Dear all, I'm considering writing some articles but the problem is the fact that I'm a non-native english speaker (russian, actually). I'm enjoying english as my second language and doing my best to follow all grammar rules but still have some problems when it comes to past/present perfect (as long as there're some usage differences in British/American dialects) and defenite/indefenite articles (there're simply no equivalents in Russian so I'm not pretty sure if I have to use one sometimes). However, my lexicon is huge enough to express myself nearly as good as I would do speaking my native language (I even have to struggle slang I got used to watching movies when speaking). So my question is: are there any chances for a non-native newbie like me? If yes, what's the best place to start looking for some freelance copywriting jobs? P.S.: what do you think about my language? Is it too primitive or not? Thanks!
S'okay, buddy. I'm a non-native English speaker too. I'm Scottish. Your writing is excellent! Superb. You should hang around these forums for a while and build your post count with some helpful posts. I think your best bet is to go for Russian / English translation work. Not sure where that might be found but a good place to begin might be http://www.peopleperhour.com
It's good enough if you are writing for, say, message board members looking for writers. But if you are looking to write for, say, a magazine, you still need work. It won't even pass such content mills like Demand Media (Studios). Good luck with it.
I would think there would be a huge demand for someone with your level of skills - translating from English to Russian. I know some time ago there were folks always on the lookout for technical writers with that pairing of language skills. Your English is quite good but might be a little weak for technical writing Russian into English. But, in the right marketplace, which DP certainly is not, a good English to Russian writer could probably name their price. (At least back when I was still doing technical writing work.) A general suggestion...keep your sentences fairly short. Short sentences require far less punctuation.
BTW what's the best way to fallow (in terms of earnings): translating or writing an original content? Recently I had some thoughts on translating but it turned out that there're a lot of them (especially those speaking russian/english pair just like me). Do you think it worth it? I spent my last year working as programmer. Just got tired of it and left the company I worked for. Used to read 400-500 pages of tech literature per month during 5 years period so I'm pretty familiar with tech english. Gotta try it out. Thanks for this tip. Thank you, I always appreciate when my language is getting corrected (and explained why! ) by natives.
I have no wish to discourage you. People are very kind in saying that your language skills are excellent, but I sense you are looking for truth before kindness. Your English is indeed much better than a great many non-native "writers" we see whose use of English is very poor. But I have to be very honest and say there are a few glaring errors in your post, which I sincerely hope you will not mind me pointing out, as they point to issues which would be be potentially problematic in getting your writing accepted. 1. For these two phrases: "non-native english speaker (russian, actually)" and "I'm enjoying english as ..." - it should be English with capital E, and Russian with capital R. 2. For some reason, one of the quirks of our language is that "There're" is not an accepted contraction in the written language, although it is used in speech. It must always be written as "there are". To make it even more confusing, the singular form, "there's", as in "there's one example" is acceptable in writing, but not there're. 3. This is merely a spelling error: "Defenite/indefenite" are actually spelled Definite, and indefinite. 4. "so I'm not pretty sure if I have to use one" - It's difficult to explain why this is wrong. In common usage, the expression "pretty sure" is ONLY used in a positive expression, as in "I'm pretty sure this is right". If it is preceded by "not", the word "very" is used. Therefore the correct phrase would be: "so I'm not very sure if I have to use one". 5. This is a subtle one, but "my lexicon is huge enough to express myself" is poor construction, because it reads as if the subject, lexicon, is doing the expressing, instead of you. Correct would be "my lexicon is huge enough to allow me to express myself" or "to enable me to express myself" 6. "to express myself nearly as good" should be "to express myself nearly as well". "Good" is an adjective and can only be used to describe a noun, whereas "well" in an adverb and should be used when describing a verb... as in "My English is good, I speak it very well." Do you see the difference? 7. "I even have to struggle slang I got used to watching movies when speaking". This sentence makes no sense at all. I think I understand what you are trying to say but the expressions are clumsy and do not form an understandable sentence. I THINK that what you are trying to say is "I even have to struggle to avoid using slang, that I got from watching movies, when speaking." The suggestion about translating English to Russian is good, but if you were translating Russian to English your standard would not be accepted by most people. But you are right, there is a lot of competition in the field of translation. It's clear that you are extremely intelligent and have picked up a lot of good English which you are able to use well, but there is still much for you to learn. Perhaps what you really need is a good English coach. I hope this has been helpful for you. English usage is a strong specialty of mine and I always enjoy helping others with it, when they ask!! all the best and good luck Ken