# Should the Cultural Discussions forum be English-only?



## Outsider

This thread was motivated by the following remark made in the middle of an unrelated discussion:



Setwale_Charm said:


> Also, may I ask los estimados foreros not to write in other langaues here since not all participants may be able to read Spanish.


(You can find the discussion by clicking on the blue arrow in the left, to see the context.)

I want to start by saying that I entirely disagree with Setwale. My answer to people who are unable to read a post because they don't know the language is "Read another one". There are certainly plenty of others written in English!

I think that demanding English will only discourage people from contributing.

What do others think about this?

I do not remember seeing another thread here about this, but if there was one already please merge this one with it. There was, however, this related discussion in the Comments and Suggestions forum.


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## Thomsen

I'm not sure this is a cultural thread and it maybe be closed.  But no I don't think so.  That said the conversation may be disjointed if it occurs in 12 languages because most people wouldn't understand the majority of them.


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## Rayines

Hello Outsider: Not that I would be a great "writer" in the Cultural Forum, but most of times I "skip" it because of the effort that would represent for me to express some thoughts in English (further than my grammatical explanations in the other forums). But I think "well", English is the universal language here, then....What do you think? Should it be possible to create some Cultural Forum in another language/s?


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## Outsider

I understand the practicality of English, and 99% of my contributions to this forum were in English, too. However, I think it's interesting to hear from all posters who wish to contribute, regardless of their proficiency in English. 

I also understand that it might be convenient to keep each particular thread in a single language, but I have seen some very interesting discussions here that had whole sections in a different language than the initial post.


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## Nunty

אילו כתבתי בעברית מעט מאוד אנשים כאן היו מבינים אותי (*) 
but with other languages that is not the case. When I see a post in a language I don't know at all, I just skip it. We are all brilliant, insightful social commentators, I know, but the world will not end if I do not understand every single scintillating comment. 

On the other hand, I would be happy to see more CD threads in languages other than English, both to facilitate things for people who have trouble expressing themselves in English and to challenge (and, I hope, improve) my "other language" skills.

(*) Translation: If I wrote in Hebrew, very few people here would understand me


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## karuna

Actually I like that some foreros write in Spanish as it gives me a chance to practice my Spanish. I understand that not everybody wants to learn Spanish but since we all here are language lovers there is no need to require to use only English. I guess that Spanish writing foreros are already aware that not everybody will be able to read their postings and have chosen to write in Spanish anyway.


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## .   1

Nun-Translator said:


> On the other hand, I would be happy to see more CD threads in languages other than English, both to facilitate things for people who have trouble expressing themselves in English and to challenge (and, I hope, improve) my "other language" skills.


This is my first thought.
The second part is that I am aware that some multilingual people choose to post in languages other than English to show off and I am not even remotely interested in reading such opinions.
Viva the whatever,

.,,


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## cuchuflete

Whatever one thinks this forum should be, there are no rules requiring that threads be monolingual.
We have have many threads in languages other than English, usually with less participation than those 
exclusively or mostly in English, and many multi-lingual threads.  All of these seem to flow along reasonably well.

Now and then a forero asks for an "on-the-fly" translation of a post in a language they don't understand, and these requests are usually met promptly. Some of the most interesting threads I have seen here have been conducted in three or more languages.


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## karuna

. said:


> The second part is that I am aware that some multilingual people choose to post in languages other than English to show off and I am not even remotely interested in reading such opinions.
> Viva the whatever,
> .,,



To spend many years to master another language and to go through so much trouble, just to show off to some anonymous guys on the Internet by being able to start a thread in a different language? I really doubt that there are such people. And if someone has grown up in a multilingual environment, then he/she probably has been using two or more languages long enough and it feels so normal to them that they probably don't think of it as something to show off with. A wonderful asset maybe?


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## DearPrudence

Hello
Outsider, for what I've seen you can understand many many languages but it's not the case of everyone. I think the CD is a forum of discussion. What's the point if everyone speaks a different language? Personally I can understand Spanish fairly well so I manage to follow more or less but I try to imagine if everything was written in German or Chinese! If there's only one post out of 100 I can understand, what's the point (I say "I" but not necessarily _me_ of course)? And what if I want to contribute? Surely I will repeat what someone's said in another post, in a language I don't understand. Maybe we will end up with different groups talking more or less about the same things, carrying on parallel conversations and people like you who are lucky to understand all those languages will think: "But what the hell is that mess?"
It's good to express your opinion the best way you can but what's the point if nobody hears you?
Maybe you can write in your native language and make an attempt in English for other people to see what you mean, I don't know (this question reminds me of something ...). Personally I couldn't imagine writing this post in French. It's not to show off or anything but it's just to be understood by the majority (& that was such an interesting thought that it had to be understood by everyone for sure  )

Like Setwale_Charm, I have the impression it's assumed that everyone understands Spanish ... which is not the case ... (but I guess not everybody understands English perfectly either  ) ...


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## .   1

karuna said:


> To spend many years to master another language and to go through so much trouble, just to show off to some anonymous guys on the Internet by being able to start a thread in a different language? I really doubt that there are such people. And if someone has grown up in a multilingual environment, then he/she probably has been using two or more languages long enough and it feels so normal to them that they probably don't think of it as something to show off with. A wonderful asset maybe?


Absolutely and under the right circumstances a wonderful thing to do but if I start banging on in one of the number of jargons I have aquired over the years I would be incomprehensible to most of my audience.
English is the language that is shared by most members of this forum and if a multilingual member posts in the cultural forum I am certain that they do this in the knowledge that they are not speaking to monolingual English speakers so I am therefore not interested in something that is not being said to me or for my benefit.

.,,


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## GEmatt

Nun-Translator said:


> I would be happy to see more CD threads in languages other than English, both to facilitate things for people who have trouble expressing themselves in English and to challenge (and, I hope, improve) my "other language" skills.


Couldn't agree more with the good Sister. I'm glad there are threads with other languages here, and multilingual threads; I'm not as hopeful that they'll improve my other language skills, but I hope they'll prevent them from decaying too quickly!


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## Lombard Beige

Outsider said:


> ... My answer to people who are unable to read a post because they don't know the language is "Read another one". There are certainly plenty of others written in English!
> 
> I think that demanding English will only discourage people from contributing. ...



I agree with Outsider. I wouldn't object to seeing threads in Chinese, etc. I would assume they are discussing topics that are more relevant to Chinese speakers (and people learning Chinese) than to other people. Like a thread in Italian on the terminology of Italian card games, or a thread in French on the fine points of the game of Pétanque, or in Portuguese on the latest trends in Portuguese bull-fighting (right, Outsider?). 

They are probably subjects of very limited interest to people who don't speak (or who are not learning) the language.

regards


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## DearPrudence

Désolée, je ne sais pas si je me suis bien exprimée. Après tout, c'est vrai que l'on peut sauter les posts que l'on ne comprend pas : quel est le problème ?


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## ampurdan

DearPrudence said:


> ... (but I guess not everybody understands English perfectly either  ) ...


 
Bingo! Let everyone contribute in the language they please. Not all monolinguals are English-speakers, and not every bilingual has English as one of her or his languages.

