Another future artist coming

[First Light]

... heck, maybe formalising something like this would help all us lazy native English speakers get offa our lazy arses and learn another language!

Ouch weevil!

Speak for yourself!!! I've studied 4 languages and I can only converse in English. I tried very hard and it was extremely difficult---I finally gave up because I just don't have an aptitude for language; yet, my aptitude in other areas is very high. For example, I do very well with creative thinking, art, mathematics and computer languages. Go figure! The non-native language that "stuck" in my grey matter the best was Latin---a dead language! And it didn't stick very well.

Personally, I'd like to keep this an all-English site. The reason is so that all posts can be read equally well. For other languages, I recommend creating a new domain with its own website and forums that is completely separate and everyone who joins it will be able to read all of the posts there equally well. Multilingual members will be able to pick and choose which domain they participate at based on the topics and content.

Best regards, First Light

[Kurt]

That reminds me something guys!

What you think to create a section for other languages??

Prodigy, I've noticed that, on the internet, even native English speakers often write as if English is their second language!!!!!

I usually find that people whose native language is not English generally make a better attempt to write it correctly. Makes a refreshing change from the usual Internet Illiterate gobbledygook!

That has no bearing on the original suggestion, though, just thought I'd mention it.....
.

[Kurt]

The non-native language that "stuck" in my grey matter the best was Latin---a dead language! And it didn't stick very well.

I thought I was the only one!!

I've been fascinated by Latin ever since I found out what Regan McNeil was saying when she said to Father Karras, "Mirabile dictu, don’t you agree?" And Father Karrass answered "Quod nomen mihi est?”

Such an elegant language.

Forget Esperanto, I say! Let's all speak Latin!

[Finis]

Since everyone here reads and writes English well enough to participate I think that all posts should have an English version but that members who want to could include a version of the post in other languages too.

That would improve communication between members who share a non-English language and speak it better but also let everyone benefit from the post through the shared English language.

I think trying to accommodate those who don't speak English at all would just create separate forums within this forum ... so they should just make separate forums outside of this forum. There could be sticky posts here in various languages noting where other-language forums are.

---------

All y'all kin talk right! If you wanna talk foreign talk go righta head but you better write English too.

[Finis]

Latin for fans of Lost:
Others: What lies at the feet of the statue?
Richard: He who will save us all.

Is that right you Latin speakers? Is that what Richard and the Others (?) said in the season finale?

[marcel]

I do not like the idea of creating another forum for another language. This does not create cultural exchange. Anyone who want to post in his native language can do. He'll see if someone replied.
We are fortunate to have a universal language: the image.

Je n'aime pas l'idée de créer un autre forum pour une autre langue. Cela ne crée pas d'échange culturelle. Celui qui veux poster dans sa langue native peux le faire. Il verra bien si quelqu'un lui répond.
Nous avons la chance d'avoir un language universel: l'image.

[Kenc3]

I really didn't intend for this to become a discussion about having other languages on here. I agree with Steinie and First Light that this forum should stay English only. I have tried to post of Tagalog sites and it becomes difficult to receive a reply in English.
If there is a Tagalog forum, it would have to be started and run by Filipinos just like the German site.
I just wanted to mention that there is another culture beginning to see Truespace now.(Too bad it is going off the original site.)

[Steve]

... heck, maybe formalising something like this would help all us lazy native English speakers get offa our lazy arses and learn another language!

Ouch weevil!

Speak for yourself!!! I've studied 4 languages and I can only converse in English. I tried very hard and it was extremely difficult---I finally gave up because I just don't have an aptitude for language; yet, my aptitude in other areas is very high. For example, I do very well with creative thinking, art, mathematics and computer languages. Go figure! The non-native language that "stuck" in my grey matter the best was Latin---a dead language! And it didn't stick very well.

Personally, I'd like to keep this an all-English site. The reason is so that all posts can be read equally well. For other languages, I recommend creating a new domain with its own website and forums that is completely separate and everyone who joins it will be able to read all of the posts there equally well. Multilingual members will be able to pick and choose which domain they participate at based on the topics and content.

