Do you correct people on grammar?

[bjornar]

Hi,

One of the things that I hope to achieve by uploading my comics here on tapastic.com, and by being a part of the community, is to improve my English skills. Translating my comics from Norwegian to English can be quite a challenge at times, but also rewarding as I sometimes discover completely new jokes, and also learn a bit about slang phrases and urban expressions along the way.

However, as English is not my mother tongue, some translations may come off as weird, and the errors may fly right under my radar. So, the question is, to those of you who are fluent in English: Would you inform the creator of a comic of grammar or spelling mistakes?

[Luie]

It's hard to say because correcting someone's grammar on the internet is often looked down upon or considered rude. Personally I'd only do it if the sentences are illegible and I don't know what it's supposed to say, and if that's the case I'd leave a PM. Otherwise, I wouldn't say anything until the creator has asked for help.

[Kura]

I honestly don't mind it when people do it for me as my English and grammar is not the best. It more frustrated the friend I have editing though, since he is the one that is supposed to catch the mistakes in the first place.

I don't do it to other people though, because well, my English and grammar is not the best =P

[blop]

Some of my readers would tell me when I make mistakes, and they are always very nice when they do it, so I'm always happy about it and I thank them.

[AnnaLandin]

I do point out typos and spelling mistakes, and weird grammar here and there, yes, but I try to do it in as polite a way as possible.

[bjornar]

That is probably the main reason why most people won't correct someone's grammar, unless they are saying something nice about the comic itself first. Personally, I would appreciate the gesture, even if the person correcting me doesn't like my comics at all. But the tricky part here is getting the message across that you appreciate that kind of feedback.

[BraveHeartTatsumaki]

I actually ask people to tell me my mistakes cause english is not my native language, so I can fix it and also improve. I don't have problem with people telling me about, frankly xD

[Silerna]

I let people correct me instead. Specially when writing dialogues for comics and such. All my sentences aren't the best yet so need a little direction now and then.

[Marton]

Hello fellow Norwegian. I write my comics in English and have my editor fix my grammar. However, he isn't always available to help me, I've done my own editing a few times. Which always ends up with someone in the comment section pointing out a mistake. I appreciate it, even though it's a bit embarrassing.

[Noglastiaa]

I've commented about a typo or two before because they were really big typos, however, normally it feels a bit awkward especially because it's hard to know whether the author would mind or not cause there have been instances on other sites where they have minded o_o"
But in my opinion it help both the writer and future readers because now that mistake isn't there anymore. I know I wouldn't mind if someone fixed my mistakes. Especially since I tend not to pay attention and make mistakes:|

[zetina]

It's probably a good idea to check the other comments to make sure the author isn't bombarded with the same corrections, haha~ Otherwise, I don't see a reason not to point it out. Usually if I have a reason, it's that I don't feel like it/care enough at the time |D;; Finding the best phrasing to be both polite and helpful is hard work.

[Kura]

Oh, I will note that I do not like being corrected to 'American' spelling. I find those corrections to actually be really rude. Do not tell me my colour, favourite and cheque is wrong please.

English is hard enough for me, don't bugger it up with Americanization.

[gateofselidor]

For webcomics, it's generally a good idea to point out mistakes. Most creators want their pages to be as polished as possible, and see corrections as helpful.

I think the caution people have comes from forums, chat rooms and similar communities, because it's often used as a way to insult other posters, and it disrupts the flow of the conversation.

[shazzbaa]

I'm kinda a recovering grammar freak, and I consider it to be like any other kind of critique -- it's rude to offer corrections without asking.

It does depend a little on what the mistake is. Like, if it's someone who clearly has a good grasp of English and typed "from" instead of "form" I might ask "(psst was that supposed to be 'form'?)". I've messaged people privately when it seemed like a word just got left out accidentally or something.

But if it's awkward grammar, or if there's kinda constant misspellings, I won't mention it unless the creator has asked for it, because that's a matter of correcting someone's writing, and not every creator wants that.. I think if you DO want that kind of correction, it's best to seek it out -- just leave a note in the comic's description or something that "English is not my native language, so if you see incorrect grammar or spelling, please feel free to point it out to me!"

[Jabbage]

I might mention it if the author has specifically asked (like @shazzbaa says, if there's a comment about it for example) of if they are a "friend" (ie I know their personality well enough to know how they'd react, or I have a non-public way of contacting them.)

Myself though, the couple of times someone has pointed out grammar/spelling errors, I've not been offended. Perhaps annoyed at myself for missing an obvious mistake, but not annoyed at anyone else.

[niinasalmelin]

I think that correct grammar should be standard in comics (if the character isn't speaking in any different dialect that is or not native in whatever language the comic is). I'm more than happy if someone corrects my mistakes since I'm not a native speaker.

But yeah as it has been mentioned in this thread there's no need to make a point if you can see that the same point has been made already in the comment section.

[Noglastiaa]

Oh, I will note that I do not like being corrected to 'American' spelling. I find those corrections to actually be really rude. Do not tell me my colour, favourite and cheque is wrong please.

Omg yes. Thats so annoying. I get that enough from school. I dont need it anywhere else. And anyway, its not wrong so why correct it???

[SpavVy]

I don't do it to other people and no one has ever done it to me, but I honestly wouldn't mind if they did as long as their polite about it. : smile: My spelling is about average so I'm not too worried, but my grammar could definitely use some work. I mainly rely on Grammarly and Dictionaries to help me with that. My editor currently does not have internet right now, so I'm kinda stuck doing it myself

[eschaefges]

i will only do this if people explicitly ask for help on their grammar - otherwise I worry about coming off as a know-it-all. but for sure i notice stuff, yeah...

[Luie]

English is one of those tricky languages that's hard to master if you didn't learn it early enough. There are so many stupid, stupid rules. The reason I don't usually correct people is because In high school and college, everybody's English sucked. Even people who only speak English were never taught how to write well. I used to be the editor for the school newspaper and reading all those terrible articles every day killed me a little. Now I work with a team of writers for a company and there are terrible writers here too. I don't know, I guess English is just complicated if you don't know all 5 million rules so I feel like a bit of a dick pointing out those rules.