What level of English is needed for effective raiding in international guild?

[Deffry]

Hi folks,

I have a quick question. I want to try to get in to international guild. Because, the only foreign language I am able to speak is English, therefore I would like to join English speaking guild.

The reason is, that I am quite tired of mentality of my fellow citizens -> raiders. I love my country, but after 40 years of comunism, even after 20 years of democracy, our nation's mentality is still somehow (in special way) crippled by the totalitarian regime. Therefore I want to experience raiding and guild life in little different way than until now.

Almost through my entire WoW life I have been raiding on a server where the main language, in general and guilds, was Czech/Slovak, my native languages (Czech).

As you can see my English is not great.

I am just curious, if you guys, who already have experienced this raiding experience, can share your experience.

What level of English is needed to raid efectively? How do guildies interact with someone who makes lot of mistakes etc. ?

Am I just afraid for no reason? Or I should improve my English before I will try to apply for a spot in a guild?

I want to know, before I will spend my money on faction change and realm transfers.

Thx for replies.

[Shiny212]

Judging from the English of your post here I'd say it's already well above average for most of the people on English realms; so don't worry There will always be some grammar-police acting superior but they're few and people usually don't care as long as it's understandable. Just keep it English on English realms though, as people don't like it when they see foreign languages in public chat.

[Godspeed]

Your English is pretty good, you won't have any problems in international guild with your level of written proficiency, if your accent is a bit harsh some people might have problems understanding what you are saying but people are used to it. I have been playing in international guilds since vanilla, and I have similar background as you (ex-Yugoslavia).

[Deleted]

Aslong as you can understand english and can get others to understand your english (wich, judging form your post wont be a problem at all) you are fine. The only minor problem I have had is when the raidleader had a heavy brittish accent

[Chonar]

Realistically speaking, more sheltered people will likely poke a little fun at your accent if it's noticable, though this is usually not meant in a harmful or demeaning way.
Infact, research has shown that people try to subconsciously emulate the accents of those they speak of in order to connect with them.

Your written english is top notch, so I wouldnt worry.

Do be picky with which guild you choose to join though. Some do have a 'totalitarian regime', no matter where the officers come from. Find that good niche between serious players who want to get shit done, and people who'll understand if you need to sit out tonight because your hamster died.

[Lolwat123]

School one or just use google translate.

[Cybran]

Your english is fine.

[Godspeed]

Aslong as you can understand english and can get others to understand your english (wich, judging form your post wont be a problem at all) you are fine. The only minor problem I have had is when the raidleader had a heavy brittish accent

Anyone that had a heavy British accent (queen like) was instantly muted on Vent by me, there is just something arrogant about it, I couldn't stand it.

[Deffry]

Thx for replies. You guys, really encouraged my will to give it a shot. And well , it seems like my expectations were little above the reality. ...

[Lolwat123]

Thx for replies. You guys, really encouraged my will to give it a shot. And well , it seems like my expectations were little above the reality. ...

The reason is, that I am quite tired of mentality of my fellow citizens -> raiders. I love my country, but after 40 years of comunism, even after 20 years of democracy, our nation's mentality is still somehow (in special way) crippled by the totalitarian regime. Therefore I want to experience raiding and guild life in little different way than until now.

Just don`t write things like this in guild chat.

[Deffry]

Just don`t write things like this in guild chat.

Fortunately, lack of common sense is not my problem.

[Robb]

We have a few Slovaks in our guild, as well as a wealth of other nationalities, all speaking various levels of English. Never been a problem for us. If anything, it constantly amazes me how well they speak English, even the less advanced speakers, as a lot of of them use better grammar than some of our English natives!

[Deleted]

Anyone that had a heavy British accent (queen like) was instantly muted on Vent by me, there is just something arrogant about it, I couldn't stand it.

Haha, not like I could just mute our raid leader ;b

[Kharli]

Judging from the English of your post here I'd say it's already well above average for most of the people on English realms; so don't worry There will always be some grammar-police acting superior but they're few and people usually don't care as long as it's understandable. Just keep it English on English realms though, as people don't like it when they see foreign languages in public chat.

this, I got yelled at when I was looking for a swedish guild way back in start of wrath.

But OT; your English(written) is compleatly fine and my guild has people from across the world, my self i'm swedish and i get some "shit" from a few of my english guild mates, but it's all for laughs(i can't say jump properly due to a speach-imparling effect so it sounds like Gump ;P.). i give them "shit" for other stuff in return.

We have a few Slovaks in our guild, as well as a wealth of other nationalities, all speaking various levels of English. Never been a problem for us. If anything, it constantly amazes me how well they speak English, even the less advanced speakers, as a lot of of them use better grammar than some of our English natives!

This as well, well not the slovaks but we got lots of people from netherlands etc, atm tho it's mainly netherlands/scandinavia/UK.

[Shockzilla]

I want to know, before I will spend my money on faction change and realm transfers.

Thx for replies.

Most Americans welcome the chance to play with people for a different country, the difference in prospective is an enlightening experience. I lived in Germany for a total of 10 years and even thought I could understand a good deal and speak some of the language, I could not write it (spelling is not easy for me). From your post it appears that you can communicate quite well.

Where difficulties may arise would be in you accent. I sometimes pug with a friends guild and one of their best tanks is a native Russian who now lives in the U.S. and plays in an American guild. He is very conscious about his accent, it is still very heavy, sometimes so heavy that we have to resort to Raid chat. But that’s not a problem for us, it slows us down a little but to us that is ok, he’s a nice guy and we like raiding with him. Will people give you a hard time about it if you can’t speak English very well, the answer is yes.

Don’t let a few people stop you from doing something you want to do. Most of us will accept and help you if you give us the opportunity, having a good attitude will go far.

Also, don’t move your toons yet, create a new character on a US server and get it high enough to do random dungeons with, so you can get a feel of for how we play and allow you the experience of trying out your English, just a suggestion. Good luck.

[ThePants999]

I've had a few folks in my raid team who were uncomfortable at the prospect of communicating with us in English. In all cases, their concerns were unfounded - we understood each other just fine, and their confidence quickly increased.

[Deffry]

I am not so confident with my grammar and ability to use English properly, but when i had a chance to chat with foreigners, they Said lot of times, that my english accent is great. Still I have little bit of slavic accent, but there is probably nothing I can do about it. Therefore aspect of accent is not something I am concerned about at all.

PS: I have received few PMs. I will reply to all of them as soon as I will be back at home again.