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"However, a recent topic here has been specifically about US companies
offshoring writing and editing to countries that have large numbers of
non-native English speakers who claim their English is impeccable."
And...
"Right, it's not the country by itself, Andrea. It's the claim that the
quality
is as good as that of native English speakers when that claim is patently
false. We don't normally have provenance on the bad writing we encounter.
We
do now."
Many native English speakers also claim that their English is impeccable.
Why not take issue with them to the same degree? What does this particular
idea of provenance get you? A nice, clear line to draw between you and your
competition (especially if you're using the term "provenance" to mean the
geographical area or place of origin of a collection of genetic material).
Let's say you do manage to gather examples of, say, a million non-native
English speakers butchering the language, and effectively end the offshoring
phenomenon. What then? You'll have to contend with the millions of *native*
English speakers who have been butchering the language all along. I guess
you'll have to come up with some new way of separating good writers from
bad, one that's based on something other than country of origin. May I
suggest certification? (kidding)
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