Translation Needed: My thoughts on the foreign language policy

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

As I'm sure many of you are all too aware, The forums don't allow the use of foreign languages at all. I for one, do not agree with this, and I know I'm not alone.

 

English isn't the only language out there, and I feel that it's extremely restrictive to outright bar the use of other languages.

 

I spend the vast majority of my time roleplaying, and as a roleplayer, I feel that characters who are bilingual or don't know the vernacular are restricted from being portrayed as they truly are, and their players are forced to have them speak English at all times, which takes away from the immersion quite a bit.

 

So here are my ideas on how to relax the foreign language policy:

 

• If you're going to use a foreign language, please provide a translation! Italicize it, spoiler it, or add it line by line. Whatever you do, make sure you add the English translation!
• Observe the other global rules. Just because you're using another language doesn't mean you can go overboard with the foul language or be sexually explicit.
• 25% / 75% ratio. No more than roughly 25% of your post can be in another language, even with the translation provided.
• Posting solely in a language other than English is prohibited. Going off the above rule, the use of foreign languages may be relaxed, it doesn't mean that you can post something completely in Russian or Japanese. This is an English language site, so most of your post must be in English.

This is just my opinion and idea, and I'll try to tweak / add to it if there's enough interest, but I would love to hear from others regardless of whether or not they agree with me.

 

Any and all suggestions are also very much welcomed! Help me expand this idea to cover all areas of the site!

[Jeric 46,834]

I recall mentioning elsewhere recently that decisions on the site should be made with respect to those that do not contribute, in short ... the browsing populace. Before we have have an honest conversation here on this, someone should consider pulling the current analytics and post them here. Until data supports a shift in the user (member and guest) demographics, you should be careful before you change a rule centered around communication. While I spend a lot of time on foreign sites thanks to academic interest, I can promise you some on your users here would liberally use the back button on the browser. More to that, you are likely not going to get honest opinions on those completely against this considering the fear of being labeled intolerant. The issues with language barriers and immersion is that ... it will exist even with a translation. 

 

When François Grosjean PhD - World renowned expert in psycholinguistics - was asked if being multilingual allowed him to pull words from his advanced lexicon to create a 'best of' scenario, he said this, "[There] was a certain relationship to language – a relationship in which words seemed to correspond to things and to name them directly (this is partly an illusion which we all have to grow out of). Polish at that point made the world vivid, as English did not. On the level of sheer vocabulary, English is a fantastically rich language – and so is Polish, for that matter. Both are rich in salty, colloquial, culturally particular expressions. So yes, sometimes I reach for a phrase in the other language, to express a particular tone or vein of humor, perhaps more than for specific words. And of course, since those first stages of emigration, I have acquired an adult vocabulary – of politics, for example, or literary criticism – which I didn’t have then; and which to a large extent, I had to translate from English to Polish."

 

One side will always be at a disadvantage. So the question is, do you disadvantage the majority or the minority? What is the majority?Do you seek this for a practical need, or for the warm and fuzzies? I'm not saying that there is a wrong answer to those questions, but it is important that the conversation leading to a change be honest ... including the current challenges ... and the ones that the change will manufacture into existence. 

 

TL;DR ... be careful here. 

[Jokuc 8,172]

I have never really felt the need to use Swedish on the site because there's really no point when I do not role play. The only time would be if I want to say something to a fellow Swede on their profile. Since non-english speaking users here are in a minority, those who use their own language to communicate will probably have a friendly approach towards each other anyway. Even if there's one occasion where a couple of bad words slips into their status posts, people won't be able to understand what it says anyway ...if they even find that profile comment.

 

Another thing I thought about is what you mentioned about translations. It'd be great for people to understand what the post says.. But having a translation written by the same user isn't really reliable for checking whether the posts contain something "bad" or not. It's like asking a stoned guy whether he has pot in his car or not, then leaving when he says that he doesn't. Then again, I really really don't think that people here who talk to their friends would go all Reggie Watts. About role play posts, you want everyone participating to understand, so I don't see why you would post an incorrect translation (which I do agree would be necessary)