151–160 of 260 posts
The reasoning behind it was more or less the same. It's not very active though and a good number of questions wouldn't meet SO standards (subjective ones, "list" questions etc.)
Programming specific I think is easier in English. I speak 3 languages and understand 4. Talking about programming, computer science and technology in non-Engish is awkward. It either is necessary to just use English terms anyway for every other noun or struggle with awkward translation of them. Things like kernel, doubly linked list, hash table, binary tree, greedy algorithm, they are all invented in English and whe…
I wonder how corporate programmers in non-english speaking countries communicate about programming. I would imagine that they use their local language for docs, commit descriptions, email lists, etc. I think most of the source code people can look at is for open source projects and they always go with english as the default even when there are mostly non-english speaking programmers. But what does it look inside priv…
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My dad (that is a excellent programmer, and tried very hard for 20 years already to learn english and failed) disagree with you.
And your dad's alternative would be what? To balkanize science and engineering? To create dozens of separate islands of knowledge? To slow the spread of knowledge, because everything deemed significant has to be translated to and from 20 languages to gain general currency? How is one or even a thousand persons' inability to learn another language an argument for how science should be practiced?
As technologists, maybe we could find solutions that, ya know, don't force massive, life altering requirements on billions of people?
"It’s almost impossible to feel like part of a community if you’re not highly proficient in the language. Even non-native speakers who are fluent enough to read posts in their second or third languages often aren’t comfortable enough to write in them." Wow, this is true! I am brazilian and you have no idea how much effort I put in writing every single comment here on HN. And the longer de comment is, the more stupid…
Personally? I think English is insanely stupid, inefficient, and dumb. I speak it because I have to, not because I want to, because everyone else does it. If you think trying to get breakout success in a market with, say, a software product is, try thinking of a way to create an "optimal" language (ie, glyphs only trace to possible human vocalization, but it covers the entire range - English doesn't, for example. And your words are a huffman tree - the most popular ones are the shortest, though that can only ever be realized when the language is conceived since the common vernacular shifts over time).
Now try to figure out how to get that market penetration.
"It’s almost impossible to feel like part of a community if you’re not highly proficient in the language. Even non-native speakers who are fluent enough to read posts in their second or third languages often aren’t comfortable enough to write in them." Wow, this is true! I am brazilian and you have no idea how much effort I put in writing every single comment here on HN. And the longer de comment is, the more stupid…
Luckily, English is a language that is tolerant of mistakes.
The thing is that the SO format is not suited for extended discussions. Its power lies and shows in brevity.
Like it or not - good working knowledge of English is a must if you consider yourself a professional. (In this field, of course; it's very specific).
If your English doesn't allow you to freely elaborate on the caveats of system architecture, working culture and whatnot, it's perfectly fine in my opinion and nothing to fret about.
But if you can't ask a brief technical question, or you stumble trying to answer one, that's a shortcoming that should be addressed. For your own good, nobody's else
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Luckily, English is a language that is tolerant of mistakes.
English speakers often aren't.
"It’s almost impossible to feel like part of a community if you’re not highly proficient in the language. Even non-native speakers who are fluent enough to read posts in their second or third languages often aren’t comfortable enough to write in them." Wow, this is true! I am brazilian and you have no idea how much effort I put in writing every single comment here on HN. And the longer de comment is, the more stupid…
Thanks for explaining this! I work with a few people in South America and they write "de" all the time in e-mails. I kind of figured that's why it happens.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And your dad's alternative would be what? To balkanize science and engineering? To create dozens of separate islands of knowledge? To slow the spread of knowledge, because everything deemed significant has to be translated to and from 20 languages to gain general currency? How is one or even a thousand persons' inability to learn another language an argument for how science should be practiced?
The assumptions, the arrogance, the blame passing, the lack of understanding of contexts not your own... You are basically impling all non-english speakers should be so very ashamed that they are holding back broad human progress with their stupid insistency in continuing to use their native tongue. Which I find absurd. (Btw, I only speak English). As technologists, maybe we could find solutions that, ya know, don't…
It's not hard to speak at least two languages and one of them should be English.
There is no solution as good as the whole world being bilingual.