this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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I mean, there's a difference between something being phrased in an odd or confusing way, and a pedantic comment about whether you should use a Latin plural. 90% of the time you get the latter.
90+% of the time you get common mistakes. Should ofs, they're - there - their confusions, apostrophes for plurals.
The kind of thing that confuses ESL speakers. The decent thing would seem to be to try and stick to the way it's taught rather than go with the "it doesn't matter" route when it absolutely matters to some.
If you're speaking to someone ESL, ~~don't~~ do not even use contractions. They are perfectly valid but they are confusing to those new to the language. I also like to put all idioms in quotes when writing, as those are confusing in any new language. Misspellings are less of an issue than you might think because English spellings are dumb and arbitrary already.
When someone tells me "um, it is cacti, AKCTUALLY" I do not think concern for an ESL person listening in is the main motivation, though.
Cactopodes
I think you and I have very different experiences. I rarely see that kind of correction if ever.
When you're in a public space you never know when your words are being consumed by an ESL speaker. I think the best approach is natural yet accurate. They're going to encounter contractions when dealing with native speakers, but the difference between it's and its, for example, can be tricky so try to use them as taught.
Spelling mistakes can absolutely be an issue. It's already hard enough to figure out English spelling without native speakers making it worse. Add on to that the difficulty in any added language of working out near homophones, let alone actual homophones.
I knew someone who was pretty decent with English as their third language but had trouble keeping Texas and taxes straight. I know another guy who is American and uses no in place of know. That one threw me for a while before I figured out what he was trying to say.
I will admit, I do like that "technically" the plural for octopus is "supposed to be" octopods (pronounced like oc-tip-o-dees) but that's a fun "fact", not a correction I've ever tried to make.
I really do run into issues talking aloud about plants of the family Cactaceae fairly often. It might be a hyper-local thing I guess.
I don't remember where exactly I got the spelling thing from, so I could just be wrong about that.
I didn't want to come off dismissive asking how often you're talking about those specific kinds of plants but maybe it's a relevant question after all lol