If I didn't already know English, I wouldn't have been able to learn programming. My curriculum in university has been largely in English.
Why knowing English is important for every software developer
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#22I cannot tell you how much I agree with this. When someone in US says good communication skills are important, they think it's racist. I am from Pakistan. When I tell colleagues to master English, they think I am still mentally under British imperialism. There is a huge trove of knowledge on the internet which you can only benefit from if you can read/write English. It was only after I focused on my English that I wa…
Sir, your English is superior comparing to mine!
I would suggest three things (apart from the obvious 'speak in english with others'):
#1 read english books. translate every unknown word from dictionary. the words improve vocabulary; the sentences improves grammar.
#2 watch english movies with english subtitles. this helps greatly in understanding the accent. plus english in movies is a hell lot easier than the one in books.
#3 talk to yourself in english. there was a period in my life where all my thoughts were in english. it makes you comfortable with the new language.
ps: these are just general points - your english is pretty good!
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#23That's how I learned English. Not in school but because I was programming and my native language was lagging a couple of decades behind when it came to programming materials and books.
And once you use it for programming, it's logical to use it for asking questions on the Usenet (then) or internet forums (today), and reading papers on interesting subjects, and communicate with your peer programmers or contacts around the world. By then you realize how much you would lose in any translation which makes you want to read any novels written in English too and watch films without subtitles. And eventually you land your first job where you also need to speak English in addition to your native language, and maybe in your second job English is the primary language of the company and you only use your native one for chitchatting locally over a cup of coffee. Roughly, by that time, English has slowly become the second native language in your life.
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#24As a native Russian speaker i totally agree with you. It always upsets me when people try to stick with their native language all the time. Basically, Russia (like any country) is only a small part of all the world. If you try to avoid speaking/reading in some other languages you're closing most of the possibilities(i mean books, movies, jokes etc.) for yourself.
Hello from Moscow, tovarisch :)
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#25I just couldn't read past the "who're"...
If there's a language rule that says you can't combine these two this way, I'd be more than happy to learn about it. English is not my mother language so I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes in advance ;-)
It's perfectly valid English. "Who're" is a contraction of "who are"†.
However, for some reason, unlike more common contractions, it is much more common in spoken English than in written.
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#26I cannot tell you how much I agree with this. When someone in US says good communication skills are important, they think it's racist. I am from Pakistan. When I tell colleagues to master English, they think I am still mentally under British imperialism. There is a huge trove of knowledge on the internet which you can only benefit from if you can read/write English. It was only after I focused on my English that I wa…
You're so right.
Here in Germany are many people who don't want to speak english, even if they had it at school for 13 years...
But if I wouldn't speak english, I had to read german news only or couldn't use stackoverflow. 90% of the newest technology would be useless for me, because I couldn't read any documentations or tutorials.
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an uncommon contraction, also at first glance, it reads like another word, one that refers to someone who offers professional sexual services.
It's a perfectly idiomatic contraction in spoken English, though.
Yes, absolutely. It poses a greater risk when written than when spoken. :)
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an uncommon contraction, also at first glance, it reads like another word, one that refers to someone who offers professional sexual services.
It's a perfectly idiomatic contraction in spoken English, though.
But then it's pronounced differently from the way aforementioned profession is pronounced.
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#29Right now, I am trying to fix my spelling and grammar. I do this through feedback with the people who I am chating with on IRC. I am also building SRS(Spaced repetition systems) decks cataloging grammar mistakes I made, formal grammar rules, as well all the spelling mistakes I made. Right now, I have 25 cards for spelling, and 55 for grammar. The process of noticing my mistakes, being corrected, and learning about er…
There is one big issue here which I'd like to address. People feel uncomfortable pointing out the mistakes you make, so they never tell you that you're making the same mistake over and over again.
I try to ask people, at least those who I am in contact with a lot, to tell me if they hear when I do a mistake, sadly most of the time they still don't, either because they forget that I asked them to do so or they just don't want to interrupt the normal conversation flow.
The only one who does it quite good is my daughter, Swedish is her native language so she points out what I do wrong when she hears me speaking it. I assume that is because I have been doing the same with her German since she was 2 years old, so it doesn't feel weird to her.
Re: Why knowing English is important for every software developer
#30I just couldn't read past the "who're"...
If there's a language rule that says you can't combine these two this way, I'd be more than happy to learn about it. English is not my mother language so I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes in advance ;-)
(Native English speaker.)
There's definitely no rule against it. I wouldn't think anything of hearing "who're" everyday conversation. It's rare you see it in writing, though.
What you hear in every day speech is governed more by the mechanics of how your mouth works when you're speaking fluently, honestly. For example, if I were to say, "I would have done it" it most likely would come out sounding like "I'd've done it." Unless your intention was to get the sound across, though, you'd never, ever write that.