My question is weird, but here is it:
My background
I'm a native French speaker and a software engineer, I studied in a french speaking country and grew up there speaking French.
My Question is which language should I use for my technical blog posts?
On one hand:
French could be easier for me to write in It can allow me to make a difference by transferring knowledge from English to the French speaker.
Cons: much less audience and I always think that the beauty of computer science or technology can only be viewed in English.
On Other Hands English:
it's a bit harder for me to write a blog in (I have written 2 blogs in 6 months) and I'm afraid that not mastering the language could hold me back many times.
But with English, I could target much larger audience and improve my writing skills.
What do you think?
Ideas are welcome...
Top comments (10)
Go for English.
English is the language of this industry. Pretty much a must have thing.
For example I only have English CV, even though I applied to local companies.
If you have more time go for both, but English should be #1, at least in my opinion. :)
Agreed, I think go for both if you have the time, but if you don't English is probably better.
If you ever want someone to proofread your English posts here, feel free to mention me (@andy ) in a comment under your unpublished article. :)
hey, @andy , I have written this some days ago, can you please have a look at it??and give me suggestions and remarks.
okay , Thanks a lot, Andy, Sure I will mention you in my next post for help,
I was looking for someone like you.
Thanks a lot for your quick comment, yes i know English is a language for tech industry, but how can i help people who cannot speak English ???
The guys from French community ?
Well if you want to help those people, write blog posts in French and keep the code base in English. Kinda force them to get used to English for programming.
For example use English variable names, comments. But, in the post use French.
I'd say forget about the audience reach! I feel a blog will give you much more than fame!
Or rather, fame may come or may not, however the other advantages are guaranteed. I'm talking about you gaining writing skills, you learning things in detail for the sake of explaining them, you might build a community which you could leverage and few other things which I'm sure I forgot.
So check your priorities. Are you going to always be in France? Do French companies use English, would you ever want to dive into professional writing?
When you code with which language do you think in. I know you might think in French, but I mean when you are coding, do you feel it would help if your English was better?
Also do you feel that there is a lack of programming education in France (informal education: blogs and the like), or do all french kids speak English. And, do you feel a desire to teach people. - I don't know anything about France and French people, or how none English speaking people learn to code - but in your experience do you believe French none English speakers could learn to code.
What I am saying is reaching much larger audience is not a good goal! Forget about that goal. The other things I mentioned are more important, they are all about you (and/or your community). Start blogging by serving yourself!
If you think you'll work abroad and you need your English improving or if it's easier to explain code in English, then write English.
If you want to improve your french writing skills, if you benefit from explaining things in French, if you have a desire to teach french people how to code, then write French.
Thanks a lot, think I will go with both
When I want to explain things in French and teach french people to code I will do it in French,
And for works and improve my English writing skills I will do in English..
As a native French speaker as well, I chose to write everything in English. The first articles will obviously be a bit messy. When I look back at my English back then and now, it's shocking how far I've come.
I think you are right about the audience, even if it shouldn't be your first concern, it should be something you think about when you write. English is the number one second language in the world. Everybody who could be interested in your articles in French will be able to read it in English.
Good luck
How useful are documentation and examples in your own native language to you?