As a technical content marketing company, we are often asked whether it’s better to employ native speakers as writers. As a non-native speaker, I understand the concerns of my clients. The vast majority of people spending serious budgets on devtools, from Datadog to TimescaleDB to Raycast, are native English speakers, driven by the fact that the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand tend to be devtools' largest markets.
In addition, most of the non-native English speakers in tech who are buyers of devtools are used to working and functioning with a high level of English, and probably live in an English-speaking country.
AI is reducing the gap between native and non-native writers in some cases, as it can be used to generate text, rewrite drafts, edit grammar, improve style, and translate content. However, it is not true that the gap has completely disappeared. It’s still important to determine whether a writer can explain technical concepts effectively and clearly.
This is some first hand experience on what I’ve found native and non-native writers differ, what to look for in a technical content writing candidate, and why other factors often matter more in the content creation process than your writer’s English proficiency.
Disclosure: I’m a non-native running a technical content agency
I’m a non-native speaker of English, as well as an ex-developer and product manager, who has been running a technical content marketing agency since 2018. We’ve published thousands of technical articles, and all of them are written by humans with a developer background. I’ve worked with hundreds of writers, editors, reviewers, clients, and readers along the journey.
Main areas where native English content writers differ
While some skill gaps in between English and non-native English writers are shrinking, native speakers do tend to have both inherent advantages and disadvantages. These can be nuanced and go beyond just grammar.
Faster and more effortless communication
Native speakers generally write more quickly and don’t need to consciously think about grammar, which often means collaboration is faster. In addition, native speakers solve language problems instinctively and communicate with less cognitive effort. This issue is amplified in the technical writing space, as the nuances involved in domain-specific topics demand a higher level of proficiency to communicate effectively.
As someone who speaks three languages, I can attest to how I think in my own language compared with others. I have also seen this subtle “confidence gap” in other second-language English speakers. I definitely encounter non-native founders who are involved in their own content but won’t produce it without assistance from a native speaker. The issues here go beyond grammar and sentence structure. Different cultures have different communication styles. Certain cultures are very comfortable with sentences that last almost as long as a paragraph, whereas in English, that feels clumsy and often reduces clarity while also having a subtle but negative effect on the reader’s experience.
Because writing feels effortless for native English writers, there’s always a chance they can be tempted to think less carefully. They may also write “too fast,” which could reduce clarity and quality. However, you can combat these issues by implementing processes to curb bad habits.
Often, non-natives, aware of their level of ability, compensate by thinking more deliberately, writing with more care and producing more precise or concise work.
Better use of analogies and cultural references from natives
Native speakers naturally tend to use idioms, create analogies, reference shared culture, and explain concepts through familiar comparisons. Because English-language culture dominates much of technology, many international readers also understand these references. However, they are less likely to have a broad range of them so immediately.
Sometimes native English speakers can forget that they are talking to a global audience and get too culturally specific, which can shut out international readers. They may distract from the technical explanation or become more memorable than the concept being explained. Good native speaking writers will have this in mind, however.
A native speaker who has a good command of a foreign language is actually the ideal solution here. That way, they have all the benefits of the mother tongue but also the empathy of the global second-language audience.
Greater confidence with language
Native speakers typically make spelling decisions immediately, choose wording confidently, and rarely question grammar choices. There is also a higher chance that they answer language questions authoritatively.
Non-native speakers are usually more keen to verify spelling, research style, check regional differences, and make more evidence-based language decisions.
Native speakers alone don’t solve content problems
If a technical content program is struggling, replacing everyone with native speakers doesn’t automatically improve content quality, strategy, process, or technical accuracy. You will more than likely find that the underlying workflow needs some attention. To be fair, one of the biggest factors in generating high-quality technical content is getting a thorough and comprehensive workflow.
If you are only open to native speakers, then you also risk excluding outstanding technical writers, excellent communicators, and highly fluent non-native speakers.
What to consider when hiring technical content writers
This is pretty simple. Hire for ability, not native-speaker status.
Can they not only write technical content, but also interview customers, edit effectively, review work, communicate with clients, iterate based on feedback, and explain technical ideas clearly?
Verify a quality candidate with:
- Writing samples
- Completed projects
- Editing quality
- A technical writing test
Finding a good fit for your company culture is also essential. For a process like technical content writing, you have to be very analytical when it comes to the subject matter and give and receive feedback in a way that works for everyone. On that basis, a large part of the screening process should focus on identifying whether a candidate can fit in a highly collaborative team with relative ease.
Who’s in our team?
Right now, we only have native English speakers and editors on the team. This happened naturally over the course of eight years of hiring.
That said, being a native speaker has never been a requirement of our hiring process. We’ve previously employed exceptional non-native writers, and if someone demonstrated exceptional ability today, we would hire them immediately regardless of native status.
What we care about more is a technical understanding and an ability to communicate about technical topics effectively. Our current criteria is 5+ years working as a developer or a minimum of a master's degree in the relevant domain.
We value:
- The ability to interview clients
- Speaking confidently with customers
- Gathering useful insights
- Producing excellent technical content
- Contributing effectively throughout the content process
Those abilities matter far more than whether English is someone’s first language.
How to get it right
It’s pretty simple. Your success depends more on your content creation system and a strong hiring process than whether your writer is a native English speaker or not.
Look for strong technical knowledge in the specific domain you are writing for. In addition, hire for your company culture, and filter for a good fit like your life depends on it.
On a lighter note, we do recommend “cheerful” as a solid quality to screen for!
If you want to learn more about how to increase engagement and conversions from a developer audience, contact us here.