I dare say that everyone who is able to register and type some words here is clever enough to be aware of the effects of their language choice on communication.


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## Outsider

DearPrudence said:


> Hello
> Outsider, for what I've seen you can understand many many languages but it's not the case of everyone. I think the CD is a forum of discussion. What's the point if everyone speaks a different language?


I'm going to reply to your kind remark, because I think it's pertinent to this topic.

I don't really understand many languages. I can read, in increasing order of difficulty:

1. Portuguese
2. English
3. Spanish
4. French

That's it, really. I can decode a little Italian and a little Catalan, but not read them fluently. (I may give the wrong impression because I do know a lot of trivia and little facts about other languages. )

I have to admit that when the thread is not in one of the first two languages my eyes sometimes glaze over, because the effort I have to make in order to understand is greater. Nevertheless, I have read some very interesting discussions in Spanish, French, and even Italian here in the CD forum. And they were not interesting because they concerned French or Italian issues specifically, but because I could relate to the discussions that people were having.

While many people can use English, it's very difficult to be as fluent in a foreign language as we are in a native language. In my opinion, there's no substitute for hearing what people have to say about a topic in their own language.


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## Thomsen

Just as a suggestion.  Maybe people who were worried that their post would be ignored could post a short summary of it in English or another language right below it.

I know what you mean Prudence.  The Romance language connection can be misleading.  I can usually muddle through Portuguese, Italian, or French, but I would never count on being able to grasp any nuances or even reply in those languages.


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## El Torero

agreed
Gdybyśmy wszyscy pisali pod spodem po angielsku to co wcześniej napisaliśmy np po polsku, byłby i wilk syty i owca cała*

*if we all wrote a summary of what we've just written e.g in Polish everyone would be happy:]
If it was that way, I'd feel somewhat more comfortable knowing that I'm not being cursed at.


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Lombard Beige said:


> I agree with Outsider. I wouldn't object to seeing threads in Chinese, etc. _*I would assume they are discussing topics that are more relevant to Chinese speakers (and people learning Chinese) than to other people. *_Like a thread in Italian on the terminology of Italian card games, or a thread in French on the fine points of the game of Pétanque, or in Portuguese on the latest trends in Portuguese bull-fighting (right, Outsider?).
> 
> They are probably subjects of very limited interest to people who don't speak (or who are not learning) the language.
> 
> regards


I agree.  Why should a thread on Latin American government trends, for example, be posted in swahili?

The most logical thing is that threads are posted in a language that encourages people familiar with the topic to keep on reading/posting...


Outsider said:


> (...) Nevertheless, I have read some very interesting discussions in Spanish, French, and even Italian here in the CD forum. And they were not interesting because they concerned French or Italian issues specifically, *but because I could relate to the discussions that people were having.*
> 
> While many people can use English, it's very difficult to be as fluent in a foreign language as we are in a native language. In my opinion, there's no substitute for hearing what people have to say about a topic in their own language.


About what I highlighted (if you allow me to, Outsider...  ) is quite logical. Back into my example above: for example, Brazil is part of the continent. It would also be logical that a certain number of Brazilian foreros can relate to the topic. I don't understand a word of Portuguese, but would it be right to ban the language off the thread, because of that? No... Perhaps common sense would tell us that it would be nice if our Brazilian friends could post in both languages, the predominating one, and his native one, so everyone's happy...


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## Kajjo

Personally, I would prefer that threads which started in English, stay in English. I do not see a point in changing the language to another one, which is most certainly understood by less people and also most certainly not understood by all people that already contributed the thread. I regard it as pretty unpolite to be obviously able to follow the English thread and deciding to contribute in a third language anyway. Why should I do so? I have no idea whatsoever, why I should wish to write my ideas to an English thread in German. 

Secondly, I agree that not every _thread_ has to be in English. This is a free forum and there might be threads and issues that are preferred to be conducted in another language.

Thirdly, I enjoy that there is no strict "English-Only" rule, because it enables us to much more freely cite whatever sources in whatever languages we desire. If the thread makes it sensible to do so, we can compare languages, idioms, phrases and so on.

Kajjo


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## Outsider

Kajjo said:


> I regard it as pretty unpolite to be obviously able to follow the English thread and deciding to contribute in a third language anyway. Why should I do so? I have no idea whatsoever, why I should wish to write my ideas to an English thread in German.


Reading and writing are different cognitive skills. Some people can manage the former, but not the latter.


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## Kajjo

Outsider said:


> Reading and writing are different cognitive skills. Some people can manage the former, but not the latter.


Yes, but usually if I say something I want to be understood. If I would reply in German to an English thread, I would expect a very low rate of replies to my contribution. 

Kajjo


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## agliagli

Outsider said:


> Reading and writing are different cognitive skills. Some people can manage the former, but not the latter.


 
Well, yes. And I feel concerned with this issue. But wouldn't be a good opportunity to learn? Moreover, I think there are plenty of other forums in one language (in French, German, Italian, etc.) discussing very interesting issues on any subject you like. Yes, of course, the participants will most probably not be as patient as in this forum, and would not make the effort to sort out what you or I would be trying to say. 

Therefore, I would suggest to make sub-sections under each language that figures here: namely the français seulement, solo italiano, etc. until the other languages. I don't know about the last section. Maybe more languages could be added, but this is to the administration of this forum to decide what they think to be the most relevent...

However, if the French forum has its own little "cultural forum" in French, the Italian section its own, etc. there is something else to be feared: the tribal effect... or the adverse effect: the big chatroom. 

Any other suggestions?


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## DearPrudence

Kajjo said:


> Yes, but usually if I say something I want to be understood. If I would reply in German to an English thread, I would expect a very low rate of replies to my contribution.
> 
> Kajjo


Don't worry, they will just skip what you've said


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## Outsider

Kajjo said:


> Yes, but usually if I say something I want to be understood. If I would reply in German to an English thread, I would expect a very low rate of replies to my contribution.
> 
> Kajjo


I think the context is important, and perhaps I should say more about it. 

In the particular thread that led me to start this one, one of the posters who was participating the most is a Spanish speaker, even though she was using English in her replies. I think the other poster, who wrote in Spanish, saw that some Spanish speakers were replying to the thread, and figured at least they would understand her reply.

In other cases, there were threads which were started in a language other than English, and threads that were about a certain country or culture or region, which led people from that country/culture/region to reply, sometimes using their language. I assume it's the one they were most comfortable with.

I also think that multilingual threads can be a good challenge for those who happen to be learning the foreign language, even if they just read.


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## .   1

agliagli said:


> Any other suggestions?


If it ain't broke don't fix it.

.,,


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## TRG

I only found this forum because I started studying French. Lately I've been spending too much time in ridiculous arguments and not enough time studying French. Too bad . Clearly people should be able to post in any language they want, but if you want the biggest audience, I suppose English is the best choice. It's up to you.


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## _forumuser_

My two cents:

If one can, then s/he should try to write in English because it is understood by the majority of foreros. But if they feel their English is in any way an impediment to the full and clear exposition of their ideas then they should be allowed to express themselves in the language they feel most comfortable with, and maybe give a summary or ask more proficient speakers to translate.


