From: <l(_dot_)wood(_at_)surrey(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk>
What is not stated is how good that English has to be to participate
fully in technical discussion to get the most out of IETF participation.
I was going to suggest that the statement should not be "how good one's
English must be to participate" but rather "participants should be
aware that other participants may have English competence at XXX
level".
But Harald noted that we already have such advice:
From: Harald Alvestrand <harald(_at_)alvestrand(_dot_)no>
Perhaps practice RFC 7154, "IETF Guidelines for Conduct"?
2. Guidelines for Conduct
1. IETF participants extend respect and courtesy to their colleagues
at all times.
IETF participants come from diverse origins and backgrounds; there
can be different expectations or assumptions. Regardless of these
individual differences, participants treat their colleagues with
respect as persons especially when it is difficult to agree with
them: treat other participants as you would like to be treated.
English is the de facto language of the IETF. However, it is not
the native language of many IETF participants. All participants,
particularly those with English as a first language, attempt to
accommodate the needs of other participants by communicating
clearly, including speaking slowly and limiting the use of slang.
When faced with English that is difficult to understand, IETF
participants make a sincere effort to understand each other and
engage in conversation to clarify what was meant.
Less obviously, there is a problem that the written version of a
language and the spoken version of the language language are different
languages, even in languages (like English, unlike Chinese and Arabic)
that make no formal distinction between the two. There are many
native speakers of English whose *written* English is nearly
incomprehensible, even to a native speaker. So native English
speakers need to beware that their written English is not
automatically perfect...
Dale