A Language Question..If you not mind.

[EagerBeaver]

I guess that you meant reviews when you talked about information and hence I am basing my reply on this assumption. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have the impression that most reviews written in french are about Quebec City providers, so there should be no information loss for you. Other posts written in french, and I hate to say it, are of poorer quality than most posts written in English. So in all, you are not missing much, on the contrary you are saving a lot of time and your ignorance of French turns out to be a natural post filter and a great time saver.

HFE,

You are close, but I think you missed my point. Several posters have commented that mazingerz, perhaps uncommonly from what you say, is a source of wisdom in some of his French posts. However would you not agree with me that when he posts that supposed wisdom in French in response to someone he knows is a unilingual American, when he is fully capable of posting in English, that wisdom is perhaps lost in a big way? Or I should say supposed wisdom because I have no idea what the fuck he is posting, it could be drivel or it could be better than the New Testament or Shakespeare for all I know.

 

[Maria Divina]

french are better lovers than english

I know, I know, I'm totally off topic.... Please, permit me to answer not much more seriously to your "joke sentence"....

Do you want a "reality check" on that one based on my past experience???

Seriously, a well mannered man is just a better lover.... wherever he is coming, whatever is language. Nothing more to add.

 

[eastender]

Adapting

HFE,

You are close, but I think you missed my point. Several posters have commented that mazingerz, perhaps uncommonly from what you say, is a source of wisdom in some of his French posts. However would you not agree with me that when he posts that supposed wisdom in French in response to someone he knows is a unilingual American, when he is fully capable of posting in English, that wisdom is perhaps lost in a big way? Or I should say supposed wisdom because I have no idea what the fuck he is posting, it could be drivel or it could be better than the New Testament or Shakespeare for all I know.

EB,

The New Testament was not written in English nor was the original Shakespeare written in the language that is today's English. Neither fact precluded an appreciation of the text.

 

[DouMan]

Come on everyone, let’s chill a few seconds and catch a deep breath.

Those of us that read merb on a regular base well remember the numerous language related threads and the unfortunate very strong words that have come out of the subject. I have the privilege of being fluent in both languages and I most certainly do not consider any language as being superior / inferior to another. Doing this would be placing one of my parents as superior to the other.

Regarding mazingerz, I have read many posts by this gentleman and have always found him to be very calm, informative and very much the point in his remarks. The overall feeling that I get from his posts is that he seems to be a fine gentleman.

This being said, I however do agree that responses should be in English when the overall tendency of the thread is in English (and vice-versa). Even though mazingerz response may seem extreme, I don’t think it is done out of spite or harassment but maybe more in the heat of the moment ... like many of the responses so far.

With all respect, I am not trying to defend the gentleman since he certainly does not need my support, I am just trying to place a little breather in an extremely volatile subject.

Let’s all breathe in and breathe out a few times, and see where it goes from here.


Un instant tous le monde, prenons un peu de recul et un bon respire.

Pour ceux de nous qui lisent merb régulièrement nous nous souvenons très bien des nombreux threads ayant rapport a la langue et des termes extrêmement fort qui peu en ressortir. J’ai le privilège d’être à l’aise dans les deux langues et je ne considère certainement pas aucune langue comme étant supérieur / inferieur, a une autre. De le faire serais de placer un de mes parents comme étant supérieur à l’autre.

Concernant mazingerz, j’ai lu plusieurs post par ce monsieur et je les l’ai toujours trouvé calme, informant et très au point dans ces remarques. Le sentiment général que je retire de ces post est qu’il semble être une bonne personne.

Ceci dit, je suis par contre d’accord que les réponses devrait être en anglais quand la tendance générale du thread est en anglais (et vice-versa). Mème si la réponse de mazingerz peut sembler extrême, je ne crois pas que c’est fait par hargne ou harcèlement mais plutôt avec la fièvre du moment ... comme plusieurs réponses à date.

Avec tous respect, je ne tente pas de défendre le monsieur car il n’a certainement pas besoin de mon appui, je tente simplement de placer un petit respire dans un sujet extrêmement volatile.

Inspirons et expirons tous quelques fois et regardons ou ca va aller maintenant.

 

[eastender]

Voices

Ollie,

Curious. Do the voices speak the same or different languages?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Even though mazingerz response may seem extreme, I don’t think it is done out of spite or harassment but maybe more in the heat of the moment ... like many of the responses so far.

DouMan,

He has consistently replied to posts by unilingual English, American posters whom he knew to be such including an exchange with Special K which is what precipitated this whole thread. Please read his posting history, there is plenty of this kind of nonsense even though the thing with SK was deleted. He has been doing this for a long time and it is not "heat of the moment." The Mods have given him a pass on this, for reasons I don't understand because it is a clearcut lack of respect warranting suspension, end of story. Special K even asked him to post in English and he still would not do so.

Before jumping to his defense read his posting history, you will also see some English posts in there which he stopped doing for political reasons he has already alluded to apparently earlier in this thread.

 

[Techman]

originally posted by sapman99

Tech, you are a nice guy but don`t get it: you are still saying French is fine as long as it knows it`s "place" basically.