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## Kelly B

I'm satisfied with the way it is. We are welcome to post here (edit: in Cultural Discussions) in whatever language we choose, with the understanding that this choice will limit the number of people who read the posts. If a post or thread is written in a language that few of us speak, it probably won't get as much attention. That's a reasonable tradeoff, in my opinion, for flexibility of expression.

I've resorted to on-line machine translators once in a while, if I'm intensely curious to find out what somebody said. The output is a mess, but it's often sufficient to get the general idea, when I'm trying to follow the flow of conversation. I generally assume that the original was a little more eloquent.


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## _forumuser_

Kelly B said:


> I'm satisfied with the way it is. We are welcome to post here in whatever language we choose, with the understanding that this choice will limit.


 
Hi Kelly, 
The thread was started because occasionally users have urged other users to refrain from posting in languages other than English. 

EDIT: Sorry: I was referring to the quote in the opening post. I assumed it was by a mod!! I humbly apologize!!


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## Lombard Beige

agliagli said:


> ... I would suggest to make sub-sections under each language that figures here: namely the français seulement, solo italiano, etc. until the other languages. ... Any other suggestions?



Possibly, in the long term, this is the solution. There could be TWO English-language cultural sections, one for topics of interest mainly to the English-speaking community, but of course open to everyone, and one dedicated to INTERNATIONAL topics, in which English performs its international role. 

regards


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## Nunty

Lombard Beige said:


> Possibly, in the long term, this is the solution. There could be TWO English-language cultural sections, one for topics of interest mainly to the English-speaking community, but of course open to everyone, and one dedicated to INTERNATIONAL topics, in which English performs its international role.
> 
> regards


Oh for heaven's sake. Do we really need more division in the world? 

I appreciate your good intentions here, Lombard Beige, but what would it serve to have a cultural section "for topics of interest mainly to the English-speaking community, but of course open to everyone" and another that is for the rest of us but, I presume, also open to English speakers and which would still be in English?

To repeat myself, there is no reason in the world to limit cultural discussion to English, and I am glad it is not so limited at this time. If I don't understand the language of a post, I skip it. If I am dying of curiosity I ask a friend for a summary translation. What's the problem with that?

As our esteemed colleague the Lord of Punctuation put it: "If it works, don't fix it."


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## roxcyn

Yes, there can be other languages in these discussions.


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## agliagli

. said:


> If it ain't broke don't fix it.
> 
> .,,


En français, s'il vous plaît?  

I'm not sure I understand what the "it" refers to, the "ain't" and the "broke" mean. Is it a way to say that I need to bite my tongue and express myself in French or in...中文  (non, laissez tomber...)?  

Dans ce cas, il n'y aurait pas de problèmes... je trouve simplement que cela risque de créer davantage de mécompréhensions au sein d'un même fil de discussion. On peut, bien évidemment ne pas prêter attention à un post, mais comme l'a fait remarquer DearPrudence, s'il n'y a qu' un quart des posts que je comprends... je ne sais pas si cela tournerait en polyphonie ou en cacophonie, pour reprendre les termes de ce cher Bakhtin... 

Bien à vous.


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## cas29

Personally I think the more rules you make, the harder it is to keep them.
I've always found that asking for a summary or explanation of a post I don't understand (in any forum here!) has been met with graciously.

My first language is English, my second was French, which has been superceded by Italian in recent years. --- I can read French threads, and with Spanish I can more or less get the gist. 

Putting myself in the shoes of someone who's first language is Spanish -- I'd be really ticked if there was a rule that only English could be used in a Cultural discussion forum. Still in those imaginary shoes, I can see myself struggling to understand the discussion, enjoying it, and just dying to leap in with my 2 cents - but were this rule to exist, I would also be frustrated knowing I was not able participate as I would like, in English.

On the otherhand, as things stand, I could post in Spanish, participate and acknowledge that not everyone would understand, but that some would.

This happens all the time in discussions in other forums - Threads start in one language, switch to another so the writer can be more articulate, sometimes one post will be in 2 languages.
What is the problem?

I would be very disapponted at any rule enforcing monoligualism in any forum. I consider the challenge of making the effort to understand a ost in an unfamiliar language both educational and....... FUN!


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## ampurdan

agliagli said:


> En français, s'il vous plaît?
> 
> I'm not sure I understand what the "it" refers to, the "ain't" and the "broke" mean. Is it a way to say that I need to bite my tongue and express myself in French or in...中文  (non, laissez tomber...)?
> 
> Dans ce cas, il n'y aurait pas de problèmes... je trouve simplement que cela risque de créer davantage de mécompréhensions au sein d'un même fil de discussion. On peut, bien évidemment ne pas prêter attention à un post, mais comme l'a fait remarquer DearPrudence, s'il n'y a qu' un quart des posts que je comprends... je ne sais pas si cela tournerait en polyphonie ou en cacophonie, pour reprendre les termes de ce cher Bakhtin...
> 
> Bien à vous.


 
C'est bizare quand même, d'avoir un site linguistique où l'on ne peut s'exprimer qu'en anglais.


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## Lombard Beige

Nun-Translator said:


> I appreciate your good intentions here, Lombard Beige, but what would it serve to have a cultural section "for topics of interest mainly to the English-speaking community, but of course open to everyone" and another that is for the rest of us but, I presume, also open to English speakers and which would still be in English? ...



Thank you for your kind remarks. You are right, but, by analogy with Italian card games, French pétanque and Portuguese bullfighting, I was thinking of something that mostly interests speakers of a particular language. 

However, given its international role, this probably doesn't apply to English. In fact, I find it hard to think of something that interests only (or all) English speakers. For example, the terminology of "scone making" (also interests Anglophiles), haggis recipes (also interest Gaelic speakers),  baseball (also interests Cubans, etc.), cricket (also interests South Asians, etc.). So , in fact you are right, at least as far as English is concerned.

regards


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## elroy

Lombard Beige said:


> Thank you for your kind remarks. You are right, but, by analogy with Italian card games, French pétanque and Portuguese bullfighting, I was thinking of something that mostly interests speakers of a particular language.


 Putting aside my difficulty to comprehend the precise correlation between certain issues and the native language of those interested in them - the current CD forum already serves as a venue for such discussions, since discussions can already be conducted in French only, Spanish only, or Finnish only. I fail to see what the point would be of introducing a new forum specifically for such discussions (again, completely ignoring the challenge of identifying such discussions).

In other words, to put it rhetorically, what's the problem with having just one forum in which discussions can be conducted monolingually in any language or multilingually in any language combination?


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## agliagli

ampurdan said:


> C'est bizare quand même, d'avoir un site linguistique où l'on ne peut s'exprimer qu'en anglais.


 
First of all, I would like to appologise to the Spanish-speaking community, because this was not intended to offend them. I was just thinking in a more "pragmatical" way. But if mixing several different languages under one thread works, why not?  

What I originally meant in my own mother tongue was:

Tout d'abord, j'aimerais présenter mes excuses à la communauté de langue espagnole car mon intention n'était pas de les blesser. Je voyais la chose de manière plus pragmatique. Cela me semblait plus facile à l'oral, lors de grandes réunions internationales, et plus difficile à l'écrit...Mais si mélanger plusieurs langues dans un même fil de discussion marche, pourquoi pas? 

