[Ubuntu-ch] About being positive and contribute instead of lamenting, was: Language

[Jaap Hoetmer]

Dirk, I do understand the issue you are trying to bring to the table, 
but with these comments you are not being helpful or constructive. This 
language issue is an issue for all of us, the mailing list is shared 
amongst people from all over Switzerland, be they French, Italian or 
German speakers. I myself am Dutch, and live in Geneva since 1997. I 
have joined the community where I live in because of my work and because 
I like it here; in order to fit in I had to learn the local language so 
I could communicate, get my things done, and make friends. That was not 
a trivial task and it has cost me quite a bit of time and effort, 
initially with a lot of help from my wife and people around me, but 
gradually I managed myself.

To follow on, this may be a very interesting (additional) opportunity 
for yourself, to help these people out by translating al that they need 
in order to be productive and give a helping hand. If they really want 
to help, having you as a translating guide could make all the difference 
they need in order to start helping. The language barrier is a barrier 
for all of us, and as we are part of the mailing list, we are its 
interfaces into the society around us, if that is required. The mailing 
list itself should never be the bottleneck, yet it needs to stick to one 
language that is (or can be) common to everyone else it disturbs the 
efforts. I do appreciate that the majority of Switzerland is 
German-speaking, but not a lot of people outside of the German speaking 
parts manage to communicate in German; however, English is in most cases 
the most sensible common denominator.

Hope this helps.

Jaap

Dirk Deimeke schreef:
> Hi Myriam,
>
> just one point to consider.
>
> The people about who I am writing are not subscribed to this list,
> because it is in English.
>
> It sounds pretty much like a hen-egg problem.
>
> You try to reach non-English-speaking people via a mailing list which
> is in English.
>
> Cheers
>
> Dirk
>
>