Let us retire to our respective corners

[YouVantOption]

and each speak our own language, ok?

French people: Please stop murdering the English language, the language of Shakespeare and Wilde.

It hurts my eyes when I read stuff like

"This isnt only about it...but in a professionnal sight, Im loosing money with this pratice..."

or now, for posterity on a agency website:

"Against witch team habs should play on first round ?"

Agencies: Please get someone who speaks English to write your English copy. If you are trying to attract English clients, it is a nice idea to not massacre the language.

failing that, Moliere wrote well, too.

 

[Merlot]

and each speak our own language, ok?

French people: Please stop murdering the English language, the language of Shakespeare and Wilde.

It hurts my eyes when I read stuff like

"This isnt only about it...but in a professionnal sight, Im loosing money with this pratice..."

or now, for posterity on a agency website:

"Against witch team habs should play on first round ?"

Agencies: Please get someone who speaks English to write your English copy. If you are trying to attract English clients, it is a nice idea to not massacre the language.

failing that, Moliere wrote well, too.

Hello YVO,

Considering most of the participants on this board are those whose primary language is French, and who do extremely well with English, far, far better than most of those of us whose first language is English when we try French, I find your comment far out-of-line. Why try to make this an issue. This is much different than one person responding in another language to another person who doesn't speak or understand it.

The primarily French-speaking population of the board is doing great with English and I find it ridiculous to write even one letter of criticism at all, never mind that so few of the primarily English-speaking members can't return the favor with any real competency in French.

Let's not have another language war over this extremely unfair post above. There is no call for such a post when the French-speakers are doing so well, and doing all of us a favor easing all communications with their skilled use of English. And if YVO can't write in French without a translator as well as he wants French-speakers to write in English then he owes an apology. In my view he should apologize regardless for trying to make this "stuff" an issue and risking another war over it. Your suggestion is divisive and RIDICULOUS!

I for one greatly appreciate the skills and efforts of all those primarily French-speaking members who contribute to the board in good English without complaint about how so many of we English-speakers cannot return the favor at the same level...and never even try to do so.

Mods...with all due respect for "Free Speech", this will lead nowhere except another language war that has been done to death. I suggest this thread be closed or eliminated.

Vraiment,

Merlot

PS

YVO...you certainly do not represent anyone but yourself.

 

[YouVantOption]

And if YVO can't write in French without a translator as well as he wants French-speakers to write in English then he owes an apology. In my view he should apologize regardless for trying to make this "stuff" an issue and risking another war over it. Your suggestion is divisive and RIDICULOUS!


YVO...you certainly do not represent anyone but yourself.

I find it highly insulting when businesses try to sell me stuff but won't bother to address me in proper English. For example, the website noted in my earlier post. Why should I spend a dime with them, if they can't respect me, and my language well enough to pay someone to write it correctly?

Or, how about those advertisements which are aired on television wherein they just to a voice overdub and use painfully stilted, grammatically incorrect English? Shall we settle for that, because it might be divisive to make mention of the incorrect use of the language?

You assume most people here are French. That was not my experience meeting people at GTs.

Fact is, CBC gets it right. C'est La Vie, bernard St. Laurent's show about Quebec culture has ample French as its content. French folks speak French on the show. OMG! What a concept. They express themselves more ably and correctly than in a language that is not their own.

I have ZERO problem with French folks posting in french here. I don't see that as divisive, at all. I see that as encouraging them to post so that I can improve my French reading, and so that they can more clearly express themselves.

Your politically correct bleating to the MODS are misplaced, and lame.

 

[Dr Edgar Who]

Agencies: Please get someone who speaks English to write your English copy. If you are trying to attract English clients, it is a nice idea to not massacre the language.

VYO : Why provoke people, you must have noticed that some people are very, very, very sensitive about this stuff?

Anyway, I think MERBites should post in broken english if they wish.
Only way to learn to write in a new language is to practice, right? And it allows local francophones to communicate with out-of-towners who are generally uniligual.

That said, gotta agree for the agencies : please put in a little effort to get it right, your english copy is often a disaster.

 

[Merlot]

I find it highly insulting when businesses try to sell me stuff but won't bother to address me in proper English. For example, the website noted in my earlier post. Why should I spend a dime with them, if they can't respect me, and my language well enough to pay someone to write it correctly?

Or, how about those advertisements which are aired on television wherein they just to a voice overdub and use painfully stilted, grammatically incorrect English? Shall we settle for that, because it might be divisive to make mention of the incorrect use of the language?

You assume most people here are French. That was not my experience meeting people at GTs.

Fact is, CBC gets it right. C'est La Vie, bernard St. Laurent's show about Quebec culture has ample French as its content. French folks speak French on the show. OMG! What a concept. They express themselves more ably and correctly than in a language that is not their own.

