Cyprus-Forum.com

[DemDem]

If this is a cyprus forum I don't understand why not writing in Greek (or the sms Greek Language) and only in English.... Ok English is a national language but this is a CYPRUS FORUM..... There are people in cyprus that do not know how to write or speak English.. I think that this is wrong and have to change.... I believe we have to write in our national Language and if someone wants to write in English is welcome......

[erolz]

If this is a cyprus forum I don't understand why not writing in Greek (or the sms Greek Language) and only in English.... Ok English is a national language but this is a CYPRUS FORUM..... There are people in cyprus that do not know how to write or speak English.. I think that this is wrong and have to change.... I believe we have to write in our national Language and if someone wants to write in English is welcome......

Surely you mean in our national languages of Greek and Turkish?

[DemDem]

YES WHY NOT..... Ok my mistake to say only Greek and not also Turkish but not only in English... This is not an English Forum.... IT'S A CYPRUS FORUM.... And the Administrator to put one person that speak Turkish and one person that speak Greek as a moderator so to control the thinks that would be written in Turkish and Greek Language also.....I believe this could increase the people that would like to register to CYPRUS FORUM ..............

[brother]

The administrator is currently working on that.

[Aris]

Hello DemDem,

The issue you raise is a controversial one without a single correct answer.

The ability to write in Greek and Turkish in addition to English is indeed something that could increase the number of active members. It would also seem more patriotic to do so.

There are two main problems with this:

1)It would lead to the creation of 2 (or even 3) separate groups within the forum. A Turkish Cypriot would not be able to read and reply to something posted in Greek and vice versa.

2)It could lead to some confusion. An initial post in English could get replies in all three languages. In the end nobody would be able to follow the discussion.

I also suspect that such move (allowing Greek and Turkish) would reduce the average quality of posts since a lot of early teens would be able to participate.

No forum can be perfect for everybody. I believe other forums exist that use Greek or Turkish as their main language. Nobody can restrict internet users from using other forums in addition to Cyprus-Forum.

If you believe that the already existing Greek/Turkish forums in Cyprus are not good enough for what they do, then we might consider creating 2 more forums: a Cyprus-Forum.com/Greek and a Cyprus-Forum.com/Turkish where each forum will have its own page but they will all use the same member base. (actually I have to check if this is possible with the forum script we use here)

Thanks

[erolz]

Firstly I should declare my 'bias' as I speak or write neither Turkish or Greek, only english so any forum based on anything other than english would exclude me by default.

I think Aris' points are valid.

There are currently many Greek language forums and Turkish laguage forums related to Cyprus. For me this forum performs a useful role in that it allows me to communicate with both TC and GC (all be it only those that also speak / write english). I would be bereft of this ability without this forum and as such would not want to see it change it's language policies.

[michalis5354]

Firstly TCs do not understand Greek and GCs do not understand Turkish. The fact that this forum is written in English , helps both groups to understand each other in a language that is internationally spoken and understood. What is more this forum is visited not only by Gcs and Tcs but also by other nationalities.

My opinion is that it will be totally useless to change the language since it will separate again the Gcs and Tcs and kick out all the other nationalities(tourist , foreign students etc) who are willing to participate!

[michalis5354]

Firstly TCs do not understand Greek and GCs do not understand Turkish. The fact that this forum is written in English , helps both groups to understand each other in a language that is internationally spoken and understood. What is more this forum is visited not only by Gcs and Tcs but also by other nationalities.

My opinion is that it will be totally useless to change the language since it will separate again the Gcs and Tcs and kick out all the other nationalities(tourist , foreign students etc) who are willing to participate!

[brother]

I secound that motion put forward by my fellow forum users erolz and michalis.

[city]

I also agree with the opinion of erolz and think that Aris points are very important. I'm german, don't speak any Turkish and only a bit of Greek. Definitely not enough to be able to follow any conversation in a forum.
Using other languages than english would exclude me from the forum.
And also for many other international users that are searching for help and advise the forum would maybe not as useful anymore as it is now.
And foreigners, living in CY could not answer questions anymore (even though they might know the answers) when they do not understand the question. So a lot of useful input would get lost.