And Capitaine, see the surprising results of this poll here.

Hi Sap, could you tell me where I said or even implied that? Where did I once imply that French was inferior to English in any way? In your business if your customer speaks English, what language will you reply to him in if you know he doesn`t speak French? The language of business is whatever language the person with the money to spend wants it to be.

It seems to me that those who always bring up the topic of `superiority` have a huge chip on their shoulder and it may be time to knock it off.

As far as your poll is concerned, what bearing does that have on anything? Are you saying that because 5% more people replied that their native tongue is French that it gives them an excuse to be rude and disrespectful to the other members of the board? Since when did the fact of being a majority give anyone the right to treat everyone else like shit?
Everyone is equal, whatever damn language they speak. And anyone who defines themselves only by the language they speak is in need of some serious therapy.

For DouMan: mazingerz always responds in French to English posts even though he can respond in English. He does this well knowing it will cause fights and arguements. This is not an oversight, it is deliberate and he knows the response it will get. He just doesn`t give a damn. Then he probably sits back and watches the show.

Techman

 

[HornyForEver]

HFE,

You are close, but I think you missed my point. Several posters have commented that mazingerz, perhaps uncommonly from what you say, is a source of wisdom in some of his French posts. However would you not agree with me that when he posts that supposed wisdom in French in response to someone he knows is a unilingual American, when he is fully capable of posting in English, that wisdom is perhaps lost in a big way? Or I should say supposed wisdom because I have no idea what the fuck he is posting, it could be drivel or it could be better than the New Testament or Shakespeare for all I know.

Yes, he is one of the very few Merbites who write very well in French. His posts have generally a moderate tone except when it comes to language and sovereignty issues. I agree that if somebody is replying to a specific member then he/she should post in the language that this member speaks. But, I am against an unilingual board and unilingual threads.

The boards have been a great resource for me over the past years to practice my English, writing-wise as most of the books I read are written in English anyways. Two years ago, I had to write a formal text in French and I was surprised that I was not able to do so without the help of a dictionary. Now, that the boards are becoming bilingual, this allows me to practice writing in both languages English and French and now I make sure to write in both languages in a more or less balanced way.

 

[Techman]

i hear voices-
from many different split personalities different lanugarges
3 different sexes, one of each
they all say the ssame thing
they all concur

they dont like you

you being anyone who asks -is who?= me
yes
its you fool
an may the flees of a thousand camels infest your armpits
oliver

Oliver,

It's time to change your medication!

Techman

 

[HornyForEver]

I know, I know, I'm totally off topic.... Please, permit me to answer not much more seriously to your "joke sentence"....

Do you want a "reality check" on that one based on my past experience???

Seriously, a well mannered man is just a better lover.... wherever he is coming, whatever is language. Nothing more to add.

I thought you were more into Italian tall guys with black hair

 

[EagerBeaver]

Yes, he is one of the very few Merbites who write very well in French. His posts have generally a moderate tone except when it comes to language and sovereignty issues.

I don't care about the sovereignty issue and I am advised he is a separatist. Don't care about that one way or the other. But he needs to moderate on the language issue. I have filed a complaint now for the second time with the Mods because of his complete disrespect for Special K. The Mods deleted his disrespectful posts so nobody can see them (they were in the Joelle of XXXtase thread), but the Mods disagree with me over whether mazingerz violated the rule about disrespecting other Board members. To me it was a CLEAR violation warranting suspension, reprimand or some other punishment but they did not agree with me.

 

[Maxima]

...You know, as usual people just aren't able to understand the point that some of us are trying to make. None of us have any problem with anyone posting in the language they wish to post in. With one very important exception...when replying to a request for information from a unilingual poster, please reply in the language the question was presented in!


Techman

And may I also add that this has nothing to do with the superiority or inferiority of one language versus the other like marzingerz wants to portray it as such for political reasons.
In the same way as sometime one can feel the different between Cdn and US English....marzingerz's French sounds very much non-quebecois francophone to me...which is neither a good nor a bad thing.

 

[Dee]

merci du lession de géographie sur l'endroit de Montréal dans la province du Québec. oui ils sont les escortes françaises, les meilleures prostituées au monde sont nées et le pain here.yes plus de elles parlent français mais se plient plus de pour un morceau de papier avec la reine de l'Angleterre là-dessus. pour finir bienvenue à l'Internet

Félicitations! Notre nouveau Molière!

It may surprise some to know that on the street Oli is perfectly capable of chattering away in French.

-------------------------------------------------


What is the basic purpose of language? COMMUNICATION!

I have both learned another language and taught many who struggle to learn the English language.

Learners and nonspeakers are tremendously sensitive about their lack of ability in a language... it requires no skill whatsoever to humiliate and scar them using language as a weapon.

The instinct of most people is to help others, even if this may require a switch of languages.

I think that what may happen to some is that they feel their language is under attack and that their culture has been treated most unfairly. These folks may then, in their effort to protect their language and reap revenge against those who they perceive as wrong- doers, act in a way with language that they wouldn't act in other aspects of their lives.

