After having read all your opinions about language in blogs, and after having thought about it, here's a short summary of what I think language in blogs should be.
Firs of all let me tell you that I think writing a blog is a great opportunity for a non native speaker to get into contact with everyday language. A blog is a free “place” where to express oneself, where to feel free to communicate whatever is important for each one, however each one want, and this is to be taken into great consideration; however, freedom does not mean that we can use slangs, or that we can write 2 for to, 4 instead of for or U in place of you. These abbreviations are mostly used in oral language, and would not be correct in written, though informal, language.
In fact, informal does not absolutely mean incorrect: grammar, prepositions, verbs, punctuation (maybe at a smaller extent) and spelling should always be right; basically, what changes is style, register, word choices, abbreviations, in order to make each post more personal, pleasant to be read, and easier to understand and follow!
In my opinion, the point is to express one’s personal style, whereas, for example, Academic English should be more impersonal!
While reading all the posts that the members of my group wrote about language, I came across with some cocepts expressed by some of my peers which I definitely agree with. For instance, I agree with Silvia when she says that "The way we write is inevitabily influenced by what we read. Therefore, we can learn how to improve our informal English only by reading a lot!"
That is absolutely true!
And that is why we should take advantage of this opportunity we have to come into contact with the blogospehre because we’ve got the chance to read a lot of things written in informal Enhlish.
Moreover, I agree with Veronica when she says that "We both think that peer reviewing is very useful both for the person who corrects, and for the person whose work is edited".
I think it is very important too, and we can really help each other only if we do not have any fear or hesitation to point out our peers’ mistakes.
Finally, I would like to say that long–winded sentences or paragraphs should be avoided in blogs (even if I think that it is very difficult for Italians), because there is the risk of boring the readers and not to focus on the main point of the subject matter.
Language and communication on the net are therefore so different from academic style that it is worth being explored and learnt.
Camilla
In fact, informal does not absolutely mean incorrect: grammar, prepositions, verbs, punctuation (maybe at a smaller extent) and spelling should always be right; basically, what changes is style, register, word choices, abbreviations, in order to make each post more personal, pleasant to be read, and easier to understand and follow!
In my opinion, the point is to express one’s personal style, whereas, for example, Academic English should be more impersonal!
While reading all the posts that the members of my group wrote about language, I came across with some cocepts expressed by some of my peers which I definitely agree with. For instance, I agree with Silvia when she says that "The way we write is inevitabily influenced by what we read. Therefore, we can learn how to improve our informal English only by reading a lot!"
That is absolutely true!
And that is why we should take advantage of this opportunity we have to come into contact with the blogospehre because we’ve got the chance to read a lot of things written in informal Enhlish.
Moreover, I agree with Veronica when she says that "We both think that peer reviewing is very useful both for the person who corrects, and for the person whose work is edited".
I think it is very important too, and we can really help each other only if we do not have any fear or hesitation to point out our peers’ mistakes.
Finally, I would like to say that long–winded sentences or paragraphs should be avoided in blogs (even if I think that it is very difficult for Italians), because there is the risk of boring the readers and not to focus on the main point of the subject matter.
Language and communication on the net are therefore so different from academic style that it is worth being explored and learnt.
Camilla
