do you speak fluent french

[Spoons]

do you speak fluent french RossRoy? the french and german communitie certainly need support.

[Unregistered]

do you speak fluent french RossRoy? the french and german communitie certainly need support.

Actually, I am much more fluent in french, french being my native tongue. Though I consider myself very fluent in english too, almost fully bilingual. Dating an american girl for 2 years has that kind of side effect to a french canadian guy

[RossRoy]

Oops, that was me on that previous message. Damn! I thought I had set this cookie to stay on.. Guess I didn't

[Spoons]

yeh i thought your french looked a bit too perfect not to be native to you.

I won't put you on the spot, but if your interested in French support perhaps we could add a French support forum. I would like to see eventually a French and German Support forum.

In the mean time i just use google translate to figure out what is being said, however responding in french using google from english to french isn't really good grammer to say the least.

better to have someone who understands french grammer rather than just spelling.

anyhow no obligation to want to participate in French Support Foum Idea, i just thought i would run it by you if your interested.

Of course it would need Spoons official approval too. but just seeing if there is an interest there first.

[RossRoy]

i just use google translate to figure out what is being said

Hahaha You must get some very funny output from that Google translator Last time I used one of those, I thought I would save time on a translation job by copy and pasting a full english document into Google and then just proof read the output and make little corrections. Boy! It was such a bad idea! Google is only good for words translation. Just think of it, before they added some check into their code, trying to translate "Bill Gates" to french would give "Facture Barrière", so a bill and a gate hehe became a running joke at my school, especially since I was studying in Computer Science

Oh sorry, I guess I got WAY off topic here :D . Let's get back to it.

I certainly like the french support forum idea. The WEB is so lacking in good french support and the need is most probably there. Well just let me know whatever happens with that.

Ross

[Spoons]

yes getting info from google translations isn't reall good :cry:

I think if there existed French support it would eventually grow.

I used to deal with this french community when they were developing code for xoops cms, and they were always happy to help me install their stuff, and they were friendly. but when i asked about dbpoweramp player and french support from them a long time ago, I just got a blank look. a very "clicky" mob i think the french are :shocked:

the thing is they are into the music scene : http://www.clubxtrem.net/modules/accueil/

[Spoons]

I think they way I would see the french forum evolve would initially involve someone like yourself to be the first moderator for the french support. and then us non french speaking people would still answer question back in english but with the addition of you being able to answer in french also and or clarify what answer is needed if that's the case.

and in theory over time other french speaking people would also help out with replies etc...

all just a theory though.

[RossRoy]

Sounds good to me seeing as I am often lurking around on the forums here and I am always happy to help people out.

So if a french support forum is "go" from Spoon and I pass his little "Moderator Behavior Test", count me in

But just so you know, this really the first time in all the years I've been on internet that I really participate in a forum, so I don't know much about "moderating" a forum, you might have to give me some kind of guidelines to go about it.

[Spoons]

Thanks for your response RossRoy, here is a 3 page outline of what a moderator is and does: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/779

but don't get too scared about what you read as every forum community is different. however it is worth reading i though to get an insight on things.

and being new to forum participation makes it even better as you don't have any old bad habbits :D , there isn't really any hard and fast rules here, just one big learning curve.

[Spoons]

and i found this also: http://www.rivainc.com/newsletter_sh...oc_id_2822.htm

[size=5][color=#cc0000]Qualities of a Good Moderator[/color][/size]
[size=2]by Naomi Henderson, Founder & CEO[/size][size=3]S[/size][size=1]atisfied clients are one sign of a moderating job well done. However, client satisfaction is neither the only, nor a sufficient gauge of good moderating, and other factors must be taken into account. Personal standards of conduct must be met, research objectives achieved, and respondents' contributions acknowledged. Good moderators share a number of traits and skills that hold true whatever the subject under discussion or their personal style.[/size]

• [size=1]They express warmth and empathy, creating a non-threatening, accepting atmosphere that is picked up and ideally, also modeled by group participants.[/size]
• [size=1]They appear kind, yet firm, enabling a balance between control and permissiveness.[/size]
• [size=1]They are actively involved (but not ego-involved) in the discussion, but do not give away their own opinions, neither informing nor educating participants.[/size]
• [size=1]They pay close attention to speakers and are good listeners (paraphrasing, nodding, verbally acknowledging and remembering earlier comments), to counteract the common group trait of paying minimal attention to others-more attentive behavior can thereby be fostered in other participants.[/size]
• [size=1]They pursue understanding of meanings and intents, by not assuming positive or negative inflection, by not equating verbalizations with behaviors, by probing and rephrasing to get at latent and covert content, and by listening closely and allowing development of incomplete thoughts.[/size]
• [size=1]They demonstrate Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR), accepting the worth of each participant and all divergent viewpoints as relevant to the topic under discussion.[/size]
• [size=1]They link trains of thought and divergent comments into a cohesive whole, helping synthesize group meaning, summarize discussion to this point, and move the conversation forward by providing "signposts" for participants.[/size]
• [size=1]They demonstrate incomplete understanding (sophisticated naivet‚), signaling a need for more detailed or in-depth information, while not appearing to be faking ignorance. They express interest in new ideas, whatever their own level of expertise on the topic.[/size]
• [size=1]They encourage all group members (including the shy ones) to participate as fully as they are able, through non-verbal or verbal cues, timing of comments and tone of voice.[/size]
• [size=1]They have stamina, both physical and mental.[/size]

[RossRoy]

Hmmm after reading that document, moderating doesn't look as daunting as I thought it was, which is good! :D

So basically, all you have to do is show respect to the users, be available and participate as much as possible, know the rules of the forum and be on the lookout for abusers.

I should be able to handle myself in this context.

[Spoons]

that's it in a nutshell. now someone go and wake Spoon up, it's about 5am his time, he should be up by now? :D j/k

[RossRoy]

that's it in a nutshell. now someone go and wake Spoon up, it's about 5am his time, he should be up by now? :D j/k

And I should be going to bed, as it's almost midnight here :D

[Spoon]

Sounds good to me, sign him up and give him 'the short back and sides'

[Spoons]

what? no more having to put mod's in a wooden box over the week-end making them listen to acker bilk clarinate music? hehe lol j/k

all done