Suggestion: International Language Section.

I really feel like maybe I made this suggestion on a past account, but I'm gonna wing it.

I think there should be an International Language Section located in the Chit Chat category. In this section you could learn about other languages and maybe even help people get better knowledge with English. This section would be interesting because we got a diverse group of people on here. It'd be nice to learn some new things.

You may say, "Well this could cause a lot of un-needed threads such as 'how do you say bacon in Spanish'" Well, what we could do is have certain threads to post certain languages on.

Example:
International Language Section:
Official Spanish Thread!
Official English Thread!
Official Japanese Thread!

That way it all stays in one thread and there isn't really any clutter. This would also keep the section small and organized.

I think this could be a fun thing to test out in the VIP category, if anywhere. For supporters and members with VIP access, kind of like how the Creeper Encyclopedia works now.

Hm, well, it's an interesting concept. Pretty sure the idea's been mentioned before, but never while I was around. I think it could work, if there enough supporters for it, along with people willing to actually teach people (I'm assuming there will be teaching to go along with actual chit chat?). So perhaps two official threads for a language, say Spanish. One for learning, and one for chit chat like the DCC?

I do see one extremely big issue with this idea, though, and that's moderating the place. It would require moderators who are fluent in the languages within the section. Considering you want it in Café, that would be me, and I'm only fluent in English, honestly (no idea about Andy). ;x I suppose we could assign a person to hawk each thread, provided they're fluent in it of course, but that could potentially be a huge hassle.

Dakota said:

Hm, well, it's an interesting concept. Pretty sure the idea's been mentioned before, but never while I was around. I think it could work, if there enough supporters for it, along with people willing to actually teach people (I'm assuming there will be teaching to go along with actual chit chat?). So perhaps two official threads for a language, say Spanish. One for learning, and one for chit chat like the DCC?

I do see one extremely big issue with this idea, though, and that's moderating the place. It would require moderators who are fluent in the languages within the section. Considering you want it in Café, that would be me, and I'm only fluent in English, honestly (no idea about Andy). ;x I suppose we could assign a person to hawk each thread, provided they're fluent in it of course, but that could potentially be a huge hassle.

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I mean, if we are going to really have anyone trolling that, either:

A) I'd hope someone would be mature enough to notice the profanity or whatever in the different language and report it.
B) Use Google Translate to help.
C) I'll use Google Translate and keep a close eye on the threads and report it.

I also support the first segment you made. :3

I think there is a Language Club in Fan Clubs and Groups if I'm not mistaken. Here it is if in case you are wondering. I think posting in that place is more centralized and more manageable than a whole forum. Besides, that club needs some activity ;)

Nah, VIP section if any, still. There, new threads could be on moderation for HQ-staff. But really, if it's another language and most people speak English and don't pick up on slight profanity, what's the harm? :p The thread creator would ideally be a kind of overseer for the thread, and in the section's rules it would be heavily encouraged that people report any offense or rudeness that people write in other languages and try to get away with. To have one single mod take care of this place sounds a bit overwhelming. Thread creators + smods sounds best to me. Kind of like in the MIC and VIP section. We don't see overly much bad language or trolling there, do we? :3

EDIT: Queen's suggestion is awesome too though, maybe good enough ;)

I think this would be lovely +1 or whatever but I can see some idiot coming along in the asian threads and typing "Ching chong chow" or something insensitive like that.

«Chuckles» said:

I think this would be lovely +1 or whatever but I can see some idiot coming along in the asian threads and typing "Ching chong chow" or something insensitive like that.

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No, don't fall for the dark side, believe in humanity!

= it would be nice with a place to easier locate my Swedish fellows on PC without actively head-hunting the WL.

Well, if a person did come by and do that, it'd most likely be a newcomer, or someone who's already proven to be a thorn in the community. I think Rika's idea could work. Im against one thing, though, and that's putting this in the VIP section, simply because, opposed to the Member Interaction Center, which was more of a perk imo, this is actually academic, and should be public, if you ask me.

I saw it more as a place to meet people from your own language. But then again, as I think about it, that could clubs easily be for. There's a Philippines club and maybe more, iirc. (<- see, I totally know what SOME abbreviations mean!!)