 

[sapman99]

French is not the language of the world either. Or in our case, the internet.

I have read the same thing coming from you before about the "so-callled language of the Internet", welcome to the new world hegemony... The language of the Internet is the language of the audience. Most big Internet concerns now operate in many multiple languages.

Hi Sap, could you tell me where I said or even implied that?

As far as your poll is concerned, what bearing does that have on anything?

See 1st quote...

The poll simply debunks the myth that MERB (at least now) is composed of a majority of English people. I would venture in fact that a lot of posters post in English for the broader audience (as I mostly do) but not because they could not post in French. And it is relevant because the initial poster wanted to know about the board and language. I gave as closed to a mesurable reference point as he could get. Facts, facts, facts...

No, I am not a separatist. That doesn't make me sit back and watch as the steamroller comes... Very proud of my heritage, and sad to see so many of you coming here and not seeing the unique richness of being able to communicate and truly partake in life here.

A word to the wise: anglicize and americanize any place you want but leave Montréal alone! For your sake too, you really want Amrerican class girls when you come up ?

 

[Maxima]

...I think that what may happen to some is that they feel their language is under attack and that their culture has been treated most unfairly...

What does that have anything to do with Merb? What does that have anything to do with an American writing a review or asking a question in English to get a reply in French? Since when an American writing a review in English is an attack to the French language / culture? If I was an unilingual French person and I asked you a question in French and you, being a bilingual person, choose to answer me in English.....would that be called lack of basic "savoir-vivre"?

 

[Maria Divina]

I thought you were more into Italian tall guys with black hair

That's really true that I adore Italian men ( not necessarily tall...with black hair.....), but, these are the reasons:

Generally, an Italian, when he is with a woman:

1- show that his family education is really good, he got such a way to live with well-mannered habits....
2-make her feel that she is the center of the universe at this moment...
3-is forgetting about all others things around him, and all his attention is getting on what he is doing....
4- is so sensual and strongly sexual....and he wants to have an explosion of pleasures for both.... ou la la..!!!


I just know that some other men are like that, wherever there coming, but, you know, I think, for the Italians, that's something in there genes... I just can't explain it.....

Of course, any other man who got those qualities is as well appreciated...
God yes!!!!!

I just don't care about the languages, and the country someone originate...I just care less....If we're able to exchange and to have fun together, that's the important...!!!

 

[EagerBeaver]

A word to the wise: anglicize and americanize any place you want but leave Montréal alone! For your sake too, you really want Amrerican class girls when you come up ?

For the 80th time already, this Board has no physical or metaphysical existence in Montreal, even though it may be largely about Montreal. The Board exists in cyberspace; its physical plant location is in Toronto, Ontario. The Board started as a purely English board with anglophone posters including yours truly who has been here since the very beginning, although a glitch in my account forced me to re-register with Fred's assistance in July 2003, at which time I lost my first thousand posts on the Board or so. And although that has changed there is no reason for local politics or even the local customs to impact upon the dissemination of information to members per the generally accepted rules and etiquette of the Internet which, along with common sense, are the rules that apply and control. Techman has already alluded to what those rules are; they should be obeyed and if not, the Mods must take action.

 

[Techman]

Hey sap! When did I put down the French language? Where? Even once? French is a language just like any other. No better no worse. It's just a language. When people try to base a movement on it, then I have a problem with it. When people use it to disrespect other people, then I have a problem with it. It's not the language that matters, it's the person who is speaking it.

You point to your famous poll results. 59 people voted that their mother tongue is French. 59 out of 27,005 board members. WOW! What a great majority!!! Your poll debunks absolutely nothing. Don't you see that the vast majority of members here simply don't give a damn about what language people use?

Why is the concept of simple respect over the heads of so many people here?

Techman

 

[Maxima]

I have read the same thing coming from you before about the "so-callled language of the Internet", welcome to the new world hegemony... The language of the Internet is the language of the audience. Most big Internet concerns now operate in many multiple languages.See 1st quote...

The poll simply debunks the myth that MERB (at least now) is composed of a majority of English people. I would venture in fact that a lot of posters post in English for the broader audience (as I mostly do) but not because they could not post in French. And it is relevant because the initial poster wanted to know about the board and language. I gave as closed to a mesurable reference point as he could get. Facts, facts, facts...

No, I am not a separatist. That doesn't make me sit back and watch as the steamroller comes... Very proud of my heritage, and sad to see so many of you coming here and not seeing the unique richness of being able to communicate and truly partake in life here.

A word to the wise: anglicize and americanize any place you want but leave Montréal alone! For your sake too, you really want Amrerican class girls when you come up ?

So is craigslist "Montreal". Shame on all of those francophone people who advertise in English on Craigslist "Montreal".

 

[Maxima]

...
You point to your famous poll results. 59 people voted that their mother tongue is French. 59 out of 27,005 board members. WOW! What a great majority!!! Your poll debunks absolutely nothing. Don't you see that the vast majority of members here simply don't give a damn about what language people use?

...
Techman

Just to remind people that MERB = Montreal Escort Review Board (sounds English to me, don't you think?)

At its inception, it was...{English}