I have ZERO problem with French folks posting in french here. I don't see that as divisive, at all. I see that as encouraging them to post so that I can improve my French reading, and so that they can more clearly express themselves.

Your politically correct bleating to the MODS are misplaced, and lame.

Well YVO,

No matter how you explain it, your suggestion that everyone write only what they can write well or perfectly, is rude, insulting, and out-of-line. A lot of English speakers write their own language poorly in the first place. If you can't stand the existence of writing mistakes then you will never be happy on any board in any language.

How do you know the people you met in Montreal were not primarily French-speaking? Did you do a survey? I have met a number of people whose first language is French, but who speak English so perfectly in grammar and accent that they are superior to the average sloppy English speakers.

So you "have ZERO problem with French folks posting in french here." How gracious! Bravo...bravo...for your generosity by not insisting that they post in Chinese since you don't like their English...lol!

The fact that French-speaking people make such a willing effort to write in English and generally do very well is a great credit to them and a huge favor to us. The fact that you want to complain about these efforts that help us so much is a great detraction from your credibility.

But the real problem is the divisiveness this could cause. The mods should close this thread because it's a rude and divisive suggestion, and the fact that you chose to make an issue of this is what is truly "lame".

Many Jeers,

VYO : Why provoke people, you must have noticed that some people are very, very, very sensitive about this stuff?

Anyway, I think MERBites should post in broken english if they wish.
Only way to learn to write in a new language is to practice, right? And it allows local francophones to communicate with out-of-towners who are generally uniligual.

That said, gotta agree for the agencies : please put in a little effort to get it right, your english copy is often a disaster.

However, when in business professionalism is to be expected. YVO is out-of-line going after general posting, but businesses should "get it right" when advertising in any language. Otherwise, that is sloppy and insulting.

I want to see what Mazingerz thinks of all this, now the only problem with this is he will post in french and i won't know what the hell he is saying

This will only prove there are bad manners on both sides, and it's quite a different issue when one poster just refuses to do what he is fully capable of doing, compared to those who are willing to do all they can.

ish,

Merlot

 

[jeff jones]

I want to see what Mazingerz thinks of all this, now the only problem with this is he will post in french and i won't know what the hell he is saying

 

[Azamat]

I find it highly insulting when businesses try to sell me stuff but won't bother to address me in proper English. For example, the website noted in my earlier post. Why should I spend a dime with them, if they can't respect me, and my language well enough to pay someone to write it correctly?

Or, how about those advertisements which are aired on television wherein they just to a voice overdub and use painfully stilted, grammatically incorrect English? Shall we settle for that, because it might be divisive to make mention of the incorrect use of the language?

You assume most people here are French. That was not my experience meeting people at GTs.

Fact is, CBC gets it right. C'est La Vie, bernard St. Laurent's show about Quebec culture has ample French as its content. French folks speak French on the show. OMG! What a concept. They express themselves more ably and correctly than in a language that is not their own.

I have ZERO problem with French folks posting in french here. I don't see that as divisive, at all. I see that as encouraging them to post so that I can improve my French reading, and so that they can more clearly express themselves.

Your politically correct bleating to the MODS are misplaced, and lame.

GTs are far more credible than anything

 

[La Femme]

YVO, I'm not sure if your rant concerns only "business people" or also "regular people".

Please clarify this for me. I don't want to give you crap without a valid reason.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Please get someone who speaks English to write your English copy. If you are trying to attract English clients, it is a nice idea to not massacre the language.

I share your feelings & your suggestion isn`t a bad idea. As a matter-of-fact, i`ve spent the past 8-9 years helping out sps & agencies who were building their websites by correcting their grammar & i`d suggest sentences they could use. I even helped out in the photography dept. at times (many photographs you`ve seen over the years were mine, but i never told anyone), which i must admit was more fun to do than simply correct texts.

Being a former high school english teacher at one time, bad spelling tends to irritate me at times, even though i`m quite aware that when it comes to correctly spelling words, it`s either you have it or you don`t. Here`s what i found this morning on the `new` webpage of a future companion who speaks mostly english (and sometimes greek):

one of my passion is modeling wish i cherish deeply and my job is being a pornstar because I`ve always love it and it comes naturally for me...You`ll understand that with these three occupations, my time is precious and needs to be well planned and taking care of

My problem with the paragraph above is that whoever wrote this obviously doesn`t speak the same language as the person the website is about, yet the whole website tries to make it seem that she`s the one who wrote this stuff. Is it that difficult to find someone to re-read what you wrote? Another thing, i also hate having to re-read a paragrah over & over in order to figure out its meaning. I once told a future indy that they key to a nice looking website is to make it look as professional as possible. This starts with proper spelling. My exact words: ``I know many people likely don`t give a shit about this stuff, but there are some people like myself that do.``

 

[jeff jones]

Being a former high school english teacher at one time, bad spelling tends to irritate me at times, even though i'm quite aware that when it comes to correctly spelling words, it's either you have it or you don't. This starts with proper spelling. My exact words: "I know many people likely don't give a shit about this stuff, but there are some people like myself that do."

