%% Last Updated: - [[2021-02-18]] - [[2020-12-22]] tags: ['#kleur/oranje'] %% Linguistic privilege is the extra rights, freedoms, or opportunities afforded to speakers of a certain language, whether inadvertently or otherwise. ## Language adds a barrier for non-native speakers in any industry For example, English-speaking conferences tend to give performance testing tips that are related to the actual work. Spanish-speaking conferences have tips like "Learn English"-- because there's way more content in English, especially in tech, than any other language. ## Linguistic privilege in programming Linguistic privilege applies to programming languages as well. Some languages, by nature of their syntax or verboseness, influence the way their developers envision building a product and also the world outside tech. ![[Thread by @Conaw: 100 Opinions on Programming Languages#^dfe552]] ### Most documentation exists in English [[English is the most used language on the internet]], and disproportionately so. Other languages that are commonly spoken offline are nowhere near as popular online. Some things that are easy for English speakers to find an answer to may return no hits when searched for in Spanish. How can we say that's fair? ![[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English#^144131638]] But why don't Spanish speakers create content in Spanish? Surely that's their problem, not ours as English speakers? ### The tools used for creation are also in English ![[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English#^144131642]] It's not just the end we want to see in different languages; it's the tools. It's the programming languages themselves. To understand why it might be a problem for a non-native English speaker to create content using an English-based language or tool, [[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English#^1e087e|here's the equivalent of what that might look like]]. ![[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English#^144131644]] ![[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English#^144131645]] ## References - [[Coding Is for Everyone--as Long as You Speak English]] ## See also - [[Coding and writing are converging]] - [[Localization Testing]]