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| When I went from creating in polymer clay to knitting I ended with a language dilemma. Hope you can help me!!! |
I have been blogging for nearly five years now. Lately I have been thinking a lot about changing the language to norwegian. It is so much easier to write and express myself in my own language instead of checking spelling all the time for the english version. I have a lot of readers from outside Norway - and it would of course be very sad to make a language barrier for them to read my blog. I know google translator is very bad - and would properly not be an option for readers to use.
I started writing english because I could not find anyone working with polymer clay in Norway. It was a dead task to get norwegian readers for a blog about polymer clay. As my knitting has taken off norwegian readers has increased. Half of my readers comes from Norway, Sweden or Denmark. It is not an option to have two blogs. Neither is it an option to write both english and norwegian - I do not think that works good on other blogs.
But the question is: What do you think? Has anyone of you experience in changing language on your blog?
Thank you so much for your help - and for reading this!!!
Teksten på norsk finner du her:
Jeg har blogget i nesten fem år. I det siste har jeg tenkt mye på å endre språket på bloggen til norsk. Det er mye lettere å både skrive og uttrykke seg på sitt eget språk. Jeg har mange lesere utenfor Norge - halvparten er fra andre ikke-nordiske land.
Jeg begynte å skrive engelsk fordi ingen i Norge holdt på med arbeid med plastisk leire (ex Fimo). Men siden strikkingen har tatt helt av - har også norske lesere begynt å besøke bloggen min. Det synes jeg er så hyggelig. Nå er halvparten av mine lesere fra Norge, Sverige og Danmark. Det vil selvsagt være trist å miste faste lesere som jeg er blitt kjent med fra andre land. Det øker selvsagt perspektivet. Så dette er ikke et lett valg.
Det er ikke et alternativ å ha to blogger - det fragmenterer for mye. Jeg synes også tospråklige blogger ikke fungerer så godt.
Så her er spørsmålet: Hva synes du? Har noen av dere erfaringer med å skifte språk på bloggen deres?
Tusen takk for hjelpen - og for at du ville lese dette!!!
I really understand your problem, I write on my daily blog only in Dutch because I can express myself better than in English. I will follow and read your blog anyway because I really love the things you make and the way you use colours. Maybe you should ask yourself the question: Do you write about your knitting and polymere clay and want to be read by a lot of readers (write in English) , of do you write because you just want to express yourself (write in Norwegian).
ReplyDeleteAs I said: I will follow and read you anyway, I hope you will make a lot more beautiful, colourfull things. Greetings from Holland,
Jeanet
please don't change! I am from Holland and it would be sad not to be able to read your blog....
ReplyDeleteHello from the Netherlands,
ReplyDeleteit's a difficult question you ask here. I too have a blog, but write only in Dutch. Writing in my native language makes it a less time-consuming activity and this suits me best. And I do believe writing a blog should be a pleasant activity as an extra to creating woolly things :-).
Sooo....I would miss reading your blog, but would stick to mu own language in your place :-(.
Warm greetings from Holland.
I understand what you are saying. It is indeed hard to express yourself and your thoughts and feelings in another language.
ReplyDeleteIt would make me sad not to be able to 'read' your blog anymore in English. Before my blog was only in Dutch, but I got several requests to write in English as well. I have made my stories and texts a bit shorter than before and now write in 2 languages.
Maybe you can write 'the whole storey' in Norwegian and a smaller one in English?
Your blog is special, your colourfull designs and projects make lots of people smile and you are a great inspiration to change the grey and dark world we sometimes live in into a colourfull world where everybody brightens up their life with their own preferred colours. So maybe I can convince you not to stop writing in English :)
You'll get many more readers, if you write in English - no question about that.
ReplyDeleteI write in Danish and I haven't had much time the last year or so to write posts, but even so I still get new readers. Many foreign readers get inspired just by looking at the Photos.
Hi Lone,
ReplyDeleteI understand your problem so good. What about writing in Norwegian and just short and simple in English as well for your foreign readers? It must not be word for word in English, we will understand you ;o)
Hugs from Germany
Tanni
Difficult question! Thats why my blog is in German. But I thought about to write both English and German, but always the time is too short to do that. I think, the pictures are the main thing in a blog. I would use a translator.
ReplyDeleteHappy knitting!
Petra
Please don't change. I love reading your blog. If you change I would only understand your pictures (they are great to look at because they are so colourful).
