What makes you keep on reading articles in your non-English native language, while the same information might be published in English? As a future French PhD student (in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) that legally HAS TO write his thesis in French, I am a bit concerned about the fact that less people would be able to read it and it got me thinking: why do you keep reading articles in your native language, when some ideas you find might also be published in English?


To those who are not English native speakers, do you read articles in your native language?
If so, what is it that you find in these articles compared to English-written ones? Are you just looking for useful information for your own research or are you motivated by something else?
How would you cite these articles in your own English-written paper?


I understand that using one's own native language can be justified for some fields such as social sciences, but here I am asking about "exact" and computer sciences.
Your three-part question is quickly answered:


Yes I read articles in my native language
Almost never because very few exist except older ones (ca. 1960s and older) and possibly bachelor or masters theses.
I would definitely cite them if they contained anything useful


Your concern is valid, regardless of preferences, using a common language ensures better spreading of the science. This does not mean non-English science is in any way uninteresting but will obviosuly be harder to find and read. It will be up to scientists in that language to bring the research to general attention. A possibility with thesis work is always to publish it or parts of it in journals and then translated. In such cases nothing is lost (except time for the complete re-writing)

EDIT: This answer was written for the original question which subsequently has been changed, also in terms of focus.