Addition I can't say in English: je trouvais seulement que cela créait une certaine rupture dans mon message à l'écrit et que cela le rendrait encore moins intelligible. A l'oral, lorsque vous avez des interprètes simultanés, c'est chose plus facile qu'à l'écrit: vous pouvez respecter toutes les langues que vous voulez... 

But if you think there won't be any problems, I'll agree to take the challenge...why not?


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## Lombard Beige

elroy said:


> ... the current CD forum already serves as a venue for such discussions, since discussions can already be conducted in French only, Spanish only, or Finnish only.  I fail to see what the point would be of introducing a new forum specifically for such discussions ....
> 
> In other words, to put it rhetorically, what's the problem with having just one forum in which discussions can be conducted monolingually in any language or multilingually in any language combination?



Nothing at all. My concern was not to break the rules by discussing cultural subjects for example in the Spanish only section, etc. Aren't these setions  supposed to be used just for language-related questions? 

Otherwise, no problem. For me personally, I think the general cultural section could be used multilingually in any language combination, but, as someone said, I think it should be internally consistent AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, i.e. if the thread is in English, answer in English with possible quotations, etc. in other languages, in Spanish the same, in Chinese the same, and so on.

regards


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## elroy

Lombard Beige said:


> Nothing at all. My concern was not to break the rules by discussing cultural subjects for example in the Spanish only section, etc. Aren't these setions supposed to be used just for language-related questions?


 Yes, but we don't currently have a problem with too many cultural threads in the language forums.


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## Nunty

Lombard Beige said:


> Nothing at all. My concern was not to break the rules by discussing cultural subjects for example in the Spanish only section, etc. Aren't these setions  supposed to be used just for language-related questions?
> 
> Otherwise, no problem. For me personally, I think the general cultural section could be used multilingually in any language combination, but, as someone said, I think it should be internally consistent AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, i.e. if the thread is in English, answer in English with possible quotations, etc. in other languages, in Spanish the same, in Chinese the same, and so on.
> 
> regards


I don't know. "Internal consistency" means staying on topic as far as I'm concerned. If I can express myself better in another language, why shouldn't I? I don't know what languages you speak, or why this is so important to you, but I think it would be more than a bit odd in an international, multi-lingual forum that deals with language and language learning to insist on one language per thread in the Cultural Discussions forum. Frankly, there are enough rules and guidelines around here that are ignored. Why add another that will be ignored?


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## ireney

Κοιτάχτε, ο καθένας μπορεί να γράφει σε όποια γλώσσα θέλει αν και αυτό μπορεί να προκαλέσει άλλου είδους προβλήματα. Υπάρχουν ήδη θέματα, μονόγλωσσα, σε άλλες γλώσσες, κυρίως δε την Ισπανική.

Αν δεν ενδιαφέρεσαι αν θα καταλάβει κάποιος το μήνυμά σου, μπορείς άνετα να το γράψεις στη μητρική σου γλώσσα.

Στο παρελθόν έχω ζητήσει να γράφουν στα αγγλικά όταν η όλη συζήτηση είναι στα αγγλικά και πολλά μέλη μου έκαναν τη χάρη.

Άλλοι δεν το κάνουν. Δεν μπορώ να πω ότι κάτι τέτοιο μου αρέσει όταν παρακολουθώ μια συζήτηση αλλά δεν θα μου άρεσε καθόλου να είναι υποχρεωτικό να δημοσιεύτει κανείς τα μηνύματά του στη γλώσσα του πρώτου μηνύματος στο συγκεκριμένο θέμα/ενότητα.

:d


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## Jana337

ireney said:


> Κοιτάχτε, ο καθένας μπορεί να γράφει σε όποια γλώσσα θέλει αν και αυτό μπορεί να προκαλέσει άλλου είδους προβλήματα. Υπάρχουν ήδη θέματα, μονόγλωσσα, σε άλλες γλώσσες, κυρίως δε την Ισπανική.
> 
> Αν δεν ενδιαφέρεσαι αν θα καταλάβει κάποιος το μήνυμά σου, μπορείς άνετα να το γράψεις στη μητρική σου γλώσσα.
> 
> Στο παρελθόν έχω ζητήσει να γράφουν στα αγγλικά όταν η όλη συζήτηση είναι στα αγγλικά και πολλά μέλη μου έκαναν τη χάρη.
> 
> Άλλοι δεν το κάνουν. Δεν μπορώ να πω ότι κάτι τέτοιο μου αρέσει όταν παρακολουθώ μια συζήτηση αλλά δεν θα μου άρεσε καθόλου να είναι υποχρεωτικό να δημοσιεύτει κανείς τα μηνύματά του στη γλώσσα του πρώτου μηνύματος στο συγκεκριμένο θέμα/ενότητα.
> 
> :d


I second the motion!

Nevím, proč bychom měli omezovat jazykovou pestrost kulturního fóra. Kdo nerozumí, může ostatní slušně požádat o stručný překlad. Samozřejmě je vhodné snažit se, aby ten, kdo diskuzi začal, byl schopen rozumět. Těším se na to, až vznikne první německé vlákno. 

Jana


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## elroy

أنا برأيي عم نعمل من الحبة قبة.  هيك هيك بكتبوا الناس أكترية الوقت بالإنجليزي لمجرد إنه هاي طريقة عملية ومنطقية، بس هذا بعنيش إنه لازم يصير قانون.  بتخيل إنه إذا التقينا كلنا يوم من الأيام، إذا عملنا شي حفلة لوورد ريفيرينس ببيت مايك مثلاً (منيح إللي معظمكم مش راح تفهموا إللي عم بقوله!) كمان راح نحكي معظم الوقت بالإنجليزي، بس إذا اثنين أعضاء فرنسوية حبوا يدردشولهم شوي بلغتهم شو المانع؟  إللي بفهمش عليهم يلقيله شغلة تانية.  مش راح يصير إشي إذا ما قدرناش كلنا نفهم عبعض كل الوقت!
​


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## _forumuser_

What are all these weird symbols? My browser must not be working properly...


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## cas29

Well, I just found out that bablefish is ok for Greek, but doesn't do Polish or Arabic....... 

I *still *think there should not be any English only rules!


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## Lombard Beige

_forumuser_ said:


> What are all these weird symbols? My brower must not be working properly...



No these messages simply demonstrate that only people who can read Greek, Czech and Arabic can read these messages. For me, that's no problem. I can read all three, but I can't understand them 

Seriously, if there are no space constraints, why not?

For Nun-Translator:

Going back to internal consistency, again, personally, it doesn't bother me, but, talking about the same thing, for example haggis recipes, I would assume that it's better to use the same language with a degree of latitude for quotations etc.

regards


----------



## elroy

cas29 said:


> Well, I just found out that bablefish is ok for Greek, but doesn't do *Polish* or Arabic.......


Join Date: Jan 2005
Native of: Česká republika (čeština)
Posts: 12,386


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## Jana337

cas29 said:


> Well, I just found out that bablefish is ok for Greek, but doesn't do Polish or Arabic.......


Please Czech my profile.


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## cas29

Jana337 said:


> Please Czech my profile.


 
Sorry sorry sorry !!!  I know that you are Czech !!!!  I goofed!!!


