So, I've just bought a Grammarly. Let's see how it works (by reading this article, you'll read one other article!). I'm not a native speaker and so far, I was using the free version. I clearly made huge progress in using 'the' and 'a' more often, also my usage of prepositions is improved.
So, first, let's see an article written with my Czenglish:
We all live in our bubbles - our family, friends, co-workers and Friday visitors from a local pub. Some of them you like more, some of them less, but most of these, you've chosen to listen or not. We have even chosen to consider or not their opinions.
It's safe and comfy. Even at work, where you fight with many small and stupid things, it's safe. It's easy to think 'this failed because you missed my mail'. 'This is not possible as things work differently'. Or simply 'we've tried this bambolleon times and it never worked'. That's wrong.
Instead of thinking about the ideas and opinions that may let you grow, you were searching for an opportunity to avoid the idea. Very similarly as you can deny any feedback (check this hilarious TEDx talk).
Within any discussion, seek for the motivation of your counterpart. Believe or not, it's almost always positive. Why is this person contacting you? Maybe you are the right one with critical information. Or influence or maybe he was just sharply denied by everyone else.
I'm not saying to blindly accept all comments, ideas, and solutions without critical thinking or any revision. Just start the discussion: "I can see your point, and here are my 5 cents." Work hardest as you can to understand the motivation of speaker and to find at least one mutual point. Many want actually something else :).
Once you have this, you have won. Not against the other - tougher match: against yourself.
Two notes below the line:
1) This is not always possible. Rarely, you may find yourself in a specific mood which blocks you from any reasonable thinking. Grab a coffee, eat whole cake, get a pint or ask your colleague to wait till tomorrow (and do follow up).
2) No need to limit this just to your workplace. Politics, sport, tough family decisions... it's just harder. In the office, most people are more motivated to find mutual agreements.
Grammarly says three mistakes (including the word 'bambolleon', which clearly isn't a mistake). And 25 ideas to improve... come on, 25?
The same text, after accepting ideas from Grammarly:
We all live in our bubbles - our family, friends, co-workers, and Friday visitors from a local pub. Some of them you like more, some of them less, but most of these, you've chosen to listen or not. We have even decided to consider or not their opinions.
It's safe and comfy. Even at work, where you fight with many small and stupid things, it's safe. It's easy to think 'this failed because you missed my mail.' 'This is not possible as things work differently.' Or 'we've tried this bambolleon times, and it never worked.' That's wrong.
Instead of thinking about the ideas and opinions that may let you grow, you were searching for an opportunity to avoid the approach. Very similarly as you can deny any feedback (check this hilarious TEDx talk).
Within any discussion, seek for the motivation of your counterpart. Believe it or not, it's almost always positive. Why is this person contacting you? Maybe you are the right one with critical information. Or influence, or perhaps he was just sharply denied by everyone else.
I'm not saying to blindly accept all comments, ideas, and solutions without critical thinking or any revision. Just start the discussion: "I can see your point, and here are my 5 cents." Work hardest as you can to understand the motivation of the speaker and to find at least one mutual point. Many want something else :).
Once you have this, you have won. Not against the other - tougher match: against yourself.
Two notes below the line:
1) This approach is not always possible. Rarely, you may find yourself in a specific mood, which blocks you from any rational thinking. Grab a coffee, eat a whole cake, get a pint, or ask your colleague to wait till tomorrow (and do follow up).
2) No need to limit this just to your workplace. Politics, sport, tough family decisions... it's just harder. In the office, most people are more motivated to find mutual agreements.
Tell me, whether the second text was better or not. And significantly better?
So, ever wondered how it looks like in premium? The score, various colors...
Synonyms - nice one, especially for non-native speakers.
Some extra mistakes - why not. I'm not really sure about these rules even in my mother tongue. And the word 'bambolleon' still not recognized? Shame, shame, shame.
Confident? Hell yes, I want to be way more confident.
Perhaps. What a word. But completely hidden with 'maybe'. Perhaps I could reintroduce 'perhaps'.
Mhhh... so... 'This approach'? Yup, that worked.
So, does this worth $139.95? Yes, for non-native speakers. And if you want to write. I won't find usage for this in my mother tongue. It would be great if there would be some kind of trial - something like '2 pages for free'. That would make me subscribe 3 months ago.
I used to use an extra pair of eyes, provided by my beloved wife. I'll ask her to go through the original post so we can compare.
And Grammarly says this article is 'sad'.
