https://medium.com/@mollyclare/taming-the-steamroller-how-to-communicate-compassionately-with-non-native-english-speakers-d95d8d1845a0 A good essay.
TL;DR: Some detailed examples of how to improve communication and interactions, for the benefit of anyone who uses English as a second language. Excerpts, to whet [sharpen or stimulate] your appetite: > Phrasal verbs in English can be particularly hard to master. Just think about “cut off” vs. “cut up” vs. “cut over” vs. “cut in” vs. “cut out” vs. “cut down” vs. “cut back” and you’ll see how confusing it can be when you recommend “cutting back” on something, or asking someone to “cut it out”. [...] > Make your message very clear, especially your request. This is doubly true for me, because I work with Germans, who are famously direct. The American habit of softening and burying a request is just confusing and pointless to them. > The last thing you and I want to do is overwhelm. We work across language barriers, not because it’s glamorous or fun or easy, but because we care about collaborating with people who are different from us [...]. And non-native speakers are committing to this collaboration even more than we are: they’re reaching out to us by working in English. [...] n.b. Yes, there are some over-generalizations and stereotypes in there. It's still good overall, though! ;-) I'd like to link it on Metawiki, but I'm not sure where; Any suggestions? I've gotten (happily) lost in the [[Multilingual]] disambig page, and the [[Grants:Learning patterns]] pages, but the only place I can find that collects advice like this, is the first section at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News/Manual#Guidelines - What page might I have missed? Quiddity _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