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## RIU

Hi, 

I think that humans are altruist whith our own genes, including more altruist with our children and grandchildren than parents and grandparents. It means that we are racists with the rest of people. But at the sometimes we are altruist with who has our own problems -health, job, etc. This is our genetical predisposition. 

I'm sure that all of us know people who is really altruist with others. And I'm sure again that these people must have a high level of culture -one appointment: culture is not studies, but at the sometimes studies help culture.

It seems that if we want a better word, if we want to be of some help, we need more and more and more culture. The culture is the only way to have a better word. Then, why we want to cut one source of exchange of culture?

_I wish you accept my apologize for destroy english grammar, I supose that around 3015 I will write correctly_.


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## Vanda

Também acho que as pessoas podem usar qualquer língua aqui. Tem a ver com a "democracia lingüística", uma vez que este fórum é cultural. 
O problema, contudo, foi muito bem exemplificado pelos _posts _da Ireney, da Jana e do Elroy que usaram línguas não acessíveis a muitos dos foreros que freqüentam estes fóruns, sendo eu uma das que não entederam patavinas! Na verdade, gostaria de saber o que eles escreveram. Caso fosse uma discussão cultural que eu estivesse seguindo, teria ficado perdida e me sentido excluída.
O uso do inglês e/ou espanhol vai bem com o perfil que temos aqui, uma vez que a maioria conhece as duas, pelo menos para se fazer entender. A escolha é pessoal, acho. Caso eu queira englobar um número maior de foreros participantes na discussão, optarei por aquela língua que beneficie a maioria, o que irá enriquecer nossa discussão e não limitá-la. Contudo esta escolha tem a ver com meu modo de pensar, porque  gosto de partilhar e incluir outros num assunto que é do meu interesse.
Quanto ao resto dos argumentos, acho que já foi muito bem dito por outros foreros acima. I rest my case!


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## Chaska Ñawi

I am more than happy with our polyglot discussions the way they are.  Although English is generally the lingua franca of the Cultural forum, it enriches me (and stretches my mind) to read posts in other languages.  I would also rather read a fluent post in Spanish or French and be fairly certain that I understood the idea, than to read a post in English where the person is unable to express himself clearly.

I like it best of all when people post in one language and then provide a translation.


----------



## Setwale_Charm

Kajjo said:


> Personally, I would prefer that threads which started in English, stay in English. I do not see a point in changing the language to another one, which is most certainly understood by less people and also most certainly not understood by all people that already contributed the thread. I regard it as pretty unpolite to be obviously able to follow the English thread and deciding to contribute in a third language anyway. Why should I do so? I have no idea whatsoever, why I should wish to write my ideas to an English thread in German.
> 
> Secondly, I agree that not every _thread_ has to be in English. This is a free forum and there might be threads and issues that are preferred to be conducted in another language.
> 
> Thirdly, I enjoy that there is no strict "English-Only" rule, because it enables us to much more freely cite whatever sources in whatever languages we desire. If the thread makes it sensible to do so, we can compare languages, idioms, phrases and so on.
> 
> Kajjo


 
 I agree here. There can be threads in any language but once you have 80% of the discussion in one language and occasional posts are in a different language, it turns into two separate discussions of different groups of foreros. That`s what I meant when I suggested to afabafa that she and I do not start our own little discussion within another thread. You, Outsider, completely misunderstood the context, I`m afraid .


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## Lombard Beige

Chaska Ñawi said:


> I like it best of all when people post in one language and then provide a translation.



Providing a translation involves two problems:

1) For those of us who are translators, and I think there are quite a few of us out there, it means more WORK ... 

2) In some cases, a translation is not so simple. Sometimes the content is very difficult to render in another language, so more WORK, and sometimes the point of view is "lost in translation". Perhaps instead of a translation, a short abstract would suffice? 

Example, we are now discussing in Gaelic which kind of sheep have the best stomachs for making haggis. (I insist with the haggis example, as it is one of the few truly local interest topics that I can think of in English).

regards


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## Outsider

Setwale_Charm said:


> I agree here. There can be threads in any language but once you have 80% of the discussion in one language and occasional posts are in a different language, it turns into two separate discussions of different groups of foreros. That`s what I meant when I suggested to afabafa that she and I do not start our own little discussion within another thread. You, Outsider, completely misunderstood the context, I`m afraid .


Alright, but at least my misunderstanding led to an interesting discussion. 

About translation, a while ago someone suggested that all posts in the Slavic languages forum be translated into English. People tried it for a while, but it seems they soon gave up. It's just too much hard work, intellectually, to say the same thing twice, in two languages! And if you aren't comfortable in English to begin with, what good will trying to translate do?


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## Nunty

Lombard Beige said:


> Providing a translation involves two problems:
> 
> 1) For those of us who are translators, and I think there are quite a few of us out there, it means more WORK ...


You have made your position so very clear that it is hard to imagine that anyone will ask you for a translation. You're safe. 



> 2) In some cases, a translation is not so simple. Sometimes the content is very difficult to render in another language, so more WORK, and sometimes the point of view is "lost in translation". Perhaps instead of a translation, a short abstract would suffice?


No one (except perhaps you, forgive me if I am mistaken) is trying to legislate here. Most people seem to be quite comfortable with the current polyglot format.



> Example, we are now discussing in Gaelic which kind of sheep have the best stomachs for making haggis. (I insist with the haggis example, as it is one of the few truly local interest topics that I can think of in English).


English or Gaelic, LB? Please be consistent. 
In the interest of scientific method, I suggest you open a thread on haggis recipes and their ingredients and see how long it stays open.

כשהוא אומר עקביות פנימית, למה הוא מתכוון? והמבין יבין. ​


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## Lombard Beige

Nun-Translator said:


> No one (except perhaps you, forgive me if I am mistaken) is trying to legislate here.



No, I don't want to do that, it's simply that I'm a bit worried about the rules. For example, it's easy to slip into forbidden areas such as research and discussions about music and TV, etc.

Re Haggis
Well here we have a problem. I assume that few people outside of Scotland (perhaps also Nova Scotia) are interested in haggis. But there is a language problem: all Scots are supposed to be interested in haggis, but not all Scots speak Gaelic nor even Scots, so the discussion would probably be in English, but, as you suggest, I don't think it would be very interesting for other forer@s.

regards


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Lombard Beige said:


> (...)as you suggest, I don't think it would be very interesting for other forer@s.


I don't think that's what sister Claire was suggesting... But, shall any of us open a thread on food, no matter how appealing to the tongue, pleasant to the stomach or interesting to the foreros, write it, it won't last long. _(Hint: it has something to do with the rules...)_

Except for the "chicharrones" thread, perhaps... 

*EDIT: Yes, I know... I didn't add a dime to the thread topic... Let's do so, then.*

I believe having several languages in a thread is fun, really adds some color to the discussion, and as some others have said already, it provides a chance to practice other languages. By the way, I'm grateful with agliagli, DearPrudence and Ampurdan, since they forced my brain to think in French for a couple of minutes, which I hadn't done in a couple of days... 

