[ View Thread ] [ Post Response ] [ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [ Read Next Msg ]

Re: Should Forum be open to French language also?

Posted By: John Morris (71.191.23.43)
Date: Friday, 3 February 2012 1019 hrs. EDT

In Response To: Should Forum be open to French language also? (John Morris)

Thanks for the opinions, please keep them coming, there must be others among our many members.

I'd like to clarify one thing regarding the concept of the proposed use of other languages here, at least as far as what I had in my mind originally. It is certainly my fault for inadequately expressing or explaining it.

One legitimate need, already mentioned, is the posting of archival documents which were created in a foreign language and are much better-represented in their original form. I don't think there would be much argument against this practice. Another which is commonly practiced throughout the academic world is posting direct, untranslated quotes from foreign literature, so that the author's meaning will arrive unmolested by well-meaning but perhaps inexpert translators, whether human or robotic. The fact that these will be beyond the comprehension some readers has, at least as far as I can tell, long been accepted as part of the price of accuracy and faithfulness.

A third category, which is a bit more novel here than the aforementioned, would be to allow Spanish and French-speaking members to post here in their native language. The purpose isn't to confuse or frustrate any of our many English-only members, but to allow members who do not feel competent in English to post here.

For example, we have many members in South America, most of whom speak Spanish, who would feel comfortable posting a topic in Spanish but not in English. Certainly, as has been mentioned, some of them can and do write fine articles in English and many appear in the Journal. However the Forum's trilingual initiative is aimed at the many who have "less-than-Journal-candidate" topics they wish to discuss online with other members, or even brief articles which for any number of reasons would not meet the high standards of the Journal, but are fully within Forum guidelines.

There are some additional, secondary reasons for my desire to give this a try, which include attracting new members to The Company, making the Forum more interesting, increasing Forum traffic, etc.

Please keep the comments coming!

Messages In This Thread

[ View Thread ] [ Post Response ] [ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [ Read Next Msg ]

CMH Forum is maintained by The Company of Military Historians with WebBBS 5.12.