

Thanks

 

People can be good writers without being strong on "intellectual" topics (creative writers). And frankly I think it would be incredibly unfair for most people hiring on DP to expect a whole lot of intellect in the work they receive for the pittance they're paying. Obviously that doesn't apply to all, but definitely most publicly advertising for writers.

 

I'm actually impressed that everyone in this thread so far, native English speaker or not, appears to have avoided falling into Muphry's Law - "if you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written."

 

Yah, but that is so that people know you aren't from India and claiming to speak English. I'm not saying people in India don't speak English well, but many people think they speak or write English well, but they don't. On the other hand there ARE many people who only know English and live in the US but are illiterate.

 

I agree with jime35. I can spot a non-native English writer within the few few sentences...

 

While bidding or proposing for a job, you can easily make out whether the writer is an native English speaker or not. right?

 

I have read many articles from college students that are true native speaker, and I have also seen what my own kids can write, and believe me "native Speaker" isn't all its cracked up to be! If being native were all it took, then every American would be a best selling author!

My personal favorite technique is to ask them for a sample peice on a specific subject, then I hire based on whether the sample is any good or not.

 

I definitely agree with the OP. I've seen non-native English speakers who write better than native English speakers!

I think the reason it's so often emphasized (and downright lied about) is because so many job ads emphasize it. If you don't want people telling you they're native English speakers when they aren't, use a line about needing someone with strong spelling and grammar skills instead. You'll also open the doors for honest non-native English speakers who might just have the skills you're looking for.

 

I know I'm a bit off-topic but since you are requesting "native" English speakers posting a service request in the wrong forum I would say you can find "native" English speakers in one of the many Indian reservations across the United States.

P.S. Please forgive me for this... I'm just coming back from a long, long banning and thought off a little of humor in my return

 

When looking for someone who is fluent in English, look to see what their background is as far as a college or university.. I live in the Detroit, Michigan and most people don't know proper grammar nor do they know how to even use complete sentences. Their spelling is horrible too. Haha. Just because you are from an English speaking country doesn't mean that you are great at it but like I said, look for someone who has gone to school for that kind of thing. K-12 just doesn't cut it now a days. Hah.

 

Native American's aren't native to English. I thought England were the English natives last time I read up?

 

so far from what i have seen, the sentence structure of native English speakers are better and the articles have a better flow, which is good to read

so, how many sentences are, "few few sentences" ?

 

Got to agree... clunky English is the death of the sale.

That greased slide from Headline to Buy Button is so important. Only one or two wrong words and you can throw readers into a back-button frenzy.

And another good point is many non-native English speakers I know have almost perfect English. The problem they have is not knowing slang and when to use it.

I have a couple Sudanese friends who speak great "Queens English" but the major flaw in their ability to understand and communicate with other English speakers is the "slang barrier".

 

Cool one

Absolutely, English comes from England, the root of roots

 

OH RLY?

Oh and:

* Capitalize first letter of a sentence
* Capitalize "i"s when referring to yourself.
* Americans not "American's"
* Why is "Proofreading" capitalized?
* Firefox is under lining "spellchecking", ergo, it's spelled wrong.

For the most part though I do agree with you, the writing found in this thread is readable. One can hardly ask for any more.

Also, to add to the OP's comment, even good writers will make slip-ups. For instance just today I fixed up my father's sales copy because it sounded like something a Nigerian scammer might write.

PS: I mean this post in the best of intentions, everyone's writing fails many more times than we might like it to.

 

I am native to America, as I was born in California and raised in Louisiana. I am new to DP, and this forum has been a learning experience for me. However, I do list myself as an native English speaker/writer, so does that really make people think that I'm lying or that my sentence structure and articulation are less than up to par?

 

I'm Indian, and I know that about 25% of my potential clients will stop reading my message the minute they see that tiny detail. While I am very much a Bengali, I am far more comfortable with English as a language than I am with any other tongue.

For me, and a few of my friends, English is the language of choice for precise, fluent communication. However, according to convention, we would have to identify ourselves as "non-native" English speakers.
Should we really be judging who is a "native" English speaker and who isn't by place of birth rather than fluency or use of language?

On another note, re:

I'm reminded of a teacher preparing students for a competitive exam which had Maths and English among its components. He said, "In maths it's all about shortcuts. While studying English, or any language, the bad news is that there are no shortcuts."
THAT's the worst part, the part impossible to explain to people wanting to know how to write better.

 

Why not? Remember, it's not about writing ability alone. It's about legal security for the client (who may specifically be looking for someone in one or two countries where they know they're covered by contract and copyright laws), and it's also about efficiency. Sure, there may be a gem here or there who aren't native English speakers, but that's not what they're concerned with. They're concerned with minimizing the time they have to invest to find a writer who meets their needs. Immediately ruling out non-native English speakers does that, as the bulk do not fall into that "gem" category. It's unfortunate for people in your shoes, but there are legitimate reasons for doing it.

 

Yeah its pretty easy to tell who's fluent and who's not