On the other hand, I didn't understand Elroy's post, nor Ireney's, nor Jana's (and what did you say in the end of your post, sister?). That means, their contributions were perhaps interesting to some foreros who might be reading the thread, but personally I have no idea what on earth they're saying! In fact, *most of the readers* would have no clue... I agree with El Torero, it's nice to know you're not being made fun of, at least...


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## karuna

But on the other hand, if forers write in other languages and the moderators are not able to read it, how they are able to moderate properly? Maybe the separation of CD per language is not that bad idea after all.


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## Jana337

karuna said:


> But on the other hand, if forers write in other languages and the moderators are not able to read it, how they are able to moderate properly? Maybe the separation of CD per language is not that bad idea after all.


Don't worry; they can rely on the support of the rest of the team. 
¡No Pasarán!

Jana


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## ampurdan

agliagli said:


> Tout d'abord, j'aimerais présenter mes excuses à la communauté de langue espagnole car mon intention n'était pas de les blesser. Je voyais la chose de manière plus pragmatique.



 Je ne vois aucune raison pour qu'on puisse prendre mal vos propos. 



agliagli said:


> Addition I can't say in English: je trouvais seulement que cela créait une certaine rupture dans mon message à l'écrit et que cela le rendrait encore moins intelligible. A l'oral, lorsque vous avez des interprètes simultanés, c'est chose plus facile qu'à l'écrit: vous pouvez respecter toutes les langues que vous voulez...
> 
> But if you think there won't be any problems, I'll agree to take the challenge...why not?


 
Of course, freedom of language can theoretically raise some problems of comprehension, but I'd rather have these problems than have anyone deterred from contributing because of language. Anyway, so far we're faring quite well, aren't we?


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## jess oh seven

we should communicate using signs, diagrams and pictures


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## Lombard Beige

In Italia e in Spagna il doppiaggio dei film è fatto molto bene e, anche per questo motivo, in Portogallo, dove i film non vengono doppiati, la gente conosce meglio l'inglese.

In Italy and Spain films are dubbed very well, and this is one of the reasons why, in Portugal, where films are not dubbed, people know English better.

This is an example of a bilingual message, which, as somebody said, requires twice the effort, but I 'm also talking about the cultural consequences of dubbing films. I assume that this doesn't come under the restriction on discussing films, which would be "Did you like the film "ABC", right?

regards


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## jess oh seven

Lombard Beige said:


> In Italia e in Spagna il doppiaggio dei film è fatto molto bene e, anche per questo motivo, in Portogallo, dove i film non vengono doppiati, la gente conosce meglio l'inglese.
> 
> In Italy and Spain films are dubbed very well, and this is one of the reasons why, in Portugal, where films are not dubbed, people know English better.
> 
> This is an example of a bilingual message, which, as somebody said, requires twice the effort, but I 'm also talking about the cultural consequences of dubbing films. I assume that this doesn't come under the restriction on discussing films, which would be "Did you like the film "ABC", right?
> 
> regards


 
Yet in Germany they dub their foreign film and TV and their knowledge of English is phenomenal... could it be because they start learning from an earlier age? Or because there are more linguistic similarities between German and English than Spanish or Italian and English?

This dubbing/subtitling debacle in relation to language is the topic of my dissertation, which I'm writing as we speak. I find it fascinating...


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## ireney

Mod note: Use the search function and find the appopriate thread(s) for discussing dubbing. This thread's title and topic of discussion is "*Should the Cultural Discussions forum be English-only*?"


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## .   1

agliagli said:


> I'm not sure I understand what the "it" refers to, the "ain't" and the "broke" mean. Is it a way to say that I need to bite my tongue and express myself in French or in...中文  (non, laissez tomber...)?


This is an English idiom.  It is always said the same way.  We all know that semantically it is null but I will translate.
In this case; 'it' is the Cultural Forum, 'ain't' means is not, broke really should be written as broken and 'don't' introduces the double negative resulting in a positive.

So in this case, 
If it ain't broke don't fix it is directly translated as;

If the forum is operating efficiently in the current form there is no requirement to repair or change it.

In general terms the saying means that you should not interfere in a system that is working well or you might spoil it.

It is an other idiomatic way of paraphrasing Shakespeare's immortal and often misquoted,
Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp, 
To guard a title that was rich before, 
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 
To throw a perfume on the violet, 
To smooth the ice, or add another hue 
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light 
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, 
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess...

.,,


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## francophone

English is very common and it's easier to communicate using it, but some can have trouble expressing themselves or constructing long phrases or paragraphs. I think it's unfair, it's not an only English forums, it's about languages and communication, there shouldn't be obstacles.

But I find it hard to have multiple languages in a single thread, in addition to French, English, Italian, Arabic, I can understand Spanish and can make myself read Portughese(but it hurts my eyes), but I'd be extreemly annoyed by not being able to understand what another member tried to share.


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## .   1

francophone said:


> ...but I'd be extreemly annoyed by not being able to understand what another member tried to share.


I can not understand some posts in English and wish that were the case with others.
Taking a more serious approach.
If someone wants to write something that they want me to understand they must write in English but that does not mean that I am even remotely interested in a rule change here.  I am gleaning a little from here but there are quite a rew threads that start and finish with not one English word exchanged.  The facility alrready exists for a different language thread to be started at any time within this forum.  Threads with English titles draw my attention and threads with Spanish titles draw people who speak Spanish.

I would be horrified were this Cultural Forum to become English only and I will do everything I can to convince the powers that be to leave well enough alone.

There is an equality and fraternity engendered by the multilingual nature of the forum that would evaporate the moment the language police stomped in. I know that if this was a multilingual forum in a Spanish site that suddenly required Spanish only I'd be off like a prawn in the sun.

I have read this thread pretty closely and I am able to locate only one person who is advocating the rule change and it is a vicarious advocation as the thread poster appears to be polylingual.

I hope that this thread remains valuable as an interesting excuse for a full and frank exchange of ideas and not as an agent for unnecessary change.

.,,


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## John-Paul

Si. Il lingue en "Arrrgumentacion Culltrrall" en Inglesa. Por favor!


----------



## Mate

karuna said:


> Actually I like that some foreros write in Spanish as it gives me a chance to practice my Spanish. I understand that not everybody wants to learn Spanish but since we all here are language lovers there is no need to require to use only English. I guess that Spanish writing foreros are already aware that not everybody will be able to read their postings and have chosen to write in Spanish anyway.


Dear karuna, it is not always a matter of choice, as Rayines said in post #3: _"...but most of times I "skip" it because of the effort that would represent for me to express some thoughts in English..." _

Regards - Mate


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## winklepicker

Should this forum be English-only?
Nyet. Non. Nein. Não. 
 αριθ. 
いいえ


----------



## Bonjules

Mateamargo said:


> Dear karuna, it is not always a matter of choice, as Rayines said in post #3: _"...but most of times I "skip" it because of the effort that would represent for me to express some thoughts in English..." _
> 
> Regards - Mate


Clearly, there are frequently thoughts and images which a particular idiom expresses better than any other. For this reason alone this should not only remain multilingual; 
participants should be encouraged MORE to contribute
those expressions - with short explanations if necessary.
Everyone would benefit tremendously and it might stimulate those who so far have not made a great effort...
That said, I find (judging from my limited experience in
other languages) that on the whole English is just amazingly varied, colorful and precise - and it is not my native tongue, as you know-, more so than any other idiom I know. It might be for that reason more than any other that it is becoming the 'world language' and that most see it as the 'natural choice'.
saludos


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## Rayines

winklepicker said:


> Should this forum be English-only?
> Nyet. Non. Nein. Não.
> αριθ.
> いいえ


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Bonjules, I really liked your post.

