Volunteers wanted

[iguanamon]

Thanks, Serpent. I will write it better the next time. In my proposed section on learning approaches, I'd love to see as many longtime forum members as possible contribute. Whether we disagree or not with an individual's approach, this kind of information is valuable to new learners.

I'd also like to see members volunteer to share their story in a special section perhaps called "Language learning, my story", i.e.: "why/how I got into language-learning", "why I enjoy learning languages" and "what I get out of learning languages". This could and should include not only polyglots, but even people who have only learned one second language to a high level. There are some very inspiring stories out there that need to be told and shared.

With static content provided by longtime forum members who are identified as such in the signature, i.e. (Serpent- language forum member since x, founding member this forum LL). This will lead more people who are searching for information on how to learn a language and perhaps keep the forum alive long after most forums are a thing of the past. New members = new life and long er life for our forum. If we can get them here, they'll see the value, stay and contribute.

Think of all the people who still know nothing about DLI Gloss and Lyrics Training!

[James29]

Don't forget we are talking about a language learning forum! International libel lawsuits? Non-profit incorporation? Group fundraising? Ownership by committee? Concerns of co-mingling funds? Piercing the corporate veil? Everyone here has good intentions, but you are making this WAY too complicated to the extent that you are trying to find answers to problems that simply don't exist. Keep it simple.

[Serpent]

FX already kept it simple
If problems seem real to others, chances are they do exist. Of course one might mistake something else for the real problem, but I trust emk &co on that.

[tommus]

Clearly we would like to have our very hard-working moderators and leading contributors here be able to concentrate on language learning, and not be burdened with lots of bureaucracy, monetary issues and legal concerns.

Maybe we should set our sights higher, with a greater vision for our future. Maybe there are other options.

Could we find a major university that would host our site, as an adjunct to their language programs? One that comes to mind is the University of Texas, specifically their Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL).

http://www.coerll.utexas.edu/coerll/

Could we approach the United Nations to host our site as a way to promote international cooperation and communications through language learning? Surely the heritage of HTLAL and our vision for the future would be impressive to the UN. Perhaps UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), specifically under their Educational theme.

http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century

Another possibility is the European Union. As one example, the European Parliament has a huge vested interest in language capabilities. Perhaps the European Commission language learning portal is a possibility.

http://ec.europa.eu/languages/inspire/3110-language-learning-portal_en.htm

Such organizations might be extremely eager to host our community, at little or no cost to them, and with the work and the language learning excitement being provided by us.

Such possibilities provide a way to acknowledge and use the legacy of HTLAL and the contribution of FX, by building an even better international language learning environment that will serve our community and the world for years to come.

[Serpent]

Yep, I'm sure they would love to host discussions on how much of the mainstream teaching is crap

[tommus]

Yep, I'm sure they would love to host discussions on how much of the mainstream teaching is crap

If you are referring to the University of Texas, I think that comment is unfair. I am not specifically knowledgeable about their in-house courses, but UTexas has excellent, free, online resources, and have had for years.

[Serpent]

I was referring to all three. Even if they provide some great materials, they still tend to believe in the traditional teaching. The fact is that we do have such discussions. Do you think they would be happy with that? How often do we tell people not to get a language degree?

[Jar-Ptitsa]

The European Union??????

the United nations?????

I thought that this was a forum for the informal langauge discussions, conversations in your languages, learning infos and tips etc. Not the bureaucratic laws and regulations.

[zenmonkey]

Don't forget we are talking about a language learning forum! International libel lawsuits? Non-profit incorporation? Group fundraising? Ownership by committee? Concerns of co-mingling funds? Piercing the corporate veil? Everyone here has good intentions, but you are making this WAY too complicated to the extent that you are trying to find answers to problems that simply don't exist. Keep it simple.

James, as much as I like the idea of keeping it simple - running a site for an extended period of time means assuring continuity in managing that site. It seems to me (and I am not part of the admin or mod team) that they are doing exactly that - looking at the lightest solution that does not create significant overhead, allows donations and keeps the likelihood of someone disappearing with the keys to the place less likely.

The problems that exist are:

- how do we allow payment to the site to keep it running.
- how do we keep a situation like HTLAL from occurring.

The legal risks are real - with regards to content from the old site or even critique of language learning product xx that we tend to openly critique. Should the guy administrating the site have to carry any risk from the words of others?

[tommus]

I was referring to all three. Even if they provide some great materials, they still tend to believe in the traditional teaching.

If we believe in promoting language learning, maybe part of our vision should be "educate" these kinds of institutions that use traditional teaching.

The fact is that we do have such discussions. Do you think they would be happy with that? How often do we tell people not to get a language degree?

I doubt if these large/huge institutions have any opinion at all on our methods and opinions. But they do have an interest in language learning.

In another post, there are concerns about us being over-regulated if we were able to use these institutions to host our forum. Again, I doubt if they care at that level of detail. And if they want to regulate us, then we would not proceed with that option.

My interest was in suggesting some options that might relieve the legal and financial challenges, especially for our moderators, and in suggesting a vision we might wish to consider.