ReplyDeleteI read another blog where the blogger writes in English first and then in Swiss German.
Lone, I enjoy your blog even though I am not a knitter (I think I may have started reading you when you were in polymer clay). Seeing your beautifully photographed bold and colourful creations always makes me smile! But anyway, I would continue to read you and rely on Translator, as I am only fluent in French and English, and poor skills in a few more languages, but unfortunately NO Norwegian.
ReplyDeleteMy personal feeling when blogging is that it should primarily be an expression of your own thoughts and musings. Sometimes that means choosing your means of expression for your needs and not worry so much about alienating readers. Those of us who enjoy your blog will get around a language barrier. Those that choose not to, that is their loss, Lone.
The suggestion made by some that you make just a short English summary has value... again, if that is a course you are willing to undertake. Good luck with this process and remember your blog is just a part of your public face, which you should manage in the manner most comfortable for you. If writing in your preferred language means MORE posts, I am 100% in favour :)
Jeg kan godt følge dig, jeg har valgt dansk af samme grund, jeg ville skulle bruge meget tid på at skrive på engelsk, kan dog sagtens læse engelsk - og norsk , så uanset hvad du vælger hænger jeg gerne på :))
ReplyDeleteHei på deg, ja, jeg byttet språket til norsk etter at jeg flyttet tilbake til Norge.... har nok fått litt færre lesere, men, jeg finner det lettere å skrive på mitt eget språk, vanskelig nok å finne ut av bloggingen, er ikke så veldig flink til det og har dessverre ikke så god tid til å sette meg inn i alt det nye... Ha en fantastisk uke hos deg!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blog for the last 2 years and although I would very much miss your posts, I will at least still enjoy the photos. Follow your heart!
ReplyDelete(anglophone knitter from Toronto, Canada)
i'm swedish so i wouldn't mind if you changed to norwegian, but i also wouldn't mind if you stopped trying so hard to make your english perfect -- i don't mind spelling mistakes etc :)
ReplyDeleteJeg synes, of course, det er enklest å lese på norsk. Noen ganger gidder jeg ikke lese alt som er skrevet på engelsk, siden jeg vil kose meg med å surfe rundt omkring.....
ReplyDeleteJeg ville foreslå at du hadde begge språk , men så skriver du jo at det er uaktuelt.
I min gamle blogg hdde jeg Google translater, og da hadde jeg flere utenlandske som kommenterte. Men jeg savner de egentlig ikke nå som jeg ikke har translater i den bloggen jeg har nå.
Var det meg, hadde jeg skrevet kun på norsk.
PS: digger bloggen din uansett, jeg ;)
Uh Lone, det er et svært spørgsmål, det der. Personligt læser jeg begge sprog lige godt, men som skandinav, kan jeg måske forestille mig at du, som person, bliver mere "synlig", når du skriver på et sprog du er mere fortrolig med. Det kan jo være at du vil opleve at det flyder meget bedre for dig, på norsk. Omvendt er det synd for alle de mange læsere der ikke kan være med mere. Decisions Decisions!! Jeg følger med og hænger på, uanset hvad du vælger.
ReplyDeleteKnus fra Dorte
Hm... jeg har blogget i snart 4 år - på norsk. Har google translater som alternativ og det fungerer jo på et vis. Kan du ikke bare teste litt? Bare et forslag... Ha ei flott uke! Hilsen Synnøve
ReplyDeleteBloggen din er flott uansett, men eg likar betre å lese på godt norsk enn slik passe engelsk. Synest personlegheiten din kjem betre fram på norsk, om du forstår.
ReplyDeleteSame kva du vel, så er eg med - for det er fyrst og fremst farge- og formsansen din eg er her for :o)
If you change to norwegian, I won`t be able to read your blog. I only speak german and english.
ReplyDeleteSelv om jeg forstår det meste når det er skrevet på engelsk, så blir det mest til at jeg bare skummer over - hvis jeg leser det i det hele tatt. Jeg foretrekker norsk :) Syns forresten det var en god ide å ha en kort oppsummering på engelsk. Uansett, så er det flotte og fargerike ting du lager :)
ReplyDeleteI am from the US; please don't stop writing in English. It is so interesting and educational having connections in other countries.
ReplyDeletei bet it is hard. i've subscribed to lots of blogs in other languages, but i find that i don't stay subscribed to them very long. good luck with your decision, and for my part- thanks for a great blog in english
ReplyDeleteI know it must be terribly frustrating and time consuming to write your posts in other than your native language. I certainly would not stop visiting and would still enjoy seeing all your beautiful creations.
