Today I try something new. Namely, writing my blog article in a foreign language. If you were able to follow my gibberish up to this sentence, you will have identified the foreign language as English. If not, then I am sorry, but probably you won’t be able to read my apology anyway.
In case you are still with me here, you might ask yourself why I am doing this. To spare you the necessity to ask me why I am doing this, let me explain.
It is a challenge. And challenges are perfect to spark growth. Or great failure, which might be just another way for growth. So, what can possibly go wrong?
Well, I could lose my reputation as someone who is able to produce reading pleasure. After all, it might not be as enjoyable as my other blog articles. It is definitely not enjoyable for people who are not able to read in English. And just to be sure, I ran this through Google Translate and the result is not very Reading Pleasure Optimized, to say the least.
Another point which is far more bothering to me is the fact that English is not my first language. I can be considered fluent in English, and I get along just fine in everyday conversations as well a business talk at work, but is it really enough to write a piece of text, meant to entertain the reader?
Of course, a bit of self-doubt mixed with imposter syndrome speaks here, but let’s be honest:
I do not express myself in English the exact same way I do in German.
That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Over the years I came to the realization that my English style is different from my German style and that is just natural. These two languages have some similarities, but when it comes to the subtleties they are hugely distinct.
And there lies the problem.
First, I am pretty sure that my English skills, though maybe decent enough for everyday usage, have room for improvement, and I am far away from mastering all the subtle differences. And this may lead to funny misunderstandings, or just bad style. Both subtracts from the reading pleasure and reveals my flaws.
Second, I don’t feel very confident in playing around with words. I like the way I write my German blog articles, and I would love to find a way to transport that into English articles.
Maybe I get there some day.
Maybe it just boils down to practice, as always.
At the moment, this is just en experiment. And after all, this is what this blog is about, isn’t it?
Without experimenting, how can I ever improve my style?
I would not go so far as to write a whole book in a foreign language. Well, at least not now. Never say never, one day this might change. But as I said, the point about writing in English is the challenge. The learning experience. I am out of my comfort zone, and while it is not too bad here (ask me about French!) it is a lot harder than just doing my usual stuff.
Feel free to comment down below if you would like to read more English articles. I cannot guarantee that I will actually do it, this might very well be the first and last time. However, I could as well be tempted to continue on reader’s request.
Never say never.