I must say that my experience in other languages is also limited, but I agree with English being a very precise and expressive language, which is constantly evolving and adding up new colors to its already rich palette. (Have you ever tried to translate words like "trainspotting", "boicotted", "hi-jacked", "logging in", "posting", or similars, without using anglicisms? Really hard!)

However, I insist: these three posts are more or less what I think about the matter. 

Para ahorrarles la lectura, diría: Que cada quien abra su corazón y exprese todas las cosas que un segundo o tercer idioma no le permita (o sea, que escriba lo que le de su regalada gana en el idioma que le de la gana  ), pero por favor, tengamos presente que no todos hablamos italiano, griego, finlandés ni sueco, y la mayoría tenemos el inglés como lenguaje común. ¿Por qué no escribirlo en ambos idiomas, entonces? O si les parece demasiado trabajo reformular la misma información dos veces (y tienen razón), cuando menos, añadamos una pequeña síntesis en inglés, adicional al post completo, rico y expresivo en su idioma nativo... 

For those who don't speak Spanish, I'm trying to say that it would be nice if we posted something like an English summary of whatever we decide to write in our native tongues. That way we could express everything we really mean in the language we feel more comfortable with, but we would also be polite and not make anyone feel excluded, I think...


----------



## Rayines

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Bonjules, I really liked your post.
> 
> I must say that my experience in other languages is also limited, but I agree with English being a very precise and expressive language, which is constantly evolving and adding up new colors to its already rich palette. (Have you ever tried to translate words like "trainspotting", "boicotted", "hi-jacked", "logging in", "posting", or similars, without using anglicisms? Really hard!)
> 
> However, I insist: these three posts are more or less what I think about the matter.
> 
> Para ahorrarles la lectura, diría: Que cada quien abra su corazón y exprese todas las cosas que un segundo o tercer idioma no le permita (o sea, que escriba lo que le de su regalada gana en el idioma que le de la gana  ), pero por favor, tengamos presente que no todos hablamos italiano, griego, finlandés ni sueco, y la mayoría tenemos el inglés como lenguaje común. ¿Por qué no escribirlo en ambos idiomas, entonces? O si les parece demasiado trabajo reformular la misma información dos veces (y tienen razón), cuando menos, añadamos una pequeña síntesis en inglés, adicional al post completo, rico y expresivo en su idioma nativo...
> 
> For those who don't speak Spanish, I'm trying to say that it would be nice if we posted something like an English summary of whatever we decide to write in our native tongues. That way we could express everything we really mean in the language we feel more comfortable with, but we would also be polite and not make anyone feel excluded, I think...


Está perfectamente claro que el foro cultural deberá seguir siendo en inglés.


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Rayines said:


> Está perfectamente claro que el foro cultural deberá seguir siendo en inglés.


Predominantemente...  O acaso, complementariamente...


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## curly

Hello 

I'm a little surprised that there is no poll on this thread, (sorry if it's already been suggested in another language), it's one of the few times that a poll would have a quite practical purpose.

Just to say something, i'm on the side of encouraging more language use within this forum and letting cultural discussion take place in single language forum like Français Seulement.

P.S. Would it be acceptable to write brief translations into languages other than English??

Yours,
Curly


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## Pedro y La Torre

Je pense qu'il y aurait plus de discussions en français (entre autres) dans ce forum. L'anglais n'est pas la seule langue dans le monde tu sais


----------



## Benjy

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Je pense qu'il y aurait plus de discussions en français (entre autres) dans ce forum. L'anglais n'est pas la seule langue dans le monde tu sais



tu n'as qu'à en rediger.. râler sur les forums c'est pas le seul passe-temps au monde tu sais


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## EmilyD

NO.
affectionately,  _Nomi_


----------



## cuchuflete

Rayines said:


> Está perfectamente claro que el foro cultural deberá seguir siendo en inglés.


 Puxa vida! A senhora tem razão.


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## Mate

¡Não esqueça que tem damas no fórum Cuchuflete! Faça o favor, cuide do seu vocabulário porra!


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## cuchuflete

Desculpe, Vossa Senhoria!


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## Rayines

cuchuflete said:


> Puxa vida! A senhora tem razão.





Mateamargo said:


> ¡Nâo esqueça que tem damas no fórum Cuchuflete! Faça o favor, cuide do seu vocabulário porra!





cuchuflete said:


> Desculpe, Vossa Senhoria!


Wat zeggen jullie?


----------



## Macunaíma

Well, I rarely post in the CD Forum because I have made my intellectual mission on earth not to have many opinions, and I find it rather too competitive, if you know what I mean ( not intended to be critical ), but whenever I can't help having one and succumb to the temptation of sharing it here, I face a dilemma: which is better, to write it in my miserable English and thus be understood by everyone, but seriously limited in my capacity of expressing myself, or write it in my native Portuguese, expressing in every choice of word and turn of phrase what I mean and what my feeling towards what's being said is, but be understood by only a handful of people? I tend to use Portuguese when I feel emotional about what I want to say, because unfortunately I cannot express feeling in English. As a matter of fact, I find it quite depressing when I read one of my many emotional statements translated into my poor English, the only foreign language in which I can express myself, after a fashion. 

So, I think that if we feel we couldn't express ourselves as well as we'd like to about a subject where we find it important, which we feel strongly about, then it's perfectly justifiable to use our native language. It's better to be fully understood by only a few people than to be misunderstood by many. 

But if I'm posting just to give my view about something I find interesting, but about  which I don't really care that much, or would like to hear other people's replies, comments and reactions to what I wrote, then, of course, I'll do that in English.

Just plain old common sense.

But, as the saying goes, _variety is the spice of life_. Of course the forum should continue multilingual. This is one of its best features, I think.

Well, that's it. Or something like that.

Macunaíma.

...Mas por que diabos eu escrevi isto em inglês?


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## cuchuflete

Macunaíma,
Muito obrigado pelas idéias.  I am among those who have had the pleasure of reading your contributions in your own language, and cannot help but agree with you that at times, "It's better to be fully understood by only a few people than to be misunderstood by many."


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## JKHofling

Definitely not, please do not make this an English-only forum.


----------



## luis masci

Bueno…como Macunaíma dice, no hay mejor manera de expresar las emociones (entre otras cosas) que en nuestra lengua nativa. Pero a mí también me gusta el desafío de hacerme entender en inglés, corriendo el riesgo de ser malentendido o quizás aún peor, de hacer el ridículo. 
Hasta ahora creo que he logrado hacerme entender bastante bien, y eso me enorgullece.
Respecto al segundo punto, ignoro si algunos de mis mensajes han sido tan mal escritos que lucieron ridículos. De todas maneras, si así fue no importa, ya que estoy aquí principalmente para aprender y no para exaltar mi amor propio. 
Lo primero que hago al leer un mensaje, es fijarme en la procedencia del autor. Si es un nativo de la lengua en que escribe (puedo leer además de mi nativo español, inglés y portugués), presto atención a la manera en que se expresa, las palabras que usa, etc. Si no es un nativo, simplemente trato de entender lo que quiere decir y nada más. Sin fiarme demasiado de las palabras y expresiones que usa.
Si, extrañamente algún mensaje está escrito en alguna otra lengua que no conozco, pues la miro con curiosidad y luego la salteo y listo.
El foro cultural es lejos mi favorito.


