[lg policy] Yeswehunt language policy (not kidding)

[Harold Schiffman]

Language Policy

The EU recognises explicitly that all national languages spoken in
Europe are “official” and have equal importance and weight. The
European Commission uses however only French, German and English as
its working languages and amongst those 3, English is increasingly
becoming the main communication tool for international contacts. This
is not because of lack of respect for other languages and their
cultural values but merely for practical reasons, as English has
become the most common second language worldwide, generally used in
the international tourism business (including hunting tours), for IT
purposes, in technical and scientific publications, and so on. Users
of other languages may deplore this and can disagree with such
development but it is a reality.

In order to facilitate contacts and networking between hunters
throughout Europe, yeswehunt will use five languages on its portal –
English, French, German, Italian and Spanish (also because roughly 90
% of European hunters use or at least understand one of these
languages). Registered Users of yeswehunt will have the choice between
these languages and even the freedom to use another language if they
want to do so for their own contributions but in that case they will
of course considerably restrict opportunities for establishing useful
contacts with hunters in other countries – one of the main purposes of
an international portal.

Whatever their origin, background, education or upbringing, hunters
speak one language, namely that of a shared interest in – and passion
for – nature, wildlife and outdoor activities, enjoyed in an
atmosphere of friendship and solidarity. And in order to communicate
effectively with each other, they are more than willing to do the
effort of using a language which is not necessarily their mother
tongue.

For yeswehunt it is clear that English is today indeed the most likely
lingua franca or vehicular language for communication within
communities, and that a significant proportion of European citizens
have at least a passive knowledge of it. That is why all portal Users
are strongly encouraged to express themselves in English, even if they
believe that their knowledge of that language is far from perfect. But
there is really no need to completely master Shakespeare’s language to
get a message across!

And yeswehunt further provides a complete multilingual hunting
glossary with virtually all words and concepts required for
communicating in a meaningful way about hunting with other Users. An
automatic translator is also provided so that the result, how
imperfect it may look for a linguistic purist, will make mutual
understanding even easier. What counts after all is the will to
understand each other. And hunters most definitely have such will…

http://www.yeswehunt.eu/en/miscellaneous/language-policy

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