Proposal: English Language Learners
It will be more helpful if there is some way for people who are bi-lingual (English+Other) to participate as some kind of teachers.
2 Answers
I hope that bilingual speakers will participate and that, indeed, learners will help each other. If that is what you mean, I concur heartily. No one knows better than a learner what difficulties other learners face, and they will bring a valuable understanding which most of us native speakers of English lack.
But if you are suggesting that the site should be conducted in languages other than English, I must dissent. The best way to learn any language, at any level, is to practise it. That's how native speakers learn their languages; that's how writers learn their very different dialects.
One reason I started supporting this site as soon as I heard about it is that it will provide a place where learners may exercise their knowledge of English without being penalized for being learners.
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3Thank you for your answer. I'm the one who've learned Konglish for several years. I hope this site be committed and help many people.– Jin KwonCommented Jan 5, 2013 at 8:16
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1+1 for mentioning that the users ARE currently penalized for being English learners on some sites. Commented Jan 6, 2013 at 17:57
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1I wonder if questions of type "What is the English counterpart to [some foreign expression]" would be answerable. I'm afraid not...– SF.Commented Jan 10, 2013 at 15:27
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3@SF Actually, if properly presented - "Here's a literal translation, here are examples of when it's used" - I can see that being a pretty good question. Commented Jan 10, 2013 at 19:49
No, it would be ironic if someone who barely speak English would answer questions about English language and usage.
The reason behind the proposal is, I think, mostly the unfriendliness of existing English Language&Usage proposal, which is likely to downvote questions being not written in perfect English. Also, the questions are closed as general referral, when they are referring to common knowledge which non-native user doesn't have.
The proposal should be, of course, for users being able to formulate the question in the way that they would be understood by others. But there should be no downvoting or closing because of minor grammatical errors etc.
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3EL&U questions that are closed as General Reference are usually closed because the answer is in a dictionary. Lots of "common knowledge" questions, which every native speaker knows, but which aren't found in dictionaries, are left open. Don't mistake EL&U people not wanting to constantly regurgitate dictionary definitions for unfriendliness. Commented Jan 15, 2013 at 2:04