Forum language

[ellocoloco]

A recent post by Pirlouit95 has been admonished by a moderator for not being written in English.

 

The forum guidelines and rules don't seem to mention any restriction on use of languages other than English. Surely restricting this forum to English is alienating a significant number of Hornby's customers?

 

Hornby are not just responsible for OO UK models these days and I'm sure the heads of Hornby will be thrilled if customers/consumers/fans of Joeuf, Electrotren, Rivarossi, and Lima, join in the forum to discuss their love of the product, and any help they may need to get the most from it. This website serves as a shop window and point of sale for all Hornby's railway brands - N, TT, HO, OO and the big one! It can be viewed across the world just as Hornby's products are sold across the world.

 

It might make moderators jobs more easy if everyone posts in English, but Google translate works both ways and if a member wishes to post in a language other than English this should be welcomed. It will most likely limit the replies and help they receive, but in the long run it will be beneficial for Hornby if this forum reflects the international nature of their brands.

[RB51]

I don't think that RDS has "admonished" anyone or suggested that only English is used. On more than one occasion we have translated to English for overseas posters and encouraged them to "do their best" and we'll figure it out [usually] and this is what has happened in this instance.

 

It has also been the case that translation back into a mother tongue has been provided and is usually accurate enough for the meaning to be grasped. That has also happened in this case.

 

Pirlouit95 has now made their own discovery about how to translate on the fly on a mobile phone.

 

R-

[96RAF]

As you say they may not get many replies, at least not from UK members.

 

Many forums request posting in English only unless there are very distinct subject matters unique to a product or country. E.g Rocrail forum has some separate language sections, but the main forum is run in English even though the owner is German and his moderators are generally of continental origin.

 

In the case you cite the Hornby International range could well draw separate audiences, but if you look at the posting history of that section there ain’t that many such posters that I can identify.

[LCDR]

As an international product it would be inappropriate for a Hornby forum to restrict language to English, although it does create some problems when the majority of contributors tend to be in the UK, USA and Australia.

 

What might be useful is to incorporate a translator application within the forum for people to use although of course there are such things on line and within word processor programs which are easy to access.

 

In my opinon (for what it is worth) we should encourage participation from as diverse a fan base as possible

[Yelrow]

merci, beaucoup. jean

[CitizenOllie]

 Maybe a built in translator can be automatically be built into the forum?Naturally we would need to know how many foreign speaking citizens are out there...Naturally if we want to attract foreign train collectors we may as well query...ONLY two currencies...?

[2e0dtoeric]

While not MODEL rail, a cab-ride vlogger on You-Tube insists on English being used in her chat-room, even though she is Norwegian! (although she does make the occasional comment to someone in her own language). I gather that some of their training is done in America, so English is a requisite for potential crews.

[Jimbo1707820979]

@ LC&DR   I totally agree with you. There is also the "breaking the ice" factor and making welcome the fans whose mother language is not English. The message should not be "Shout loud enough in English and they will understand you" 😆