So if it's meant to be more about the language itself than about the people speaking it hanging out (or both, in same or different threads, as someone suggested) then okay, maybe VIP isn't the best place for it.

If we are talking about meeting people through our own language, then adding a new section to be VIP only would take a whole chunk of new people out of the picture!

http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=300377 yes give me love

i need the love


but in all srsns we should have dedicated threads for each language or yeah :p especially since we've upgraded so it shouldn't be a problem technically, so now it's just a matter of what's good for the community.

I mean, the upgrade was never an issue in regards to having a thread based on language(s). The main issue (aside from what I mentioned earlier, but Rika made a valid point countering it) is how many people would actually want it to happen. I'm worried that not enough people would be interested for something like this to warrant its own subforum.

Team Fail said:

I, for one, would love this kind of thread/section. I'd be able to practice up on my French and whatnot. I'd say perhaps add different boards for various languages (So you could have various topics in foreign languages), but that could become problematic as there's a lot of languages in the world (Unless you can find some way to make that work).

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We could have the main languages:
Spanish
English
French
Japanese

Languages like that would have their own individual thread.
Then we could have another thread for the more uncommon languages.

Team Fail said:

Perhaps like this:

Chit Chat Café
-Celebrations
-General Other Language Discussion (Where all the uncommon languages sit)
--Spanish Discussions
--French Discussions
--Japanese Discussions

Where the French/Spanish/Japanese would be your three major languages, perhaps a poll held in the main Other Language area, and decide upon the top three/whatever you think is reasonable and make them at a later point in time.

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That could work, I believe a lot of people know some Spanish and French through school. And, of course, a lot of people on here attempt to learn Japanese.

Hm, just one question, though. Say we have these sub-subforums, hypothetically Spanish. What exactly do you envision to exist in the forum? You've mentioned a Spanish DCC, as well as a Learn Spanish Thread. What else can you have, regarding the language. Remember that we can't turn the section into Spanish Pokecommunity (not that I'm saying that's where you were going). I feel there is a limited amount of threads one can make regarding the language. I could be wrong, and feel free to prove me wrong, though!

Dakota said:

Hm, just one question, though. Say we have these sub-subforums, hypothetically Spanish. What exactly do you envision to exist in the forum? You've mentioned a Spanish DCC, as well as a Learn Spanish Thread. What else can you have, regarding the language. Remember that we can't turn the section into Spanish Pokecommunity (not that I'm saying that's where you were going). I feel there is a limited amount of threads one can make regarding the language. I could be wrong, and feel free to prove me wrong, though!

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Threads are more what I was thinking.
However, with him, basically all the questions, homework, things like that would go there. That'd make for a boring section, though, so I really think they should be divided by threads, not sub-subforums.

I agree threads would probably be much more appropriate than subforums. It does, however, leave me wondering if we can possibly expand this into a "Homework Hotline" sorta forum. We can still have all the language threads there, but we could also have possibly general assistance in Math and Writing and whatnot. Just an addition to what's been currently suggested. Languages would simply be part of the fray. Perhaps I'm dreaming a little to boldly right now, though. Already can see a problem with that, and that's the simply VAST field of academic subjects one could possibly ask for help in. It would definitely provide more activity to such a forum than simply languages, though. Thoughts?

Granted, for this to work out, there is going to have to be dedicated members running around assisting in the threads.

Edit: Personally, the idea of subforums for each language doesn't resonate with me very well. I feel it'd make the place more cluttered with less than crazy activity. Not saying such places wont be active, but I'm finding it difficult to see a page full of threads surrounding all things Spanish or all things French. Sure, we could talk about Spanish food, or Spanish literature, but that's branching out the purpose of the subforum, and I'm not 100% percent sure how I feel about that right now.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but one problem I could definitely see with having multilingual sections is that people could easily get away with explicit discussions and whatnot. Surely we could hire moderators that are fluent in said language, but it would mean having to expand on our swearing filters as well as find more moderators that could speak a language other than English.

I kind of mentioned that already with my first post. =P It's a valid concern. Rika did mention a way it could be contained, though, and that's by having the thread maker (who should logically be fluent in the language) act as a guard of sorts, weeding out offensive posts. A volunteer position, obviously, as no reward is coming out of it, but that shouldn't be an issue if the thread maker's truly dedicated.