# user's native language variety



## TheCrociato91

Hi.

I hope I haven't overlooked any thread regarding this. I was wondering if I'm the only one that thinks that users should be forced to insert not only their native language but also their native language _variety_ or place of origin. Right now, if I remember correctly, users are only required to enter their "native language and variety", but what happens many times is that some users only mention their native language.

I personally think that making it so that users _have to_ declare their regional variety would be extremely helpful in forums such as English and Spanish (which are the ones I'm most active on) because it would save the time of having to ask "which variety of language do you speak?", or of having to specify "no, this term is not used in the area where I'm from, which is Southern Spain (or whatever)".

I don't think it would entail revealing too much personal information.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.


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## velisarius

It's already a rule, TheCrociato. 

WRF rule #18
*



			Represent yourself honestly.
		
Click to expand...

*


> You may register with one user name only.
> Do not pretend to be someone you are not: this includes gender, nationality and native language.
> *You must provide your native language, including your country or the variety you speak (eg: "English - Ireland" or "Mexican Spanish") for languages with multiple regions. Who you are and where you are from is very important to understanding any translations or other language information that you provide.*




If you notice that someone hasn't supplied that required information after their first few posts, you can report it in the usual way.


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## TheCrociato91

Thank you. I knew it was a rule but I remembered that when entering my data upon first subscribing to the forum there was only _one_ slot for one's native language and one's language variety, which to me sort of dissuaded users from entering both. I feel that if there were two separate slots that were mandatory to fill out, users would be more explicitly forced to mention their variety. I hope I managed to make myself understood.

Either way, now that I know I can (and should) report people, I'll get down to business.   

Thanks again.


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## DonnyB

Just to clear up one possible source of confusion here, the _variety_ of Native Language is really only important for those languages which have significant variations dependent on regional or geographic considerations because those can affect whether both questions and answers are regarded as 'correct' or not.  English and Spanish are two which are most affected by this.

With most of the other languages, it's sometimes _helpful_ if members indicate whether they use a particular regional variation of it, but we wouldn't usually class that information as obligatory.


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## TheCrociato91

DonnyB said:


> Just to clear up one possible source of confusion here, the _variety_ of Native Language is really only important for those languages which have significant variations dependent on regional or geographic considerations because those can affect whether both questions and answers are regarded as 'correct' or not.  English and Spanish are two which are most affected by this.
> 
> With most of the other languages, it's sometimes _helpful_ if members indicate whether they use a particular regional variation of it, but we wouldn't usually class that information as obligatory.


Thank you for clarifying that. I'll go easy on my reports, then.


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## Peterdg

DonnyB said:


> English and Spanish are two which are most affected by this.


Also for Dutch it is pretty important. There is a substantial difference between the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and the Dutch spoken in Belgium, in grammar, in vocabulary and in pronunciation.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

What, in WR, is the difference between a variety and a dialect? Last year we were in Italy and chatted with a Venitian who said that within several canals of one another people spoke somewhat different varieties of the Venetian dialect (for instance). 

Also (re #6), while English and Spanish may have the most 'varieties', in French, a poster might say "French/Français-Île-de-France/Marseille/Suisse/Belgique/Algérie/Martinique/Québec...", and in German "Deutsch/German-Hamburg/Schweiz/Wien/Berlin..", "Chinese - Mandarin, Cantonese, Fukien...", "Portuguès -- Portugal/Brasil" -- as many posters do).


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## Peterdg

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> What, in WR, is the difference between a variety and a dialect?


I don't know how WR defines it but for me the difference between a dialect and a variety is that a variety is the ideolect that a homogeneous group of speakers considers to be correct in a formal environment.  You will find it in official documents, in literature, newspapers etc. Renowned linguistic works (dictionaries, grammars) will mention the differences between varieties. They usually don't mention dialects.

A dialect,  on the other hand, is the way the language is used in confined areas but the speakers will not use that way in a formal setting.


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