new thread
The crew has included a new rule in the General FAQ concerning the use of language. It asks that users use clear language in their posts. We want the site to be accessible to all users, and complaints we've gotten from non-native speakers about some posts being unreadable we feel were well founded.
Intentional misspellings, use of text message lingo, omission of punctuation, etc., should be avoided since these make your posts hard to figure out, especially for those who do not know English well. These users work harder than the rest of us to be included, and we want to make them feel welcome. The text of the rule is at the link.
Bill
Tech Crew chief
Simpa and I usually answer to each others threads in swedish. However, what we write is only relevant to us, and, as far as I know, has no real value to other people.
So if I understand the rule correctly, we are allowed to do this?
Yes. This sentence in the rule specifically allows that:
Foreign language posts are fine from users who do not know English or in the occasional banter between users who share a language; however such posts will be removed if the crew cannot ascertain their meaning.
From a practical standpoint, if the banter is between regulars who are known here and never post problematical material in English, no one is going to scrutinize what is said in another language.
The intent of the rule is to foster community, not to obstruct it, and it is mainly directed toward those who are native speakers and who haven't made the minor effort required to make their posts readable to others, particularly to non-native speakers, who are already making a much greater effort to connect with all of us already.
Bill
This is gr8, Bill, --- eye (H)ATE text-mess(age)ing lingo and other such crapppoo-poo... Eye 4 one have A tuff 'nough time under(stand)ing reg(you)lar ING-lish!!!
Thnk-U!!!!!!
- Kn n Sn Frncsc-o
You are going to be banned Ken !! your behavior is unnaceptable !!
that's a joke ^^
Ken ..
You're killing me! :)
I hope you're doing well my friend..
Tristan
Hi Ken,
As always, you are hilarious! You KNOW we have beem missing you a LOT these days, both on the team, and on the hyperboard, and your fabulous sense of humour!
Take care,
David
Lmao I found this INCREDIBLY ironic seeing as how today in english we had to rewrite a poem typed almost exactly as that.
Was it a poem by Tom Leonard?
http://www.tomleonard.co.uk/sixoclock.shtml
I studied that poem! Way back in about 2002, for GCSE.
8u77 73|-| 1|\|73r|\|37 2934K 12 \/\/0|\|d3RfuL!!!!LOLOMGWTFBBQ!!!oneoneone@@@
lawl
I joke of course...
I'm not sure whether I should feel proud or ashamed that I could read that. To compound my conflict, shouldn't "2934K" be "2934|<"?
Maybe a little bit of both =P and...*bows* I stand corrected!
Whoa, Ke, might I reiterate pleeeeease, WHEN'RE ya gonna go into stand-up comedy, bruh?!
All of yer postings here so well translate inta stand-up comedy, albeit w/ long hair of course . . . and ain't it funny how ya can et away w/ it? Favored son, you.
What a wasted talent, you!
Q.
Se habla Español?
!Hola Senor Chris H! Como esta Ud. hoy? Si Usted puede oir (sp?) me, yo tengo un accento de Chicago, IL, --- muy comico oir, porque hablo como un Norte Americano "clueless" (lol - como se dice "clueless" en Espanol?) Entonces, aunque puedo hablar Espanol, escucho como un Gringo que habla, "Spanglish!" (lol)!!
Espero que Ud. esta en salud bien, y muy feliz en su vida!
!Hasta Luego!
- Ken en la ciudad de San Francisco, CA
Well, despite Ken's silliness, which of course gave me the giggles, a hearty "WELL DONE" to the moderators. This is a very thoughtful and considerate suggestion for this international community and reflects the courtesy that is normal shown here.
YEAH!
WWT
Cur igitur non possim uti mea Latina cara?? HAHA!
This is a good rule. I know that the wild variants of any language are what make it hard for a non-native speaker top understand.
MB
Excellent and definitely needed!
spoton bill u r da bomb dude, innit, youz buzzin' wen it cums 2 werds
dve
Seems like a good rule as far as it goes, although when I actually read it the part about avoiding regional words seemed impossible. There are a huge number of things for which _all_ the possible alternative words are regional! Also, in many cases the poster only knows their own regional variation. Still, there's not much anyone can do about that.
A good working definition of "regional" for this purpose would be a word not understood by more than half of native speakers. Most people who ever travel outside of their region, be it on line or on the highway, soon learn what these words are, and they avoid using them when out of their region. As for "the person knowing", the rule is directed towards acts committed knowingly, but as said, most people know what these words are.
Examples are Spanish words used by Californians, Yiddish words used by New Yorkers, words used only in the South, and words used only in one area such as Britain, Australia, or Canada. I have several friends in Canada, for example, and ALL of them know which Canadian expressions are not known by people outside of Canada.
The whole idea of the rule is to encourage those writing posts to make them as readable to others in our worldwide audience as the writer is reasonably able to do. This benefits native speakers, but it benefits non-native speakers much more.
English is full of foreign words and originally-regional words that are now understood by almost everybody, and using those is fine! We don't want to deny anyone a full repertoire of words with which to express his ideas! However, if some of the users do not understand a post, then its writer has thwarted "expressing his ideas" - his very reason for writing.
Sometimes mostly-personal brief comments are made between users sharing an interest or a locale. This is normal human social behavior akin to note-passing in class. The San Francisco crowd does that, and so do others. When the people involved all speak a foreign language, sometimes they use it, and the crew sees that as okay. If the matter discussed would be meaningless to most of the site's readers, then the language used for it really does not matter.
The crew has seen no problem with non-native speakers. All of them seem to do their best to be understood. The problem has been with native speakers who do not appreciate that we are in an international forum and that internationally understood English, not their local dialect, and not expressions they use with other kids in their school, needs to be used.
Bill
That's a great idea and that would certainly help.
I've never got used to this funny short texting on mobiles and I must be too old to understand it lol.
Cheers,
John.B
A very good rule and a good way of showing our respect to those who
speak English as a second language. English is a very difficult language for some to learn and so a great amount of effort goes into speaking or writing it by some.
As has been said the intent is not to get everybody to write in a
generic sterile way one can still inject some colour in their writing but to rein in those who get carried away or totally don't care.
Kevin