Re: [TALK] Languages

CRYLUX (pdo...@metz.une.edu.au) wrote:
: Diane Wenner (pix...@netcom.com) wrote:
: : CrashCat (Cra...@worldnetoh.com) wrote:
: : 
: : : On Saturday, June 08, 1996, Mike Cinpinski wrote...
: : : > Timothy L. Lloyd wrote:
: : : > > 
: : : > > If you Look through this newsgroup it is all in one language
: : 
: : Has it occurred to anyone that ascii art looks the same in ANY language?  
: : Why shouldn't someone post in German?  Lots of people who aren't from 
: : Germany speak German; it's one of the major science languages.  If you 
: : can't read German, skip over it.  Gad, let's have some tolerance here; 
: : English is not the only language in the world.
: : 
: : Diane
: : 
: On averages more people speak English than Germen but it is not a major
: science languages

The only reason German is no longer as major a science language as it was 
is that most German scientists now publish in English.  Nonetheless, 
there are still several major science journals that are published in German.
However, the issue here is not language; the issue is tolerance of diversity 
within the internet community.  

The majority of posts to rec.arts.ascii and alt.ascii-art are requests for 
art and actual art.  From time to time there is discussion on a topic--like 
this one, for example. A piece of Normand Veilleux's art looks exactly 
the same to most people whether they speak English, Chinese, Russian, 
Spanish, or Arabic.  

One can learn a lot about ascii art by examining the work of those who do 
it well:  how they achieve depth and perspective, how they make curves.  
Since ascii is visual communication as opposed to something that requires 
a lot of communication in written or spoken words, it is an ideal place 
for the international community to meet on fairly common ground.  
 
 Greek and Latin beat it with English

No, it is the Greek and Latin roots that are used to make words in 
English. The great reason for the richness of the English language is 
that parts of languages from all over the world have been incorporated 
into English.  

>As well a lot of : science words are greek or latin. 

It is true that tradition dictates that the words used in the taxonomy of 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms be Latin or at least have Latin 
endings. 

...........................................Now to be true full English
: or any other language that science is writen in will contain Greek and
: latin in places. Also all science groups I know on internet chat
: in English as it is the most comon languages world wide. 

No, it isn't.  More people speak Chinese than speak English.  English is 
a very dominant language among the scientific community.

.........................................................Of course
: if another language would get world wide and bigger than English
: then it would replace English as the most common language used
: in science.

: I dont say that people who use german here sould get into trouble for 
: using it. 

I am happy to hear that! ;-)

.............But they must understand that a few people might get
: upset(Ie they can not read it so dont understand what in hell
: it means). I wish that a I knew where to get a freeware language
: Translator as I can read german with a help of a german to
: english dictory. I had to do one year of a language at my 
: school and the only one offered was german(ie I only
: know the basics no more).

Why should people get upset because they can't read a post?  Consider all 
the people in the world who do not speak English; should they get upset 
because we don't translate all our posts into Chinese or Hindi or 
whatever language they do speak?  Why do you think that English speaking 
people have more rights on the Internet than non-English speaking 
people?  

If someone has made a good piece of ascii art, I would like them to post 
it.  If they have something to say about it, but speak only one language, 
then I would like them to say what they wish in whatever language they 
use.  If I really want to know what they have to say, I'll find someone 
to translate.  In all likelihood I won't bother to try to get it 
translated, I'll just save their beautiful flower or whatever, enjoy it, 
and perhaps learn from it.  

: I would guess there are a lot of people from canda, U.S.A, 
: Austalia : and England who can only read and write in one language.
: Between these so call English languages there are parts that
: dont match. These difference are tolorance but a tolorance
: of what you can not read is slim.

What you express in the above paragraph is exactly what I am disagreeing 
with.  I see no reason to be immediately intolerant of something just 
because I don't read the language in which it is written.  What is the 
problem for you?  Is it fear?  When you can't read something because it is 
in a language foreign to you, do you immediately think "they" are 
plotting to to do somethng evil?

We have a better chance for world peace today than at any other time in 
history.  There are still plenty of things wrong in the world, but things 
are getting better.  People exchanging ideas and  having fun together 
with things like ascii art on the internet is a great way to bring the 
peoples of the world together.

It seems to me that you are supporting xenophobia (the fear of strangers 
and that which is strange or foreign).  Throughout history xenophobia has 
been responsible for many, if not most, wars.  Becoming acquainted with  
different languages, different cultures, and different ways of thinking  
enriches anyone's life and improves his/her approaches to problem 
solving.  With those experiences comes a greater chance of peace in the 
world. 

Diane


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!  Diane Wenner           Silicon Valley    ((~~~?)    !
! <pix...@netcom.com>   California USA   ))(@ @())   !
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