There are a large number of privileges that I experience as a native English speaker. I am sure that I am ignorant of many of them (as I am also ignorant of many other privileges that I happen to experience in many other facets of my life outside of languages). One privilege that I've noticed (although I'm sure I'm not unique in having noticed it) is that there are more resources available for me as I learn other languages. Indeed, other Journaly users have mentioned things along the lines of "I'm learning English so that I can learn XYZ (other language)".
The first way that I notice this privilege is in the ability to access resources and to get feedback and help when practicing a language. The vast majority of resources that are published for learning any given language assume English knowledge. This may be partly what resources I find, but I don't think so. Also, anyone who is a language teacher or language enthusiast is almost certainly going to be pretty fluent in English, because it is the primary global lingua franca. With that English ubiquity, it's relatively easy to get feedback in English: especially for languages where my own skills aren't so good yet.
I'm certainly not complaining. Quite the opposite: like most privileges, I like the ability to get feedback that I can understand without having to put it through Google Translate / DeepL / etc. This is especially true in Spanish, which is a language where I'm still a beginner, but it also comes up in French or German where I tend to be more comfortable reading feedback in those languages. Indeed, for those who give me feedback, I think that people here on Journaly (and people generally) tend to have a pretty good gut feeling for when I will get the most out of feedback in the target language vs. feedback in English.
I think my motivation to write this is, in part, out of a feeling of guilt that I really can't do the same for others. When I do comment on people's English-language posts in Journaly, the best help I can give learners is almost always to just write my feedback in English - that is not the same as the help others can give me when I need more support by getting native-language feedback.
So I guess, to those of you who provide feedback in a mix of my target- and native-languages: thank you and I appreciate the thoughtful use of both to support me. I only wish I could return the favor to anyone who is still at an A1/A2 or so level in English where they might benefit from feedback in their native language. (Same too even for B1/B2 learners who might benefit, as I do, from the occasional hop over to their native language to clarify something.) As with any privilege, I also just want to be aware of it and acknowledge that I have it, I want to be cognizant of its impact for me and the way it benefits me, and I want to be aware that it is not something everyone has.
I don't see that it's negative to give feedback in English if the person is learning English. Maybe for beginners it can be a bit challenging. But languages should be learned by consuming as much content as possible. However, I understand your point because seeing the feedback you can receive on your posts they can be in several languages to make it easier to understand. Although it's clear that the easiest way to understand an explanation of an error would be to read it in your native language.
Hi @Luis_Ladino. It's definitely not a negative, but I can't give a Turkish speaker who is learning English feedback in Turkish, even though I wish I could.
I totally get your point, DJ. When it comes to correcting German posts, I normally do all corrections in German and only switch to English when they ask me to do so. I agree with Luis and think that it might help the learners to see sentences written by a native speaker. It's good that we're talking about how to give feedback, so thank you for this post! We also need you, native English speakers, to improve our English. And since you are constantly polishing your language skills, I am sure that there will be some opportunities for you to give feedback in one of those languages you are learning. And if you have any doubts about my feedback I give in German you are very welcome to ask for an explanation in English. What I like so much about this place is that we're all so desperate to learn, but also to help as good as we can!
I agree with Luis to an extent, but I have to say that if I'm trying to understand a concept in a target language and the explanation is also in the target language, it's never as effective, and the assimilation of the material explained is never as instant, as when it's explained in my native language with examples of the same thing in my native language. The fact is that there's so much out there that can serve as "comprehensible input" for your target language that it's just not necessary to include grammatical explanations. I personally think it's counterproductive. I'll take all my explanations in English, thank you very much 😉
@LindasLinguas. Thanks! I think my German is at the point (~B1/B2) that I like getting feedback in German. I would ask you for help in English if I needed it, but I appreciate your feedback. Whether through intuition or design, part of what I've noticed is that many members of the community seem to get a sense quickly of what kind of help I most need, which is awesome to have.
@CocoPop, I think that's exactly right, especially for where I am with Spanish, which is ~A2 or so. In fact, I'm mostly just noticing the fact that I can get feedback in English when I need it (which I mostly do for Spanish), which is unlike what I can give. So I feel guilty that I can't return the favor or pay it forward to someone learning English on this platform.
Thanks DJ for this post. Actually I usually correct in the target language of the writer. I just corrected a French post by a German writer and your post inspired me to give him feedback in German. I was much more confident because I was sure he would understand that way better than if I had explained the grammar rules in French :)