Need some help
Posted by R. Berg on October 26, 2001
In Reply to: Need some help posted by ESC on October 26, 2001
: : Hello,
: : English is not my first language so I need some help:
: : I'm not searching for one phrase or two. I need a whole letter
written.
: : Can you help?
: : I know this might sound like one of the saddest requests on
any forum ever.
: : For months now, I have been visiting a certain football website. I wanted to discuss football and talk about my favourite team. I never knew you needed to have a PhD in English literature in order to join in the discussion.
: : Anyway, what I need is help in writing a strongly worded letter to the people on that discussion forum showing them the error of their ways. The wittier your responses are the better.
: : You can regard this as a challenge and include your best phrases in the letter.
: :
: : NB
: : I'm not asking for a list of swears words.
: From your post, it looks like you have a good command of the English language.
If people on the forum are attacking your English because they're angry about something else or because they don't like outsiders, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. But cleverness and sarcasm won't make them ashamed. (It's possible that they're trying to help you improve your English. You're in a better position to judge whether that is so than anyone here, because you know what they said.) A simple letter asking why people are picking on you and requesting fairness, written in the same style you used in your post above, may bring responses that reveal the motives of the people you complain about. Asking the webmaster to intervene might be appropriate too. A webmaster's job includes keeping the discussion civilized.