Thread: Display 'Native language' in the user info

Since this is a language learning forum I want to suggest a modification displaying the native language of a user in the user info panel:


I do not know if it is even possible in vBulletin, but I've heard it is highly customizable, so I think this can be done.

The problem lies in the fact that if a non-Russian asks a quesiton it is often automatically assumed, that he or she can understand English. However, this is not always the case. Moreover, even though he or she might understand English as a second language, some other people might know their native language and provide an answer of better quality.
We've got a forum thread 'what's your native language' where people can say what their language is, but usually nobody looks through this thread to determine if, the person whom he's writing an answer for in English, in fact, can understand it. Normally, all people whom I see here understand it (out of no other option available, I'm afraid), but it will be much better if the the information that is really useful (unlike the total number of posts or reputation power) is displayed right here where we need it.

The idea makes sense in light of this being a language forum.
Here are the reservations though.

• A few people might be unsure what to put. I.e. people who moved to another country.
• It's not that unusual to be fully bilingual.
• Just because a person's native tongue is Russian doesn't mean he or she isn't able to provide very good assistance with English questions, or vice versa. Perhaps better than native speakers in some cases.
• It could get "political" or "ethnic " or whatever you want to call it. I.e. a few people might for example feel compelled to put "Ukrainian" even though they are just as good at Russian - just as an example. Or "Welsh" to make a statement, even though odds are they are much better at English in that case. This might cause confusion among people who don't know the background.
• Also we have all our "secret" friends from the political forum. They like to pretend they know everything about every area and are completely objective.If they had to state their native language their bias would be revealed and their little mystery game would be up.

OK. Would 'preferred language' suit better?
I do not pursue any hidden agenda here. I answered a forum post, clearly made by a non-Russian, but written purely in Russian.
At first, I started to write an answer in English and then stopped. 'Wait a sec, what if she would not understand English?'. I decided to write in Russian instead and asked what language was native to her.

1. Primary language: Ukrainian
2. Secondary language: Russian

Something like that.

Good idea, anyway.

Поддерживаю предложение, как бы оно ни реализовалось в итоге.

Идея отличная.
А как насчет такого варианта, или это TMI (too much information)? ))

Native language(s): English, French
Fluent in: Spanish
Studying: Russian

Хотя можно обойтись и одним "Native language", просто указывать там несколько языков (когда это применимо - для билингвов, например).

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Идея отличная.
А как насчет такого варианта, или это TMI (too much information)? ))

Native language(s): English, French
Fluent in: Spanish
Studying: Russian

Хотя можно обойтись и одним "Native language", просто указывать там несколько языков (когда это применимо - для билингвов, например).

Это можно добавить в User Profile. Здесь же имеется в виду индикатор, который показывает, на каком языке предпочтительнее общаться.

Мне тоже идея с индикатором родного языка по душе!

I think gRomoZeka's idea is good; it solves the problem that Ramil described, and provides interesting info as well.
I'd find it quite interesting to know what people's actual native languages are. I've been really surprised at some of the people who stopped by here and it's interesting to hear who wants to learn Russian, how far they got and what their motivation is. One thing that stood out is how many French people stop by.

In the case of people who study Russian and don't know English: If they can't speak English OR Russian, then this might not be the right forum for them. I suppose they can try the sub forums for specific languages but they are not often used!

There ARE forums on the internet for French/German/Swedish/Spanish/Polish speakers who want to learn Russian. Probably many more languages but those are the ones I've seen links to, or visited.
However they a bit less active than this one, and there are fewer native Russian speakers who use them.
So if the person isn't able to express themselves at all in either English or Russian then they should find a forum in a language they understand.

And here at this forum, the most appreciated people are the ones who are fluent in both Russian and English because they are the ones who can really teach others something....