I'm curious however if any bilingual or multilingual members here belong to other sites which use their native languages. If so, do you get whines from English speakers complaining about English not being used there? If so, what is the general response?.
I'm a native Spanish speaker. My experience is limited but I've seen a few cases where an English speaker post a message in a local forum (in Spanish). The difference is the content. In most cases is a sex related message ("I don't speak Spanish, I need an escort", "Here for a few days, where are the hot guys", "Is it safe to go to X place?" etc.) I don't remember complains about English not being used, but what's the point of complaining if most of the Internet resources are in English anyway.
There is a limited supply of bulletin boards/fora in Spanish compared to the number of resources available in English. Hook-up sites are everywhere. A different story is to find a space to exchange ideas on religion, local/international politics, love, health, sex, sports, arts, law, etc. The disproportion of Internet resources in Spanish has more than one explanation:
- Legal barriers (some countries have no clear policies on adult content/Internet)
- Lack of GLBT NGOs or advocates willing to allocate resources for a local forum. Internet is expensive in a few places and a forum demands a significant investment and support. In many Latin American countries there are no equivalents of GLAAD, HRC, PFLAG, etc. More than a few local NGOs are available but funds are limited and an Internet forum is not very high in terms of local priorities.
- Lack of a local porn industry (most of the porn available is US/European based). I've never seen a local equivalent of Seth or JD willing to support the idea of a local forum in Spanish that goes beyond the logic of a hook-up site.
I'd love to have more alternatives in my language (the same might happen with JUBbers from Africa or Asia) but we tend to move very slowly in that direction. I can find sex in 5 minutes in English or Spanish but a different thing is to exchange ideas.
Not everyone agrees with the idea of a bilingual forum. The moment you decide to go bilingual you need moderators that speak the language and understand some of the nuances. Some local terms are not easy to translate and the recent discussion on the meaning of "
gilipollas" (in one of belamy's threads) reveal some of our differences.
pero lo damos por bueno igualmente.
