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Seerose
Seerose's Blog
9 years ago - 05/18/2016
2 6

Cemetery of reviews?

Of course it's not so easy for not native Englisch speakers to write a review in English about such a special theme like perfumes though it's our passion. Otherwise we would not be appearing here. To find the special expressions, idioms, terminology to describe scents is a question of practising. And above all to express emotions, events, happenings, which are occuring to us during the discoveries and uses of perfumes are a challenge.

Since I understood that the most user here are no native speaker and writer I felt encouraged trying to write perfume-reviews as well.

But after a few attemps every time I was changing to Parfumo.net I felt like walking across a cemetery of reviews: There are hardly answers under them. And often I read reviews which are more a statement than a review.

Though some reviews are excellent written the reaction to them is poor. It's so silent here like walking over a cemetery and reading the tomb-stones inscriptions of a scent.

We should not judge the style nor the ability of the English by writers here. But often I just have difficulties to understand and decipher what some writers ment. So it might occur to some with my reviews. But at least I got tired of making efforts to write reviews in Englisch here.

From time to time I take a look over my reviews here but I am going to do it more and more seldom.

At least maybe it would help I everybody would receive an email-message if somebody set an answer under ones review. Which I never receive just unlike Parfumo.de. It might cause an exchange more livelier.

Of course, there is the possibility by posting via PM

2 Comments
DulcemioDulcemio 9 years ago
PBullFriend is such a mensch, isn't she? Whatever you do, just write your heart out and don't worry about perfection. English grammar, spelling and pronunciation abound with such irregularity, it amazes me that anyone ever learns it as a second language. Since so few native speakers of English are fluent in other languages, we are at the mercy of people like you to bring us into the international fold. :-)
PBullFriendPBullFriend 9 years ago
1
That's a really good point, Seerose. Have you suggested it to the site managers? I am so grateful to all of you non-native speakers who put the effort into reviewing here. There is some truly amazing writing here - not necessarily in its grammar, but in its imagery. Growing up in different countries and having different memories to apply to our scent experiences makes some reviews so fascinating! Would it help with your frustration at all if you sent me a rough draft of your English review and I "cleaned it up" for you? I am a native English speaker and have done some professional editing, including smoothing out translations. Then you could put more of your effort into the writing and less into the mental translation. (Feel free to do this by sending me a message - I'll give you my email address.)

I'm not as brilliant a reviewer as many people on here - I tend to be a rather linear, concrete thinker. I hope I am making enough of a contribution by leaving comments on the reviews I really enjoy, thanking people for sharing them with me. - pbf