Bad English or good enough?

 When you can communicate in English, does it really matter if you make some mistakes? As long as you can be understood, is it really important to have perfect grammar?

Here is a review of the new movie, Super 8. There are lots of mistakes in it, but is it really a problem?

Super 8 review

Latest movie big release from Hollywood is new movie called Super 8. Steven Spielberg produced movie and it was directed by JJ Abrams, which did blockbusters Mission Impossible III and Star Trek. Abrams, which is a lifelong fan of Spielberg, have made the movie in same style as any of the master director’s early film like E.T., Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Super 8 take place in 1979, what is when JJ Abrams was 13 years old. Story are about group of young childrens which are making a zombie film with a Super 8 camera in their small town. The informations coming from the press releases tell that first part of story is biographical about JJ Abrams own childhood. Film do not match the classic blockbusters who it is modelled on, but it have great reviews from critics and it leave majority of modern blockbusters way behind. So, I suggest you that you should see it. You will go, no?

The majority of people in the world who speak English are NOT native speakers. That means that most English speakers probably only speak English with other people who learnt English as a second language and who also probably make 'mistakes'…that is they speak differently from the standard English of a native speaker. Here is a better version of the review. The mistakes are now corrected in bold. Is this review better than the first one?

Super 8 review (2)

The latest big movie release from Hollywood is the new movie called Super 8. Steven Spielberg produced the movie and it was directed by JJ Abrams, who directed the blockbusters Mission Impossible III and Star Trek. Abrams, who is a lifelong fan of Spielberg, has made the movie in the same style as some of the master director’s early films like E.T., Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Super 8 takes place in 1979, which is when JJ Abrams was 13 years old. The story is about a group of young children who are making a zombie film with a Super 8 camera in their small town. The information coming from the press releases state that first part of story is biographical about JJ Abrams' own childhood. The film does not match the classic blockbusters which it is modelled on, but it has got great reviews from critics and it leaves the majority of modern blockbusters way behind. So, I suggest that you should see it. You will go, won't you?

With English as a Lingua Franca, mistakes that appear in the first review are becoming more and more common. So, should we accept them? The British, or the Americans, or any other native speakers do not own the English language any more, so do you think that it's OK to be satisfied with communicating in English that is good enough for understanding? Or should all students try to speak like a native speaker? Let me know what you think.

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