A good post need not be in perfect English

I have read several people’s blogs and admittedly looked into a few curation bots. Some of these people and bots define a good post as one that is written in good English, with little grammatical errors. When I think about this, I don’t believe that this is a fair yardstick to measure the quality of a post because the Steemiverse comprises of people from all over the world.

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Some of us were raised with English as our first language so we did not have to put in as much effort to learn the language. However, some people who grew up with a different language are making the effort to learn a second language. In my opinion, they deserve more recognition than I do.

Those of us who speak English are lucky that Steemit was created and first launched in an English speaking country but we need to employ a welcoming approach to speakers of other languages and especially those who are trying their best to write in English.

I try my best to read posts that may not have been written in perfect English or even English at all (thanks Google Translate). If I see a blogger who is consistent and seems like they are putting effort into creating good content, I make sure to leave encouraging comments or an upvote or two. This could be the beginning of their journey and in no time, their English may become way better than mine.

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I visit the pages of bloggers like Hive account@yanca and Hive account@patricksalin on a daily basis because when I look past the language barrier, I see that they are making an effort and because of this, I reward them.

I know that I am not the only one who shares this sentiment. Even a whale like Hive account@donkeypong has recognised the work of Hive account@patricksalin at least once. We need more people to do this so as to encourage creativity regardless of the language being spoken.

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One can argue that people who can’t write in perfect English should stick to their original language, but that does not align with the unity that I think is being promoted by Steemit. It divides rather than unites us. It is destructive rather than supportive. Why don’t we show some empathy and support their efforts? Let’s look past their errors and look into the message they are trying to communicate.

Step back and think about what I have said with an open mind and try to read at least one blog from someone who is obviously from a non-English speaking country. You may be surprised.

Thanks for reading. Let’s promote a United Steemiverse.