SmashWiki talk:Language policy

Support Roy  boy  X   Talk  17:33, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Neutral: I don't see an explicit benefit to having this, but it is a codification of something that is true about this wiki.  Docto rP a i n 9 9  17:39, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Support: I do agree with Doc on this. It's really not that important, but it's a good way to stress the fact that only people with a decent education of English can be here. Smash dude  10 17:52, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Neutral to support This is a minor thing and I'm mostly indifferent, but someone who doesn't know a half-decent amount of English should probably be editing wikis that are actually written in their first language, not another language they aren't fluent in. S c r 7 (talk · contribs) 17:54, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Neutral This is a clear straight out rule, although I think if a person would to come here and the very first page they saw was the main page, I bet they would already get the idea that this wiki's language is English. Per Scr7, DoctorPain99 and Smashdude10, its not really that too important compared to other policies. D o  t  s  (talk)  The Shiny red nose 19:14, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Yeah, it doesn't seem to have much of a purpose. I was a bit hesitant to support. Roy boy  X   Talk  20:06, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

To be honest, while this is written as "We're English, use that", it's more intended as "Saying you can't understand us is no excuse for your behaviour; saying English isn't your first language isn't either". Toomai Glittershine The Free 20:38, 15 April 2014 (EDT)

Anyone else? Roy boy  X   Talk  20:51, 16 April 2014 (EDT)

I don't like the last line that sums it all up, because it sort of sounds threatening. Awesome  Cardinal   2000  23:02, 16 April 2014 (EDT)

Support by Toomai's reasoning. I think this should also include the note of how all forms of standard English are correct here, i.e. UK and US English will not be switched to the other for its own sake. Nintendrone42 (talk) 17:38, 17 April 2014 (EDT)

In terms of implementing this, I'm neutral. Also Nintendrone, MoS already mentions that. :| MeatBall104: Get a load of this!!! 19:46, 17 April 2014 (EDT)
 * I know it's in the manual already. I was just mentioning that this supposed policy would theoretically be a good place to make another note of that, since they're both under the "use English" topic. Just a thought I had. Nintendrone42 (talk) 20:16, 17 April 2014 (EDT)

Neutral to Support I honestly don't know why you would be on the wiki if you can't speak English or how you can get to the wiki without knowing English and without the help of anyone else. Okay, maybe that didn't come out the way I wanted it to, but if this policy is made official, the wiki needs to find a way to tell people they shouldn't be on the wiki if they can't understand a lick of English and/or have no interest in speaking it, because I'm not sure telling them "learn English or leave" in English is going to cut it. Most importantly, what's the point if the people to whom this policy applies to can't even understand it? --EndGenuity (talk) 22:50, 17 April 2014 (EDT)

Neutral The pages themselves give away that it's an English Wiki. On the other hand, the ability to write English well is a plus when it comes to editing. So I can go either way. Berrenta (talk) 23:40, 17 April 2014 (EDT)

Oppose without other considerations. I don't think we should tell people that they can't be here if they can't write in English. While we of course don't want pages in other languages, someone who has English as a secondary language might well be put off by this, thereby removing possible good edits. Also, it should be noted that there are many users who most likely speak English fluently but write worse than someone who's primary language is not english. I would recommend that we ask that everyone edits in English in mainspace, but if someone is a little unsure of how to translate what they are thinking in their own language, why not let them put it on the talk page. For example, my Spanish is more than functional enough that if someone needed help working up a good edit, I'd have no trouble helping out. I'm not saying that people should be entitled to help with translations, but there's also no reason that we as a community should put a policy in place saying we won't help people who genuinely want to help the wiki. Clarinet Hawk (talk · contributions) 00:17, 18 April 2014 (EDT)

Support if it's an accent So is this American English or British English? Or either? If it's American, I'm fine with that since I'm American. If it's British, I guess I would have to add ou to words like "colour". If it's either, it's pretty much pointless because people who don't know English can't read English. SeanWheeler (talk) 08:28, 18 April 2014 (EDT)
 * It means either/or. British and American are effectively the same. And whilst I Support, I kind of agree with CH - people with English as a secondary should be considered as well. ScoreCounter (talk) 08:42, 18 April 2014 (EDT)
 * Either UK or US spelling can be used on the wiki; as mentioned above and in MoS, edits made just to change the accent are discouraged. S c r 7 Scr7 sig.png(talk · contribs) 08:47, 18 April 2014 (EDT)

CH made a good point, we can't discriminate against people whose mother tongue isn't English. Roy boy  X   Talk  09:55, 18 April 2014 (EDT)

Actually, I go back on my previous vote per CH. I'm Neutral to oppose, as this policy would not be that useful to non-English speakers, since they can't understand it anyways. Nintendrone42 (talk) 11:19, 18 April 2014 (EDT)

Is this really even a pressing issue? Roy boy  X   Talk  12:57, 18 April 2014 (EDT)


 * Yeah, is this a pressing issue? I highly doubt it. Would someone who speaks only Korean be on an English site? No, they'd easily get lost. I don't read Japanese wikis. Name one incident where a foreign person contributed here and he didn't speak English? That is why I wondered about the accent because it wouldn't make sense to make a rule that everyone's instincts would have followed no matter what. And if some foreigners come here, how is a written rule that they can't read going to stop them? If someone writes an article in spanish, we can easily revert the article. SeanWheeler (talk) 17:05, 20 April 2014 (EDT)

Agreed, there are very little users on the wiki who can't speak fluent English, let alone people who actually try to contribute. Still indifferent, but I don't really support this. S c r 7 (talk · contribs) 18:52, 20 April 2014 (EDT)

To be honest, if this was written in a way that sounded less douchey and threatening, people would probably be more willing to support it. Chuck Norris   19:30, 20 April 2014 (EDT)

It would still be an English wiki with Japanese translations for names only. ZeldaStarfoxfan2164 (talk) is bad for me 20:14, 20 April 2014 (EDT)

I say tag this as failed. Anyone else? Roy boy  X   Talk  22:41, 20 April 2014 (EDT)


 * Strong Oppose This is silly. If you spoke another language, how would you even find that page? Even if you got to the main page, you'd go straight back off it. All this is going to do is scare people with English as their 2nd and so on language into NOT editing, which definetly isn't good. Mkbw50 (talk) 07:37, 21 April 2014 (EDT)

Yeah, tag as failed. SeanWheeler (talk) 09:31, 21 April 2014 (EDT)