IF I had known...or say, seen, a diary title that said, "hey let's practice our French"...I would have been less defensive. <again, afew, not pointing fingers, just a comment>. I see have a thin skin around the issue...and that probably relects my livng in a country where there are 26 dialects, no written language, and probably years before I can speak it passably (if ever).
And while I don't agree with anyone telling anyone else here to "f" off because of a difference of opinion (or misunderstanding), I do have empathy for someone who is going through the transition of trying to integrate into Europe as an outsider. It is REALLY hard...at times very emotional...and not always that welcoming of an experience (and I don't have Black skin...so I have it much easier...and its still hard). It's an uncomfortable perspective.
And...I still hold to my feeling of concern, however, that we be careful how we decide to work in the language differences...feeling connected as the whole community is very important, to me anyway, so i think we just need to think this through...
I probably should take lessons from Mr Kcurie and practice not be bothered by diaries that I don't understand... "Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
Like you, I am trying to learn more about a country and of a language. Unlike you, I still have huge blanks in that knowledge. Like you, I'm doing this out of LOVE for someone who lives in the UK. But I shall not throw away the baby with the bath water like I sometimes do when I have "all against the French" outbursts... Thank you, afew, for your diary, as it helped me find out there was something in my France/French vs English personal inner conflict I should think more thoroughly about. When through hell, just keep going. W. Churchill
I guess it is also a question of number of diaries we do not understand. If the trend becomes that all the diaries are written in a language you do not understand..well then ET will be different and you will not feel at home any more.
My two cents.
A pleasure I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude
Me neither. It's a question of experimenting to see what happens. But I think I've said that about ten times now. So I'll stop.
I feel I must issue a disclaimer:
No, I did not post a diary in French as the first act of a French-language takeover of EuroTrib. :-)
So I'm willing to take responsibility for putting the cat among the pigeons, but not for taking the pigeons by surprise. The situation was that a lot of users were ready for this experiment and it was simply a matter of someone doing it.
"Hey, let's practise our French" might have been a title, but that wasn't really what it was about, and we couldn't go on using that kind of title for all non-English diaries. One thing I did think of doing was including a summary of the diary in English, and perhaps I should have put in the extra ten minutes. In fact, if we do more other-language diaries, maybe that should be a rule. It would allow non-speakers of that language to get an idea of the topic. They could then, if interested, use a translator to find out more. If still uncertain of some points, post an English comment to ask for guidance. The point being to include, not to exclude.