Beeing a formar studant whoo flunkked oout off highe scool englissh i gets irretated whan someonee cerrects my speling

 

[Doc Holliday]

Beeing a formar studant whoo flunkked oout off highe scool englissh i gets irretated whan someonee cerrects my speling

Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!

 

[metoo4]

YVO should definetly find a hobby outside of the realms of this board. One more useless, pointless thread started by him but now, not content to just start bullshit thread, he decided to stirr the shit!

YVO, if you have any issues with the orthograph or grammar of peoples on this board, please feel free to go to another board where the level of conversation will be better suited to your requirements. A "blue board" comes to mind and your useless threads will likely be appreciated there.

This thread is a good example why some french-speaking peoples becomes extremist: an english-speaking person who is so superior, or so he think, he will not go "down" (in his opinion, it's going down...) to the level of those who dare TRY to use a second language since, in it's mind, this would be a sign of weakness and, in his opinion, these peoples are torturing his poor language.

Guess what YVO the Bozo! Whoever won't try to learn or is looking down on those who try to learn is way below those who try. If anybody should be made fun of, it should be you, with your rigid mind who doesn't even have the flexibility to accept others.

Don't bother answering, I won't bother replying.

 

[La Femme]

metoo, if YVO only refers to business people, he does have a point. I have a hard time taking seriously any business who does not make the effort to make sure their websites is written in proper French and English.

If he is speaking about people in general, than I understand why you are mad and I second you (although I do not feel that YVO is a useless poster. I think he makes interesting contributions).

French is my mother tongue and I know my English is far from being perfect but I really do my best to make as little mistakes as possible. Isn't it what matters?

 

[JustBob]

"As a young boy, Adolf Hitler had a dream: a dream of a world free of the stain of dangling participles and the mongrel menace of misplaced modifiers. It was a good dream..."

Grammar Nazi:

A term given to one who incessantly corrects the spelling/grammar/usage of others. While the label is certainly an apt one, it is rarely, if ever, effective in its intended role as a sort of mini-invocation of Godwin's Law, because true Grammar Nazis, like their Teutonic forebears, have absolutely no qualms about their dedication to their fascist cause and their obsession with purity and order. "If the proper use of 'who' and 'whom' makes me a Nazi," thinks the Grammar Nazi, "then it is a fair price to pay for the cause—and if a few half-assed constructions and poorly structured interrogatives need to die in the gas chambers for that same cause, then so be it, for it is a good cause."

 

[YouVantOption]

How do you know the people you met in Montreal were not primarily French-speaking? Did you do a survey? I have met a number of people whose first language is French, but who speak English so perfectly in grammar and accent that they are superior to the average sloppy English speakers.

So you "have ZERO problem with French folks posting in french here." How gracious! Bravo...bravo...for your generosity by not insisting that they post in Chinese since you don't like their English...lol!

bt

Met in Montreal? WTF are you talking about? You said people who post HERE, on MERB, on THIS BOARD.

YVO, I'm not sure if your rant concerns only "business people" or also "regular people".

Please clarify this for me. I don't want to give you crap without a valid reason.

Business people.

YVO should definetly find a hobby outside of the realms of this board. One more useless, pointless thread started by him but now, not content to just start bullshit thread, he decided to stirr the shit!

By all means, point out all the other useless pointless thread I have started.

This thread is a good example why some french-speaking peoples becomes extremist: an english-speaking person who is so superior, or so he think, he will not go "down" (in his opinion, it's going down...) to the level of those who dare TRY to use a second language since, in it's mind, this would be a sign of weakness and, in his opinion, these peoples are torturing his poor language.

Yeah, you're right. My comments, and those like them would excuse the assassinations, kidnappings, bigotry, and prejudice the people of this province have inflicted on those who aren't pur laine, or parrots who dare to speak English, or those who wish to read a sign in English, or the American executives who had the ego to want their kids to be educated in their native tongue.

My bad for all the evil that comes from posting here, it is clearly my fault.

The best part about all this is, I know someone very well who hobnobs with all the mucky-mucks in the PQ, and the sad reality is that they are all cynically running in that party so they can make their MNA pensions, none of them actually believe in any of the separatism crap anymore, they are in it for the money.

I suppose it might melt the minds of some here to find out that I actually voted PQ, for Rene Levesque when I had the chance.

 

[Mod 8]

Members of MERB are allowed to post in the language of their choice, English or French. They are encouraged to post replies in the language of the original poster when answering a question if possible but this is not a rule. We do not check for grammar and do not intend to start doing so. If anyone has a problem with the language or quality of grammar on any advertisers' web site, I suggest that you take it up with them directly.

Before another language war breaks out, this thread is now closed and will be removed later.

Mod 8