Best regards, First Light

Don't get me wrong there, I was not singling you out of a crowd, I've asked around my classmates "who here knows another language?" and no-one says yes, I ask "who here is going to try at some point?", and again no-one replies, and considering next year our class goes to the Cologne game convention for a week and no-one's at least bothering to learn how to say "Alles gut mit dir?" or "Wie Heisst du?".

Self learning agreed is in no understated terms "Bloody difficult", some of you here know I'm trying to get my head around learning basic and slightly-more-than basic German before then moving on to French and Spanish and it's proving taxing and difficult at best. I have a terrible scope for learning full stop and it's taken me far too long to understand the difference just between "ich bin" and "mir ist". There are chaps I speak to though who get worn out and "tired out" simply by having to form complex sentences in English for too long. Agreed, on Forums you can theoretically take as much time as you would want or need to form a reply, check and double check, which is why they are the best site for learning more international Languages, whether the TScommuntiy wishes that is entirely different. I signed up to the German TS forum and recieved a fantastic greeting, heck, fantastic greeting mostly in ENGLISH, I'm curious as to why English speaking forums aren't quite so leniant. But in the long run, if you get the basics down of as many languages as possible, its unbelievable how much, A) It assists those where English isn't their first language, and B) It helps you in the long run.

Of course, what I'm driving at is not to make this forum a hotspot for things like sifting through various answers in various languages, English should, if anything to save confusion should still be the primary language, but when it comes to assisting those who have difficulty speaking English, the end result means you can actually communicate a lot better, considering everyone who's been on the internet knows where "Yahoo Babelfish" is, it doesn't take too much time to look up one particular phrase or two, or even what Marcel has done with his post above

Being so strict about one particular language I doubt would be the way forwards

Steve

[theuns]

anybody up for some "Afrikaans"! ;) [its a variation of Dutch that they speak in the Netherlands/Holland and brought over to South Africa a few centuries ago]

I must admit though that at work, I almost always speak English and I write and read English a lot better than I do my native language since I almost never get the opportunity to use it... I do find that I can express myself a lot better in English though because it seems to have a much better vocabulary to bring across what you want to say... I do a lot of fiction writing as well on the side...

[First Light]

Don't get me wrong there, I was not singling you out of a crowd, ...

I never thought so but I guess my point was not understood. I was simply using myself as an example to refute the notion that a person is lazy because they can't converse in multiple languages. It may have nothing to do with laziness. It may simply be a lack of aptitude as is my case.

... Self learning agreed is in no understated terms "Bloody difficult", ...

Who said anything about self-learning? Every time that I studied a language, it was with professional instruction. My teachers were as exasperated as me at my poor progress. I studied my first langauge as a little kid in Elementary School. My next language in High School. My last two languages in College. My teachers were very gifted---but I wasn't.

... Being so strict about one particular language I doubt would be the way forwards ...

"Strict", huh? Because we want to understand each other we're "tight, tense, exact, severe, rigorous, and not loose or vague" (Webster's definition of "strict")? First, we're lazy if we don't make an effort to learn another language. Now we're "strict" if we want to use a common language?

Quite the contrary: In my experience, this is one of the most helpful and lenient forums around. I doubt that any of us "lazy native English speakers" (your words!) care what language we use as long as we can understand each other. After all, what's the point of trying to communicate if you don't try to be understood. It's the Tower of Babel all over again.

And as for online translators, you've got to be kidding!!! Have you actually used them? I have and they are inept at best---especially when it comes to technical communication and colloquialisms. They have their place but I would never suggest them unless there was no other choice.

In summary, it is not lazy to want to understand one another and that requires some form of common language. Nor are we being strict to ask people to kindly attempt to be understood when they have something to ask or say. Nor does it mean that we think one language or culture is better than another. It has nothing to do with it. It is purely a desire to communicate.

Finally, maybe I'm old fashioned, but the first thing I was taught regarding good communcation is to not insult the people with whom I want to communicate.

Best regards, First Light