Don’t Invest In Medium Unless You Write Great English

I’m sorry to write this, but it’s necessary.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

I am horrible at speaking Tagalog. Writing it, I’m even worse.

For those who don’t know, Tagalog is the national language of the Philippines. If you told me to write a 4-sentence paragraph in Tagalog, I’d probably start bleeding from my nose after the first sentence.

I say that because when I see folks from countries like Brazil, Mexico, Germany, or the Philippines actually make a go of writing in English, I can’t help but want to treat them like some sort of a mythical being.

It’s incredible that someone can learn a second language and write a blog post in that language that averages only 1–2 grammatical errors per paragraph. I just can’t believe it. I say that in earnest.

I could never do that with Tagalog.

Having said that, writing online is sort of a zero-sum game. If you write great English, you can actually make a go of it. If you don’t write great English, nobody will pay attention to you.

And the same is true for writers on Medium, unfortunately. It’s not Medium’s fault. It’s not the writer’s fault. It’s really nobody’s fault. It’s just that writing in English requires skill. The reason we watch professional football…