Misunderstadings due to language problems (Mods, look here! :) )

Lost One · Post by **Lost One** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:38 pm

[QUOTE=Xandax]That is the case with forums in any language - English languaged forums as well as other - so it isn't cultural determined.
It is hardly because of "English way of placing arguments" that we (try to) keep this forum swear/flame/troll free. It is a consience decission to try and keep posts on a mature level,.
I've visited english languaged forums as well as scandinavian languaged (danish/norweigen/swedish all used at once) and there were some forums where flaming and swearing was the norm.[/QUOTE]

My point is, Xandax, that most brazilian forums are more lenient towards swearing, making generalizations about one race/group, and that kind of thing. And this is because it is cultural. I've gone to different schools, both british (more than one) and brazilian (also more than one). They were always private, bourgeois-class schools, and in the British way of learning, I was taught to hold a strict reign over my tongue, while this did not happen so much in brazilian classes where we are allowed more freedom to speak what we truly feel.
I participate in a number of brazilian forums, and all of them are a lot more lenient in what you can say than a forum like this one. It's not a question of maturity. I believe that hispanic/latino people prefer to express themselves in a strong, emotional manner, which often includes swearing, amongst other things. Thus, latino forums (at least from my brazilian perspective, and spanish as for what I've seen) are more lenient towards these things.

Of course, you could always disagree with my generalizations (which btw works perfectly for 90% of cases), but I really don't care to argue about individualist crap...such as every forum is different. Patterns exist for a reason. Go visit spanish or brazilian forums, and see how different most of them are to one like GB.

And please, if you do not like anything that I've written above, do not take it back to me. As I said before, these are my humble opinions, you either take 'em or leave 'em. Let us not drift into another area of discussion.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 4:54 pm

Opalescence wrote:by the way, this is, I suppose, spam but I really do want to know, what's a troll? I see that sometimes, and I gather that it's quite obviously not a compliment to be called one, but what is it?

The most commen definition of a troll:

To deliberately post derogatory or inflammatory comments to a community forum, chat room, newsgroup and/or a blog in order to bait other users into responding.

Generally speaking a troll only wish to provoke others into flames.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:05 pm

by the way, this is, I suppose, spam but I really do want to know, what's a troll?

When somebody deliberately posts in such as fashion as to provoke a fight.

most brazilian forums are more lenient towards swearing, making generalizations about one race/group, and that kind of thing. And this is because it is cultural.

I always find this sort of thing difficult to grapple with... because I generally consider cultural imperialism abhorrent. At the same time, I do believe that we need to have some level of standards. At a certain point, there has to be a line drawn in the sand at what is or is not acceptable. I think that in an international forum such as Game Banshee, this means defining appropriate behaviour so that it fits into the norms of the largest common denominator. Moreover, the site owner is from the US, and I think it is his perogative to implement those cultural values with which he is most familiar.

At least, though, on the internet, there are forums catering to many different cultures and language groups, which means individuals have the freedom to choose where they hang out.
Like many others here, I post at a few different forums, and my presence on any is largely determined by my mood. For example, if I'd rather not have to worry about my posts containing erotic material then I head elsewhere than Game Banshee

On a somewhat unrelated topic... Dashgore has been used as an example of language difference in this thread.. and I have to say, going by my own experience of having taught ESL.. I highly doubt that English is not his native language. His punctuation and writing style is more that of a teen in a hurry to post

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:12 pm

[QUOTE=dragon wench]<snip>
On a somewhat unrelated topic... Dashgore has been used as an example of language difference in this thread.. and I have to say, going by my own experience of having taught ESL.. I highly doubt that English is not his native language. His punctuation and writing style is more that of a teen in a hurry to post

[/QUOTE]

Well - his location does say Massachusetts, USA. I would think your conclusion is a sound one.

Morril · Post by **Morril** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:16 pm

[QUOTE=Xandax]Well - his location does say Massachusetts, USA. I would think your conclusion is a sound one.[/QUOTE]

I gues you are right. But because he is living in USA now dosn't necessarily means that English is his native language.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:18 pm

[QUOTE=Xandax]Well - his location does say Massachusetts, USA. I would think your conclusion is a sound one.[/QUOTE]

True, though I guess it is possible his family has recently emmigrated... Mostly it was just his syntax and so forth that seemed to indicate he is a native speaker. Impossible to know for sure though, lol!

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 4:49 am

[QUOTE=dragon wench]On a somewhat unrelated topic... Dashgore has been used as an example of language difference in this thread.. and I have to say, going by my own experience of having taught ESL.. I highly doubt that English is not his native language. His punctuation and writing style is more that of a teen in a hurry to post

[/QUOTE]

Yes, I was thinking about it before I started this thread and the mistakes he made led me to the conclusion that he's not a native speaker. But you probably know it better since your English is at a much higher level then mine

, so I trust what you say. All I have to add is that if it is really his first language, then there is no excuse for anything he wrote.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:58 am

Another thing came to my mind. The forum rules don't state that only English is allowed here. What if I meet e.g. other Hungarians and we start a new thread in Hungarian? Not that I'm planning to do it, I was just wondering if it was a reason to be banned or not. Obviously it wouldn't be very nice, b/c the rest of the visitors wouldn't understand a single world, but it's not violation, since there is no rule against it...

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:31 am

Not a reason to be banned (at once) no. But the thread would most likely be locked.

English is the official language of the board (afterall - the only language we have in common and Buck's native language).
I'm going to suggest to Buck to get it into the rules

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:34 am

Yeah, I thought it would be a good idea, too. Oh, I feel important now, I thought of sg Buck didn't think of

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:16 am

by the way ... what the bugger is "sg" shorthand for?
I don't understand *all* semi-leet/chat/sms language.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:44 am

Uh... sorry... sg:=something, sy:=somebody, etc. Well, I don't want to use "sms language", it's just faster to type...