Quote Originally Posted by Medved View Post
Over time you will figure out who is who here.
Though I think it's a good idea, I don't mind being able to see person't native language displayed under their location on the left of the post's frame, similar to that done on WordReference. On the other hand, this feature is of little practical use because if you, for e.g. spot Sweden under Hanna's location this is not going to help you in any other way than to compliment her on her good command of English.
In addition, we have a couple of threads like "what's your native language"; you can look them up.
The only bad thing about such threads is that it's practically impossible to get a random person's mother tongue found in them.

Kindest regards,
Native Russian Medved

Yes, I agree this would be helpful. I have had my Russian here corrected, mainly by Russians (and Ukrainians/Belarussians and even somebody from Kazakhstan, if you want to be pedantic). Also, a German person whose Russian is a lot better than mine, has corrected me.

Several native Russian-speakers who participate here, live in North America... So the location for them might be confusing too.

I assume that anyone who corrects me, is confident they are right, and that others will shout if they are not.

I am not technically a native English speaker as Medved pointed out, but I have spoken English since childhood and am not a typical Swedish person in any respect. I have lived in the UK for 15 years. I am definitely competent to advise 99% of non-native English speakers here (and probably some native speakers too, hehe...) I have helped out quite a few people here in the past,when I have felt I wanted to "give something back" to the community. I occasionally make minor mistakes, usually because I don't proof-read what I post, but I don't think it's any worse than most native speakers.
To put it in perspective. I am a manager in a large British corporation. For all extents and purposes, my English is good enough..

The reason I put EU as my location is because I have lived in three different EU countries while I have been a member here. Mainly England, but also Sweden and Holland. Plus, I am quite a private person and genuinely have quite a broad perspective - so that's why I don't give a specific location. If I put UK, people will assume I am British, but I am not, and don't want to be. In case anyone is interested, I am currently in the UK though.

It's probably possible to add a section in the profile about native language if it's necessary. It's something that Admin should look at, in that case. I.e. adding a bespoke field to the user profile.

But I hope people will only correct or advise others if they are completely confident.

Also bear in mind: Native speakers usually don't have a distanced perspective of their own language. They are not aware of where the difficulties lies, for non-native speakers. Sometimes another foreigner is better at explaining something he/she already learned earlier themselves. Foreigners who speak clearly and slowly can sometimes be easier to understand, than native speakers. Native speakers get impatient and say things like "that's just the way it is!"
The learner needs to understand the reason, for it to stick.

So don't dismiss somebody as a teacher, just because they are not a native speaker - this can be an advantage in many way. As long as they are better than you - and don't guess or speak out of hand, there is no problem!