Messages in foreign languages

[Julian Field]

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On 14 Jun 2005, at 22:23, Matt Kettler wrote:
> Denis Beauchemin wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Is it just me who has problems with messages not in English?  I  
>> know I
>> don't write perfect English because my main language is French but at
>> least I always post in English.
>>
>> Why does it bother me?  Maybe because whenever I see something I  
>> can't
>> read I feel I cannot help the other person.  This list is so  
>> valuable to
>> people because so many people help others.  Whenever someone use a
>> foreign language, they can't get as much support because many people
>> don't speak that language.
>>
>
> True, although I generally figure that is the risk the poster takes.
>
> They're posting in a language outside the norm for the list, so  
> they're taking a
> risk they might not get the help they need. But that's their  
> problem, not mine.
>
> If they get help, great, if not, there's nothing I can do about it.  
> Either way,
> it doesn't bother me.
>
> Sometimes if I see someone posting in a foreign language and  
> getting no answers
> I'll point out the obvious and suggest they try translating.
>
> Otherwise I just ignore the messages I can't read with a shrug.

Seconded.

One of the things I like about this list is the ability to post in  
whatever language you feel more comfortable in, knowing that anyone  
who knows that language will try to help you out. I would much rather  
see people post in their favourite language. Yes, they won't get help  
from other people who don't know the language. But there are a lot of  
you out there prepared to help people, so the likelihood is that  
someone will understand you and help.

The alternative is the Google-translated version of English, which is  
almost unintelligible a lot of the time. It takes 10 times as long to  
help them out because you can only deduce the meaning of 1 sentence  
in 10. I spend a lot of my time trying to help people using the  
machine-translator services, and it's very hard work.

Remember that MailScanner is used in at least 70 countries.

Diversity is good!
- -- 
Julian Field
www.MailScanner.info
Buy the MailScanner book at www.MailScanner.info/store
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