Hi Cor,
|| A minute after that I wrote my answer "I got it" and did send that.
So you did. OE and the newsgroup is still being a bit wierd then. I saw
your 1:09pm message but not the 1:10pm one. ??
|| I think that we have to remember, that probably for the most
|| visitors at this newsgroup, English is not there major language
I've come to think that for the most visitors it <is> and that this is, in
fact, an English newsgroup, even if doesn't have 'en' in the name. Microsoft
is an American company. Many, if not most, of the assisters are native Englih
speaking. And there <are> regional newsgroups for other languages, (even if
English seems to be used a lot in them too!!).
|| You have to know, that non native English speaking people, sometimes
|| become a little bit sad about English speaking people, who only know
|| that language and are thinking that they are speaking the language of
the
|| world, while it is not. To be honest, we measure them about that.
Times change. There was time whan an English gentleman who could not speak
French was not considered civilised. Earlier still, an Englishman who couldn't
speak Norse was at a severe disadvantage in much of the country. The lack of
other languages of many English people is not because of an attitude that
English is the only language (though it may look like it ) but because the
disadvantage of not speaking these other languages is not strong enough to
warrant the effort. Times will change again.
The reason I made my point to Herfried, has little to do with attitudes or
anything, maybe it's even less about language than it may seem*1. It's purely
pragmatic. Many one-language people are intimidated by the sight of another.
It's just one of those basic human nature things - some people yes, some
people no, some people in-between depending on this, that and the other
(Gaussian distribution).
Herfried is here, I believe, because he get's a big kick out of helping
people. To give someone help which they may reject is simply to reduce the
percentages*1, that's all. Some people <will> fail to get the help because of
a lack of guidance*2. Herfried has said that that's up to them. And fair
enough. He helps many, many people. If he 'loses' those who fail to 'put the
effort in' it's a loss that he can afford - there's good vibes aplenty from
the others. I understand, too, an attitude that says "I'm working hard to help
you people, I expect you to make your contribution too". I have it myself at
times and I think "if you can't be bothered, why should I?". That's fair
enough too, for we are only mortals, even if some have achieved MVM*3 status!!
;-)
|| I have seen you helping someone in probably strange language
|| for you, about a script, for a woman. Did you know what
|| language you were writing?
Which topic was this one?
Regards,
Fergus
*1 It's more about human nature and statistics.
*2 Whether the percentage is low or too-low-to-care-about is not one that I
can judge.
*3 Most Valued Mortals.
www.mvms.org ;-))
)