Sciforums International Community

these people can go to a german chat room.

 

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The idea would work is we had large popualtions of members that spoke certain languages, but there are too many dofferent languages that people can speak on this forum to divide them into reasonable forums.

 

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I reluctantly voted no. English is triumphant as world language, like it or not. I enjoy being multilingual, and there are modes and feelings of expression that seem almost exclusive to particular languages. I often find that I think with a different perspective, and express myself differently, when I avoid thinking in English.

But having subdivisions of Sciforums in various languages, even major ones, would multiply the duplications and burying of valuable discussions. The most efficient medium for a meeting of global minds is likely to remain English, even after we develop the ability to share thought-images. Detailed analysis, even in personal thought, involves language.

A ready reference to translation services would be helpful for non-English speakers, as would continued patience toward those who are learning it. For the most part, it seems to me that Sciforums participants are fairly tolerant of those who are not fluent in English, and that's a good thing. In the interest of the community, I think it would be best for those who wish to converse in a language other than English to do it through personal messages, or off forum.

It might broaden the Sciforums experience considerably if pertinent content from other than English sources were more often translated and posted. This takes more time and effort, but would allow a greater breadth of perspectives and information to enter the discussions. In this regard, those who speak English as a second language can bring much to our communities, by translating and posting perspectives from non-English sources. I dabble in Spanish, Czech, Russian, and Arabic, and I have been considering posting sources and footnotes from other than Englich sources, with either my own or an automated translation into English. A link to the "source code" would be helpful in these cases, in case automated or participant translation becomes tangled. I actually like automated translations that don't heavily modify the grammar, because with practice, I feel I can get a feel for the nuance of the original language, because I suspect that our varying world grammars reflect somewhat our varying world perspectives and psychologies.

So far as inviting non-English speakers, a handy reference to tools that allow easy translation of boards like this might be helpful. Online translation is fast-evolving, and so many of the services I formerly used from time to time have gone into subscription or paid license schemes. Lately I've turned to ForeignWord.com to see what free site translation tools are available. Maybe some translation services are looking for traffic, and would pay for a banner link within Sciforums, that would automate reading and participating in this forum in any major language, while leaving the default common language English.

 

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