#non native english speaker

[spiritusdei]

Has writing fanfiction helped you guys with your English?

Has writing fanfiction helped you guys with your English? (question to non-native English speakers).

I’m writing my MA thesis about the impact of writing fanfiction on English skills and proficiency, as well as on several individual differences.

Could you take some time to fill out my questionnaire? I would be forever grateful <3 It's a bit long, but I wanted to conduct a comprehensive study.

[marsplastic13]

Sometimes I start spiraling thinking that my writing is horrible and that my characters are boring and completely out of character and just the worst thing ever. Then I remember it's just my silly little way of passing time and I did not study/got ready for this, plots and characters appeared in my mind one day and never left so I tried to put them into words of a language I learned mostly on my own (from fanfictions <3). And literally no one cares, the world is not going to explode if I make a character say something weird, yes, maybe someone will open my ao3 and think 'wow, that's awful' but so what?

I still have time to pass and my mind full of ideas

[jupiter-lemaris]

Good for other things

Contents: Living Weapon Whumpee, fem whumpee, fem whumper, fem caretaker, backstory revelation, sexual assault (insinuated), dehumanization whump.

"Oh, my, it's such a pleasure to meet you again, my darling Whumpee. Is that your new owner? I hope you're serving her well."

Caretaker stood still, pondering if they had truly understood the meaning of those words. Whumpee and Whumper knew each other, that was a fact, but the nature of their relationship was never cleared.

Whumpee kept silent, with her neutral semblance unbalanced, looking straight into Whumper's eyes.

"So you still know your manners. That's great. You spent some years pretending to be a person, I was worried you'd have started to believe it. I remember you had the annoying habit of answering back, even when I put out my cigarettes on your tongue. Some said I should have cut it, but it was good for other things besides talking."

Caretaker felt all her blood freeze in her veins, staring at the two women with a new horror. Whumper seemed like they were a distraction to her boredom, while Whumpee remained still and unnerved, like she wasn't even listening.

"You... don't..." Caretaker tried to say, but the words were beyond reach.

"The talking was its only ill-manner. It was such an obedient toy." Whumper answered the implicit question. She caught Whumpee's jaw in a hand, forcing their gaze to meet. "If I ask, I bet it would fulfill my wish right here, right now. Oh, but I'm not the owner anymore. I guess it's her order you'll need?"

For a while, Whumpee supported the visual contact without a flinch. Then, she looked at the Caretaker, her watery eyes being the only flaw in the blank mask of her face, a silent but desperate begging.

Please, don't make me do this.

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

I would like to propose "geistvoll" as the german equivalent for "brills" cause the words literally translates to "ghost-full"

[thetalegatherer]

*I DID IT!!!*

I'm thrilled to announce that I've FINALLY completed my first long fic! It's called "Miss Crowley's Guide on How to Seduce a Man". It is inspired by @naromoreau and @summerofspock NAMDBAFM

The link is:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58339480

As a non-native English speaker, writing an entire story in a language that isn't my own was a trying task. But with every word, every sentence, and every chapter, I pushed myself to keep going.

To everyone who read, commented, and encouraged me along the way: THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! Your kind words and enthusiasm fueled my passion, helping me overcome self-doubt.

[0nelittlebirdtoldme]

I haven't done one of these in a hot second

[ineffableuser]

I’m exposing my non native ass by saying that I did spend time trying to figure out the words of the Bill crossword

I had almost read through half of the definitions when I realised ahshshsbbs

In hindsight it was hilarious

“a draft of a proposed law presented to Parliament for discussion”? that must be some specific ass term, fuck if i know

“a program of entertainment, such as at a theater” uuuh, next

“a banknote; a piece of paper money” hmmm… buck? yeah it must be, it fits the slots

“chant at the beginning of a science guy’s show” ugh come on, how am i supposed to know about the chant at the beginning of the Bill Nye the Science Guy show? it’s not like i ever watched it

Then came

“llib backward” well that’s. *moment of realisation* oh i’m so fucking stupid

let’s tell the internet about it

[miss-crazy-rose]

The biggest fraud in my bilingual life is that I can’t remember which one is noon and which one is midnight between 12am and 12pm

[elliespuns]

I shamelessly admit that as a 31-year-old European girl, I find myself constantly tripping over the words "dessert" and "desert." I can never seem to remember which spelling is which

[thatsmutaccount]

HELP A NON NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER OUT, PLEASE!

Question: is there an informal way/diminutive to refer to a teacher that people normally use?

