Hate

grammar/spelling and English

So, I've been thinking about this for a while now and although I don't agree with everything people say about 'using proper English' I do agree that when you write a story in English you should at least be able to make yourself understandable.

But writers on wattpad don't sell their books. You haven't paid for the books on here so there is no reason why the book should please you and no reason to be angry or upset when you don't like the book you are reading.

If the writer asked you for a critique, sure tell the writer if the English is lacking or if they use the wrong words or whatever. (in a kind and honest way) But really, if you weren't asked to why would you place comments like "This sucks" or "You are a terrible writer"

(Please note I haven't recieved comments like this much but I've seen them on other stories and it just makes me angry)

I hate people who do that. Mainly because I admire people writing in English, even if they aren't perfect. Same goes for me. I am not perfect. I don't even know that I'm using the wrong word for something most of the time until someone tells me I am. Why? 

Because English is not my first language.

My first language is Dutch. 

English isn't even my second language.

And yes, I could write all my stories in Dutch and just forget about the whole English thing. But I'd like to be better in English. And I like the English language, some things are easier to express in English.

 But sometimes I feel like not everyone understands that you have to start somewhere. When I first wrote English at the age of 11 I was terrible and nothing made sense. Mainly because I wasn't good at writing stories in Dutch yet either. So I forgot about writing English, I thought I sucked and continued writing in Dutch. 

About three years later I tried it again. I had gotten better at English by watching a lot of American / British television and I knew a lot more words. I had matured and wrote better stories.

But I think that I could've gotten better at writing and at Engish if I had just continued writing. 

Next time you read a story and you were not asked to give your opinion on the writing. Give a nice comment. How many languages can you read/write in?*

(* assuming you are perfect in all of them)