The global blog village community and language
There is a problem has been bugging me for some time now and that is the problem of worldwide blogs and language. For example if my preferred language is French I'll probably blog in French but how can I approve feedback and comments from people who have a different preferred language ?
Is there an unwritten etiquette that dictates you only post comments in the same language as the original post ? Should the "approver" use bablefish to translate comments into their preferred language before approving them? and then only approve and repost the babelfish output ?
How does a "global" ISP or blog site like VOX make sure that all posts in all languages are not offensive or abusive without employing enough people to know every language in the world ? If anyone from VOX is reading please let me know your solutions !
NOTE : I'm sorry but I feel I can only approve comments in English until I have solved this dilemma !
Comments
What is your native language? I am currently posting in Japanese on you-tube and my viewers are responding in both English and Japanese, occasionally the Japanese speakers will post in English and vice versa.
I have seen a few similar posts on 43things where entries in French are commented in English. I wouldn`t let it worry you to much, blog in which ever language suits your purpose for that post and approve only those comments you can read and understand.
I had a similar dilemma when starting to post here in Japanese, I`m sure that my Japanese posts aren`t very interesting to native speakers, and of garbage to anyone who can`t read Kanji, but that isn`t why I have been posting them. I am posting to become more proficient in Japanese, that`s all. The ones that have been commented on have been commented on in both English and Japanese.
jr_fiction wrote: I wouldn`t let it worry you to much, blog in which ever language suits your purpose for that post and approve only those comments you can read and understand.
I agree. I wouldn't comment on a blog I couldn't understand; if I commented on a French blog, I'd do my best to muddle through and write the comment in French, unless I know the blogger and know he or she is multilingual.
jr_fiction writes in English and in Japanese. I rarely even look at the Japanese entries (they're all Greek to me) because I can't read them. How on earth, then, could I comment intelligently on them in the first place? And if I didn't know for a fact he reads and speaks English, wouldn't it be a tiny bit arrogant of me to assume he does and leave comments in English (showing off the fact that I can read and speak both)? That's my "rule of etiquette" - your comments should always be written in a language you know the author understands (translation is pricey, so you provide it and don't expect the recipient to bother). If you receive comments you don't understand, delete them (or don't approve them).
jr_fiction , you've surely seen some of the t-shirt slogans in English that clearly show why this is a good idea, eh? (I shudder to think what American teens' clothing says in Chinese and Japanese when those motifs are popular. I won't wear anything with characters I don't understand unless it's been translated by at least two, preferably three or four, independent experts.)
Thanks Holly, it`s a good rule of thumb to follow. If you`d like to see the consequences of wearing what you don`t understand taken to extremes please check out Hanzi Smatter, a site devoted to the misuse of Chinese characters in western culture.
My wife often asks me when she is shopping for clothes what this or that means in English and 9 times out 10 I have to tell her it doesn`t mean anything, even if it looks good. I am a little bit wary of it because I don`t want my son growing up speaking gibberish gleaned from fashionable t-shirts.
And yes... I have been guilty of leaving my comments in english when the entry is written in another language. I read a number of french blogs, but I have a really hard time writing french myself, so I sometimes will try to write it in french and then write it in english underneath so that the person might understand what I was trying to say in french.
I don't think there is a single answer. You can do what you want with your blog. If you get a comment you don't understand, just ask or ignore.
I know not everyone can speak english or are scared to write in english becaues they think their language skills are quite bad.
I`ve seen quite a few instances of people using the text translators like http://translate.google.com and http://babelfish.altavista.com to post comments and responses. I think it`s important to make the effort, even if you do use one a disclaimer helps.
Holly said; translation is pricey, so you provide it and don't expect the recipient to bother.
So true, if you want to be heard, or read as the case may be, converse in the language of the day. Mind you, I just had to restrain myself there from a very bad French pun.
osde.info I`m glad you feel welcomed and providing us all with some food for thought.
Interesting topic. I too was puzzled by a Spanish comment left on my post not too long ago. And I'll have to thank Babelfish Translator for decoding it enough for me to pick out a few words which I later had to piece together to form the meaning (or the nearest possible meaning) behind the foreign text.
Well, it was a refreshing experience for me, and I felt honored for the fact that the commenter has taken up the effort and courage to leave me with such a kind comment even though he doesn't speak/write English well. It's the thought that counts. Hence, I thank him for his encouraging comment. Yup. I sent my reply in English which he has graciously replied again. How wonderful, there are just so much possibilities with technologies such as the net.