Example: in italian middle and high school teacher are referred to as "professore/professoressa" while elementary school teacher as "maestro/a", and in high school, whenever I talked about a teacher with friend/family if not using their name I used "prof", as a diminutive. Sometimes, while talking to them in a more informal way, I'll even address them as such. I know you can refer to a teacher in english as "teach", I think I saw multiple times people using this term in stories and such, but I want to know: is there any other term you can use? And, for that matter, out of pure curiosity, in your native language is there a word you use to talk about a teacher?

I ask this to help me with some stories, it will be very helpful if you can tell me ^.^

Thanks, dudes, see ya!!!

[achillesuwu]

English native speakers in my phone : I’m not going insane and mustn’t was actually correct and not that weird ass ‘he can’t love her’?

[loyal-house-of-lupin]

if anyone is ever curious why i'm only calling the coffee shop in my coffee shop au a coffee shop half of the time, and a café the other half...

It's mainly because a coffee shop in the netherlands doesn't sell coffee but something completely different.

and i'm just struggling to write it because it's so counter intuitive

[thetalegatherer]

II'm here to appreciate the AO3 community, especially the Good Omens fandom. I always wanted to try writing but never had the courage. I wasn't great in language subjects at school, and since English is my second language, it's not easy. But I decided to try, and people have been helping me by commenting and spotting mistakes. It's wonderful to see the response! Thanks so much for this lovely community and even lovelier fandom!

[panda-puma]

Luffy's "I know exactly who I am"

Warning: Don't read unless you are up to date with the Manga Chapter 1070 and OPLA! (or don't care about spoilers!)

(still not available in the Anime)

(One Piece Live Action, Episode 2)

Very long post ahead:

(First of all, appreciation for Iñaki's awesome acting, knowing exactly how to look intense, eerie and God-like through the whole Live Action. And look how the hat makes a perfect Halo or Sun around his head...)

This will probably be a little over the place, but bare with my silly brain.

At first this scene can just look like he reinforcing his own dream and regaining confidence after all the doubt Buggy has tried to inflict on him, and it probably also is that! But with the intense expression, the music and the wording... I think it's also a message to readers that are up to date.

Nowadays we know that the Gum-Gum is just a name used to hide the real name of Luffy's fruit: the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Model: Nika (Sun God)

(Chapter 1044, Wano Country Arc)

The World Government has since its origins (after the Void Century, 800 years ago) tried to control this Fruit, and Vegapunk states that there's no mention to this "Gum-Gum" Fruit anywhere previous to that, so this new name is just a way of the Government to hide the importance of the Fruit and make it as unappealing as possible.

(Chapter 1069, Egghead Arc)

Who would want to be rubber, anyway? Anyone who hears about it thinks it's a silly power and wouldn't want to eat it.

(Chapter 585, Post-War Arc)

But here's the thing: it doesn't matter that the new Devil Fruit Guides or Encyclopedias have no information about a Fruit.

If we go way back to Enies Lobby, we get to see this explanation by Lucci (another Zoan fruit user): you learn the name of the Fruit when you gain its power.

(Chapter 385, Enies Lobby Arc)

Lucci specifically states that the Fruit itself will reveal its powers and name to you once you've eaten it and gained its power. Luffy gained his power long time ago, when he was a child, and his goal started changing as soon as manifested his powers.

He went from: "Take me with you on your next Voyage!!"

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc) To: "I've decided to become a Pirate on my own!" after eating the Fruit.

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

At first he was just content with being a Pirate in a crew, but suddenly he has a definitive goal: being the King of the Pirates (to achieve something else).

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

(Chapter 585, Post-War Arc)

(Chapter 1060, Egghead Arc)

In the first chapter it is also shown how his personality changes:

Luffy was a very sad and angry 7 year old, who wanted to desperately escape from his horrible life (loneliness and abusive Grandpa). He only smiled when people were nice to him, or when he was listening to pirate stories.

It is not until after he eats the Devil Fruit that he starts to smile and laugh on his own, looking at the bright side of things even if he gets teased.

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

It seems clear that the fruit changed something in him that was way more than just his body, but in the manga one doesn't think much of it until you read the Five Elder's description of his fruit (ch 1044) and remember Lucci's explanation (ch 385).

If the Fruit communicated its real name and abilities to him, he should know exactly who and what he is.

One could argue that he specifically states he is not a Zoan in Punk Hazard while talking to Momo:

(Chapter 685, Punk Hazard Arc)

But maybe he doesn't consider his fruit as a Zoan, as he doesn't really turn into an animal. (Zoan comes from the Ancient Greek and means "animal" or "beast"). Luffy's Fruit enters the same category as Sengoku's: a Human-Human Fruit.

