LL-L "Administrativa" 2002.09.20 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.SEP.2002 (08) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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From: Jack Driedger jimdee at sasktel.net
Subject: LL-L "Administrativa" 2002.09.20 (06) [E]

How many subscribers do you now have from various countries? How long has
LOWLANDS been in operation?
Jack, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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From: R. F. Hahn <admin at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Administrativa

Thanks for asking, Jack.

Lowlands-L has been in operation since April 1995.  Some members who joined
us during the first few weeks are in fact still with us, as are quite a few
who joined us during the first year.

For the past few years, Lowlands-L membership has been oscillating between
350 and 450.  This number range may well go up with time, as more and more
people get online and hear about us.  I would estimate what I would call our
"stable" membership at about 80%.  The rest consists mostly of those who
subscribe for a relatively brief period (some for as briefly as 15 minutes),
with a smaller number (ca. 5-10%) that falls in what I call the "in-and-out"
category (i.e., those who subscribe and then unsubscribe pretty much right
away, being replaced by others).  Some people subscribe without really
reading the information we display, and most of those will unsubscribe as
soon as they realize we do not offer what they had wanted.  Despite our
disclaimers and our emphasis on "language *group*, many people are only
interested in one of the languages, often hope we offer free language
tutoring, and they do not wish to be bothered with all the other
information, especially the "theoretical stuff."  I have come to the
conclusion that there is nothing I can do about this, no matter how many
bold-faced, flashing disclaimers and warnings I put onto our webpages.
Wishful thinking can be a powerful thing.  These also tend to be the very
people who do not follow the sign-off instructions, again because they do
not "read stuff."  I also get a fair number of subscription applications
either with incomplete names or under obviously assumed names.  Until now I
have responded and asked them to reapply properly, but I am no longer to
even bother, have added a phrase to this effect to our application form.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a current list of countries and cities.
This is so because, although I do keep copies of all applications, I cannot,
for time and effort reasons, keep track of who is and who is not currently
on the list, and I did not keep records of the earliest subscribers.  I can
tell you that over time we have had pretty much all countries of Western and
Central Europe represented (predominantly the Netherlands, Belgium, the
United Kingdom and Germany, also a good number from Northern Europe.  There
is a fast increasing number of people joining us from Eastern Europe,
especially Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,
with one or two in Moldova -- with few exceptions (e.g., Georgia, Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan).  We have several subscribers from Eastern Asia, mostly
from China (including Taiwan, Hongkong and Macau), Japan and Korea, also
some in Southeast Asia, especially from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand and the Philippines.  In Western Asia we have subscribers in
Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The Arab Emirates and Turkey (which
also qualifies as Asian, as does Russia).  I am pleased that lately some
people have been joining us from previously unrepresented Asian countries,
such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei and Mongolia.  We have a good
number of Australian and some New Zealand subscribers, on and off one or two
in Fiji.  We have several subscribers in Latin America (including the
Carribean, e.g., Puerto Rico and Cuba), mostly in Brazil, Argentina, Peru,
Colombia and Mexico.  We have a rather large group of subscribers in Canada,
all provinces being represented, predominantly British Columbia, Alberta,
Sasketchwan and Ontario.  The largest single country represented are the
United States of America, with most, if not all, states being represented.

Also, we have a considerable number of members who have joined us from what
for them is abroad or a new home country.  So the breakdown by country is
quite different from the one by ethnicity.

Thank you for your interest.

Friendly regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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