Thread by @SGBluebell

i have been keeping quiet out of fear but as an english major and chinese speaker i feel like i really need to point this out since i don't know how many ppl will know enough to explain

the blizzard post really seems like it was written by a chinese (non-native EN) speaker

before i go into this, i want to point out that the tone & language is all over the place– some are more native EN phrasings, others seem like typical CN, which makes me think there's some cobbling together here

in CN it is very common to use ellipses & space them out like this. this just doesn't happen in EN

unusually this starts in the first person and uses casual contractions ("what's happening"). contractions don't exist in CN, so using them in formal situations is a common error

the structuring:

in chinese writing it's typical to add what an english teacher might call "topic sentences" at the beginning and end of paragraphs. this isn't conventional and sounds very heavy-handed in english.

in the same vein, headers containing incomplete clauses or rhetorical questions before paragraphs are common in chinese, but clunky in english. for an OW example look at the HZS krystal callout. also, why are the blizz parts indented? doesn't it look like it was copy & pasted?

this header ("OK") makes it obvious that there are two voices here (minimum): whoever wrote this and whoever wrote the indented statement

"copy and pasting official blizz statements" is even weirder– if there IS an official blizz statement why are we getting it in this wrapper??

we then get into this long section where the grammatical indicators become apparent

using "When we think about..." instead of the present participle ("thinking", or something else bc "think" isn't really the best word here– it's too personal for a statement) is another CN sign

in chinese, verbs don't take on diff conjugations– e.g. "think" is just "think", to indicate time it looks like "when i think", "i think back", "i once think" (NOT thought), "think [word serving the purpose of ing]" bc words like "thought" and "thinking" just don't exist

so using "When we think about" (maybe 當我們... in CN), which is kind of awkward and unfitting in EN, instead of "Looking back on", "Considering our", etc. is a red flag

in the same vein, why "with regard to" instead of "regarding"? it's not wrong just weird

also, in CN there are no plurals (no dogs or cats, only dog or cat)

see: "there is a consequence" (instead of the native EN phrasing "there are consequences")

that's everything that pops out to me immediately, i'll add if i find anything weird

so why is this statement... like this?

it's not a vocal recording of j. allen brack. here's what j. allen brack sounds like. news.blizzard.com/en-us/blizzard…

if it's not him then who is it? why a non-native EN speaker? why didn't PR edit this?

what's going on here?

muting this now, hope y'all find this insightful