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## RIU

luis masci said:


> Bueno…como Macunaíma dice, no hay mejor manera de expresar las emociones (entre otras cosas) que en nuestra lengua nativa. Pero a mí también me gusta el desafío de hacerme entender en inglés, corriendo el riesgo de ser malentendido o quizás aún peor, de hacer el ridículo.


 
Exacto, pero coincido contigo en que vale la pena.




luis masci said:


> Respecto al segundo punto, ignoro si algunos de mis mensajes han sido tan mal escritos que lucieron ridículos. De todas maneras, si así fue no importa, ya que estoy aquí principalmente para aprender y no para exaltar mi amor propio.


 
De todas formas, cuando es a la inversa jamás he pensado que el autor esté haciendo el ridículo, sino al contrario, ves que se esfuerza en usar tu lengua y es de agradecer que tenga interés. Quizá sea tonto pero me enorgullezco por él.



luis masci said:


> Lo primero que hago al leer un mensaje, es fijarme en la procedencia del autor. Si es un nativo de la lengua en que escribe (puedo leer además de mi nativo español, inglés y portugués), presto atención a la manera en que se expresa, las palabras que usa, etc. Si no es un nativo, simplemente trato de entender lo que quiere decir y nada más. Sin fiarme demasiado de las palabras y expresiones que usa.


Yo también hago lo mismo.


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## Mate

cuchuflete said:


> Desculpe, Vossa Senhoria!


Estimados:

A la vista de todos está que he sido designado juez por (un desliz de) nuestro Decano*. 

Me veo ante la obligación de aceptar, ya que el cargo de bufón no existe en esta República (no así la función).

Sr. Decano de la República de WR, acepto el cargo de juez y juro por la Patria dictar solo la siguiente sentencia:

“Visto y considerando toda la evidencia brindada por los distinguidos foreros que hasta el momento han aportado sus ideas y deseos en este notabilísimo hilo dispongo lo siguiente:

1) Este foro permanecerá multilingüe.

2) Toda vez posible, quienes escriban sus aportes en lenguas que no sean el inglés, deberán adjuntar una breve síntesis en la lengua de Shakespeare, aunque no necesariamente en el estilo del mencionado dramaturgo.

3) A solo fin de facilitar la comprensión de las sesudas lucubraciones aquí vertidas, el inglés a utilizar deberá ser, *en todos los casos*, simple, claro, llano y desprovisto de frases y/o regionalismos rebuscados.

*Hacete cargo/te la regalo.


Mateamargo, el bufón hecho juez para dictaminar una sola vez 



Summary: It is for everyone to notice that I have (unintendedly) been named judge by our Dean*

Given that the Republic lacks the position of Buffoon (although the role is played by many) I am urged to accept.

Sir Dean,

I accept the position of judge and take the oath just to pass the following:

“Taking into account all the evidence submitted by the distinguished foreros I hereby state that: 

1) This forum will remain multi-lingual.

2) Whenever possible, all those who post in languages other than English shall enclose a brief summary in English.

3) In order to facilitate the comprehension of the wise reflections here expounded, all posts in English shall *always* be written in clear, plain language, avoiding round-abouts and/or local idioms. 


*You have to face it/deal with it!

Mateamargo, the single judgment buffoon


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## cuchuflete

Muy estimado Juez Mateamargo,

Sin retruécano alguno, me hace falta avisarle a Ud. que según el uso cotidiano de mi país,
'English briefs' pueden ser unos calzoncillos ingleses.  Así que para evitar posibles malentendidos con las damas
británicas, creo que debemos adoptar oficialmente la carencia de tales cosas en los mensajes.

Bedel casi hecho decano por un caballero gaucho


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## maxiogee

I have no problems with multi-lingual threadery - but I do find it irritating when a thread, begun in English (The only forum language I can comfortable read without seeking translations) suddenly converts into a second language for many posts ~ I find myself losing interest in the thread and may not go back to if, especially if the non-English posts are lengthy.
However - there is enough going on, usually, to hold my interest in other areas  
Well - enough to maintain a strike rate here of about 20 a day


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## Mate

cuchuflete said:


> Bedel casi hecho decano por un caballero gaucho


 
Sr. Decano/Bedel
CUCHUFLETE

No acabo de salirme de mi designación como juez y ya me encuentro nombrado Caballero.

Por el bien de todos los ciudadanos wordreferencianos voy a declinar este nuevo nombramiento. 

Todo Caballero que se precie de tal debe acometer una gesta, y este gentilhombre, ciudadano de a pié, considera que ya ha cumplido su parte con holgura. 

De manera que, agradeciendo su gentil ofrecimiento, y tanto como para no descarrilar el tópico en cuestión, solo haré una pregunta a todos los foreros, sea cual fuere su condición:

¿Cuáles son sus/vuestras impresiones acerca del dictamen que he perpetrado en mi efímero mandato?

Mateamargo, ciudadano de a pié


*Summary:* 

Dean/Bedel, Sir Cuchuflete,

I find myself appointed Knight just after getting rid of my former designation as Judge. 

With utmost respect and for the sake of the citizens of the Republic, I am obliged to refuse this new appointment. 

Every well born Knight has to undertake a quest; this ordinary citizen considers that he has thoroughly fulfilled his part/share.

In order to keep on track and thanking you for this kind -though undeserved- offering I’ll just ask for an answer to all foreros whatever their position may be:

What about your thoughts about the sentence perpetrated by me during my ephemeral intervention?


Mateamargo, ordinary citizen


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## Arrius

Surely, it is polite to reply, if one can, in the language used by the person who raised the question in the first place, or those who introduce subsidiary comments to which one is reacting. I am not sure about translations or summaries in English for all other languages, but they would be most welcome for those languages which the majority of forum members are unlikely to know, if it is possible to provide them. Of course, if one finds oneself stumped by a posting in an incomprehensible language on a thread one finds particularly interesting, it should be possible to ask the originator or any member familiar with that tongue to explain.


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## jonquiliser

Does there have to be one rule about which language is to be used in whatever thread, or that only English is allowed? Isn't it really more an issue of accomodating everybody? I mean, although lots of people manage English fairly or very well, in addition to their respective native tongues, not everybody feels they can actually express themselves well enough to say something of substance if they have to write in English. 

Arrius' remark of taking note of the language of the initial question and try to stick to that language when/for those possible seems quite right. And from there we should just try and accomodate everybody, so that those who wish can participate in discussions. An English summary in certain posts (at least initial or lengthy ones) seems fair enough, though sometimes the same might be required the other way around; for English language threads to have a summary in some other language. Couldn't it be a matter of people expressing their needs and others trying to help out?

Seems sad if threads could only be written in English...

my five eurocents..


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