ReplyDeleteI understand your difficulties with a different langauge, I wrote once in English on my blog, but it was a disaster, I couldn't say what I wanted to say.. So I'm writing in Dutch. But it would be sad for me (and other people from other countries) to not be able to read it.. It will always be your choiche, it's your medium to show things to the world. And it must be fun to do.
ReplyDeleteDo what suits you best, I am English but your native language looks amazing in print even if I don't understand it. I will still visit your blog - after all, your photos are beautiful and speak for themselves! x
ReplyDeleteHei Lone, - her ville jeg som flere andre råde deg til å følge hjertet ditt. Selv valgte jeg å skrive på norsk, selv om det er flere som syr klær i ikke norsk-talende land, da jeg opplever at jeg skriver så mye bedre på norsk enn engelsk. - Jeg har lagt inn Google translate på sidene, men fikk følgere fra Spania, Tyskalnd m.m. før jeg innstallerte dette - så jeg vet ikke hvor viktig det er. - Fortsetter å følge bloggen din uansett. :)
ReplyDeletePlease don't change only to your language. But you can write it on both!
ReplyDeleteLone, I follow a few blogs that I use the translate button and I have no problem with it ;o) I can give you links to those blogs, if you like? Please do what is best for you ;o) I will be here either way ;o) Big Hugs ;o)
ReplyDeleteVanskelig spørsmål. Du skriver jo godt engelsk, så det spiller ingen rolle. (Ikke alle som blogger på engelsk gjør det...). Jeg leser bloggen din uansett, jeg!
ReplyDeleteplease don't change! I know writing in English is hard but it's thanks to non English speakers who make the effort to share their knowledge and experience in English that we can connect and exchange experience and grow
ReplyDeleteJeg ønsker svært gjerne at du skifter til norsk! Jeg klarer ikke engelsk. Det beklager jeg, altså. Men jeg er veldig begrenset, og det er det mitt ønske er tuftet på... Jeg ser veldig opp til deg, og jeg tror ikke jeg kommer til å glemme deg noensinne... Og nå ser det ut som jeg mister jobben min, så da blir jeg hjemmeværende og trenger ting å holde på med! Jeg skulle gjerne tatt opp oppskriftene dine <3
ReplyDeleteDet var bare det! Du er vakker og unik!
KLem fra sunnmøre
Oh, please don't change the language! It is so lovely to read your blog. I would feel very sad, because I speak only German and English. Thank you very much for your interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteBest regards
Edith Genhart from Switzerland
I speak only English and German, too. And I want to read your blog....please change the language...;o)
ReplyDeleteBitte schreib weiterhin in Englisch...und bleib so wie du bist!
Liebe Grüße
Catrin
Hi! My own blog is in Dutch, but whenever I post a knitting/crochet pattern, I write it both in English and Dutch. But usually, I don't feel like writing English, it takes up more time and it's less natural sometimes. If people from other countries are reading your blog, Google will probably ask if it has to translate it, so they can still read it! No worries ;) Write in whatever language works best for you. xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm late in answering but will say, as an American who speaks no language except for English, I would still come to your blog and look at the pictures. I just love your colorful work! so whatever you decide, you won't lose me.
ReplyDeleteSå flott blogg, også så herlige, fine håndarbeider du lager :) den jakken var kjempetøff, mønsteret er jo gammelt, jeg har dette i en perm her. Knallfin :) også mye annet flott på siden din, ha en riktig fin dag der ute
ReplyDeleteSynes du skal skrive på norsk. Google oversetteren gjør en ikke så aller verst jobb, og den har du jo på bloggen din. Jeg blir mer og mer glad i den oversetteren, og oppdager plutselig at jeg leser fler og fler blogger i land jeg ellers ikke hadde hatt mulighet til å følge blogger.
ReplyDeleteSelv om jeg ikke har noe problem med å lese engelsk, så er nok jeg også av de som skumleser mer når det er skrevet på engelsk enn om det er skrevet på norsk, spesielt når jeg vet det er norske blogger. *rister litt på hodet av meg selv* Men jeg bruker aldri google oversetteren på engelsk, kun på språk jeg ikke skjønner noe som helst av. Det kan ikke være så vanskleig for de som har engelsk/amerikansk som morsmål å gjøre det samme.