For users that aren’t English native speakers, noding at Everything is much harder. For some, this can be an exciting challenge (me), but if you are also a XP whore, it can be a torture.
How much effort I have to put to node and node well, compared with the average English/American everythingian?
Believe me, there have been innumerable times that I have deleted (before even pasting it to Everything) a writeup just because I thought it was poorly written, (not to mention the times it didn’t seem to be worth at all).

Every user has its reasons to node what they node, and mine are affected by my circumstances. I like to think why I node this or that, and I like to deconstruct nodes trying to understand better the personalities I find here.

Anyway (I am rambling again), I am not serious about having handicaps here, this is not a competition, it was just an idea that came to my mind while trying to sleep


please, don't cool this node, I like it this way
BTW, I am happy to host a very calmed writeup from Dman

Interestingly enough, I am often told by net-friends that English not being my native tongue is an advantage. You see, I had to study English grammar and syntax, as well as evolve mnemonic mechanisms for the better retention of vocabulary, and so my English is sometimes apparently better than of some who have never had to study it and therefore take it for granted.

I do get a little tired sometimes. Every so often I wish I could just use my favourite Hebrew expletives and idioms... But hey, the net is in English.

English isn't my first language, it's my third (after Cantonese and Mandarin). I've only been using English for about 6 years or so. It must be a similar scenario for a noder who doesn't use English as a primary language as when I was first using English to communicate.

Writing a decent essay was one of the hardest things in my life before E2, to be honest. As I sit there and write, I could start thinking in Chinese, and the next thing I knew, I was writing Chinese on paper. E2 let me think more naturally. Writing boring essays on the social-economic situation in Indonesia doesn't really get my head going, but writing about abortion does. I think I've become a better writer after Everything....

Writing in a foreign language isn't a handicap, it is a challenge. I feel that if you can put your inner feelings on paper, then you've truly mastered a language. I still can't do it in English. Heck, I don't even speak English half the time. My speech degrades into a mixture of Chinese and English when I talk.

I still frequent the local Chinese message boards. It is interesting to read about the internet experience from an Asian point of view.

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