(Chapter 585 SBS, Post-War Arc)

(Chapter 1044, Wano Country Arc)

Gear 5 is Luffy's awakened form, one that he couldn't use before because his body and mind were not ready to catch up to his powers. But that doesn't mean he didn't know about it's existence.

In this form, Luffy manipulates his surroundings giving everything he touches the properties of rubber, just like the awakening of Don Flamingo. But is it just that?

(Chapter 1070, Egghead Arc)

I believe we have been seeing him manipulate reality since the very beginning of the series, inadvertently thinking it was just typical main character things. Yes, everything usually goes how he says in the end, just typical in a MC... But is it? Or is it an intelligent way of covering his real powers behind the typical shonen clichés?

There's so many instances where Luffy and his powers feed directly from people's hopes and prayers (just to name a few: Skypea, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, FishMan Island, Dressrosa, Wano...), and all he asks is for people to have faith in him.

When people have faith in him, reality changes in his favour.

(Even with Ace's Execution, the one instance where Luffy failed... he actually achieved what he said he would: to free Ace from the Marines. Ace was killed not because Luffy couldn't save him, but because he stopped running away.)

Going back to OPLA: this is Oda's opportunity to explain things in a different way and medium, to hint to things that are very far away (like how they showed that Garp is Luffy's grandpa so soon in the series, because it made it more interesting sooner).

Then we have the scene were Luffy wishes for Zoro to be by his side, and to wake up.

I can't stop thinking about how... intense this scene is. How they wrap it with eerie music, so you know something special is happening.

We are in front of a Miracle.

(One Piece Live Action, Episode 6: The Chef and the Chore boy)

Luffy closes his eyes, concentrates and makes a wish. Or not even a wish, he just states that he needs Zoro (to fulfill his dreams).

Luffy manipulates reality a bit, even in this early stage of his power (Gear 1) and, seeing how he phrases everything he wants, he seems to know it. (for example, the way he always says "I will" instead of "I want to")

In OPLA it seems clear that Zoro was not going to wake up from Mihawk's attack, no matter how strong and resistant he is. Even if Mihawk said it wasn't his time to die... He would probably not make it without external help.

Luffy doesn't really know what to say, for a while. He is shocked and shaken in his beliefs, as he thought believing in Zoro would already make him the greatest... but instead his friend got badly hurt. With that and everything that's been said around him, he is losing faith in himself.

But eventually he understands that he needs to express how much he needs Zoro out loud. Why would that be, if he wasn't conscious that his needs and desires get usually fulfilled, even more if they serve his goal?

He concentrates and says "I need you, Zoro", and nothing changes. Why? Well, Zoro is there. His body is there and he is alive, even if just barely. It's not like he has really gone anywhere. Then Luffy, seeing that it didn't work, reformulates his way of saying what he needs: "I need you to wake up".

And then the Miracle happens: Zoro starts really recovering and immediately wakes up. He then makes the vow of never leaving Luffy's side until they reach his objective, fulfilling his needs.

This is not Zoro being awake and just teasing him, or him just waking up to the voice of his Captain. No.

This is a Miracle. This is Luffy consciously using his God-like powers and his destiny to get Zoro back from the dead.

And that's why Zoro can never die. Even in Wano we get a look at that:

(Chapter 1038, Wano Arc)

He was supposed to die, but Death couldn't finish the job. Something is protecting Zoro from Death, and it's probably how Luffy has tied Zoro to his own destiny.

And I am going to finish this post here, because I need way more space for my theories of Luffy, the others and One Piece in general xD

Thank you for reading this huge and all over the place post ^^

[labseraph]

I'm truly appreciating this concept not just from working in multiethnic and international organisations but also from reading fics written by a plethora of writers who are non-native English users (of which I am one myself).

The editor in my head often corrects certain expressions that seemed awkward to me; e.g., " ... he doesn't have to fear anger and disappointment of generations of ancestors once he leaves the plain of living." The last phrase sounds odd until I reframe in my head that it's probably an expression in the writer's native language and why should it be changed when I understand perfectly what it means?

This vivid phrase also gave me a glimpse of the native cultural expressions of the writer and an appreciation of how stories that are beloved by fans across continents are reinterpreted in so many delightful ways that AI can never imitate. Isn't it amazing how a story written by a Chinese woman, transformed from a book into comics, anime, live action and audio drama, translated into other languages through those media can inspire tens of thousands of people who know not a single Chinese word to create new stories and world building?

Fanfiction truly enriches literary expressions across the board.

NB - The example above was borrowed from chapter 15 of @lynamei's amazing fic Beyond Blue Sky.

[thelikesoffinn]

I spent half the day tutoring a bunch of dumb arse (with love) eight graders in English, and, turns out, I actually have no clue how to speak English at all.