# Chinese forum



## lazarus1907

¿Would it be possible to open a Chinese forum? It is, after all, the language spoken by most people in the world, and not only millions of Chinese are learning foreign languages, but many people are trying to learn Chinese nowadays. Slavic languages and Hebrew are not extremly popular (compared to other ones), and they have their place.

I assume that initially it will not have lots of posts, but eventually it could become a very popular one. I certainly will post in it if it is created! And I know lots of people who will too.

Just my two cents.


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## Denise1

I am learning Mandarin Chinese, and it would be wonderful to have a forum devoted to Chinese. I have sometimes tried in vain to translate something in my textbook, only to discover that it is somebody's name...duh, silly me! I know American people who are studying Chinese, and I have also met speakers of Cantonese who are studying Mandarin, so there are lots of us out here who would like to have a forum devoted to it. I was actually surprised when I came here and checked languages and didn't find Chinese listed. That's just my 0.02 cents too!


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## lazarus1907

Thanks. Let's see if we get enough posts to get moderators' attention and include a Chinese section.


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## Musique

I think that a Chinese Forum would be wonderful to put up on WR! The Chinese language is a wonderful thing. It would just make WR a better if more academic website. I know many people that are learning Chinese and they are craving a place to go and have discussions over it. I hope that you have time to read this forum and consider it.

Yours truly,
Musique


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## tonyray

Population of 1.3 billion. As far as economics goes, China has MFN (most-favoured nation) trade status in the U.S. More people speak Mandarin more than any other language in the world. 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Many Chinese speak Western-European languages but how many Westerners speak Chinese? 

Let's have a Chinese forum. It would be an utter absurdity not to have one. 

Tony Barrett


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## Jana337

Yes, forums created at the end of 2005 (Arabic, Hebrew and Slavic) increased the number of threads opened for their respective languages, and we could expect the same for Chinese.

This being said, the basic requirement for opening new forums is a steady and non-random demand for a new language (not a proclaimed one here in CS, but a real one in Other languages ). As soon as we see traffic in Chinese taking off, we will seriously consider launching a forum for it.

At the moment, Mike Kellogg will hardly open a new forum for, say, Latin although there are quite many Latin threads. Unfortunately, they are typically opened by people who see a quote and want to have it translated without being interested in the language.

So, it is up to you, dear members. Convince us that a Chinese forum is worth maintaining. 

Jana


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## adonis

I vote for a chinese forum. It would be so suspenful for everyone. besides  there's a  last survey in which it says, Chinese will be the first spoken language as it is english nowdays. So it would be about time to start learning Chinese. 
What about an opinion poll for this.?


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## Jana337

No, please, no polls.  As I said, go to Other languages and ask questions.

Jana


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## lazarus1907

> So, it is up to you, dear members. Convince us that a Chinese forum is worth maintaining.



Exactly. I am hoping to get enough posts requesting a Chinese forum before telling Mike. All we can do now is wait and hope for many replies. I suppose that the promise that I will be posting on it is not enough  

If anyone is interested, please contribute with a comment.


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## adonis

Ok. don't worry, There will not be an opinion poll. I think I made a  mistake saying that. Thank you for the tip. And I hope We get a Chinese Mandarin forum.


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## cuchuflete

As Jana has said plainly and directly, the proof of the need for a forum, as opposed to the desire for one, is activity by us foreros. When there is a steady flow of activity in Other Languages, as has been appearing recently with Catalan, then
it's not difficult to make a case for an additional forum.

We don't tend to open a forum in the hope or the expectation that a forum will create activity. Rather, when there is activity that demonstrates a need, a forum results.

I've been demanding a Benjois forum for a year, but so far we have only one native speaker, so I guess I'll have to be patient.


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## lazarus1907

You're quite right. However, people interested in Chinese won't be very tempted to post in a "other languages" forum, I think. I certainly am not, and I have been posting elsewhere about Chinese (in fora much worse than this). China and Chinese are big issues nowaday; I believe lots of people just needed an incentive (or a push) to begin posting.

I have seen some very long posts about Chinese related topics, but they were isolated. Recent related threads, by the way:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=111943
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=111976

If I'm right, this thread will end up full of posts. Otherwise....well... it was worth trying.


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## tonyray

I haven't been posting on this forum for long but I do think there's a need for a Chinese forum.

This thread, in 1 hour and a half has generated 11 replies and 45 views. 

A thread in the General Vocabulary/Vocabulario General, in 5 hours has generated 6 replies and 9 views. 

Clearly, there's an interest there.


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## Jana337

adonis said:
			
		

> Ok. don't worry, There will not be an opinion poll. I think I made a mistake saying that. Thank you for the tip. And I hope We get a Chinese Mandarin forum.


Are you sure you insist on Mandarin only? I am not really taking sides, it just occured to my mind when I read your post.

Jana


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## cuchuflete

tonyray said:
			
		

> I haven't been posting on this forum for long but I do think there's a need for a Chinese forum.
> 
> This thread, in 1 hour and a half has generated 11 replies and 45 views.
> 
> A thread in the General Vocabulary/Vocabulario General, in 5 hours has generated 6 replies and 9 views.
> 
> Clearly, there's an interest there.



Please don't try to hype the numbers.  Of the 12 posts, 4 are by Lazarus...a respected and active forero. Five are by moderators neither advocating nor opposing the idea.  A couple are by brand new members, who are usually among the first to walk in the doors of WR and call for new forums, before they have had much opportunity to participate in what is already present here. 

The number of views by non-participants may well indicate curiousity or disagreement...we simply do not have a way to measure spectator non-response.

Other Languages offers an opportunity to demonstrate real interest.  Advocating in C&S will not prove anything but persistence on the part of a tiny minority of the community.


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## elroy

It's worth pointing out (at the risk of redundancy) that which languages end up with their own forums on this website is *not* contingent on the role of those languages in the world, or their number of speakers. 

Yes, Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world; yes, some believe it is becoming increasingly important to learn it. But is there a _need_, a _real interest_, on the part of _our community_, to learn and discuss it?

Similarly, there are very few speakers of Catalan in the world, and it's not a very "visible" language on a global scale; yet there is more interest in it _here on the forum_ than in, say, Bengali, which is much more widely spoken.

So please don't cite statistics or try to convince us of how important Chinese is outside our community.

Use Other Languages as a vehicle to show us what _you_ want.


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## MingRaymond

I think it is a good idea to open a Chinese forum. I think many people are learning Chinese. As a Chinese, I am willing to answer questions.

Ming


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## belén

I think at this point we can close the thread since it has already been explained how a Chinese forum can be achieved.

Thanks
Belén


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