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Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:35 am
by smallwhite
Adrianslont wrote:
smallwhite wrote:Does "mother language" sound awkward and is this better? -

From a mother tongue to another tongue

I think your suggestion DOES sound better but...

Thank you. Nevermind the suitability, I've just always been wondering about the word "tongue" to mean language. I used to think it was archaic or plain wrong. But I checked the dictionary recently and now I know better :oops: :)

Sorry for not-exactly-on-topic.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:58 am
by Adrianslont
smallwhite wrote:
Adrianslont wrote:
smallwhite wrote:Does "mother language" sound awkward and is this better? -

From a mother tongue to another tongue

I think your suggestion DOES sound better but...

Thank you. Nevermind the suitability, I've just always been wondering about the word "tongue" to mean language. I used to think it was archaic or plain wrong. But I checked the dictionary recently and now I know better :oops: :)

Sorry for not-exactly-on-topic.

Mm, I’m not exactly young. On reflection I’m pretty sure “tongue” would seem old-fashioned, if not archaic, to my children. Somehow “mother tongue” seems more normal than just “tongue” to me - I use the expression “mother tongue” but I never refer to someone’s language as their “tongue”.

My impression is that “first language”’is much more common than “mother tongue” these days. Still, common enough for our tag line I would say - though I prefer something else.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 11:53 am
by Serpent
Adrianslont wrote: Maybe I’m overthinking that but there are plenty of people here who learn languages starting from a base that is not their mother tongue.
Agreed. There are people who are already bilingual, people who don't really feel like they have a single native language, people who don't have access to good resources in their L1, people who learn(ed) through immersion. There are communities where the education system misuses the term native language to make you feel guilty about not speaking the national/local language or not being good at it, even if it's not really your native language.

Besides, one of the main things we aim to explain to beginners is that you need to start thinking in L2 instead of translating from L1.

As for "first language", outside the English-speaking world it may mean your first foreign language.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:20 pm
by smallwhite
We can change the tagline, say, every 6 months so it's not so big a dilemma and new members get to write and pick new ones.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:37 pm
by tommus
"If you can't understand this sentence, you came to the right place!"

Have this sentence in the six United Nations official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) with a link to our Wikia with the phrase in as many more languages as we can manage.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:34 pm
by Serpent
I don't think this is technically possible. It's supposed to be one line, and it can't be a link either. (even if it's possible to turn it into a link, how many people will click it?)
Besides, we're very different from sites like omniglot.

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:39 pm
by tiia
I'd take suggestion 2 or 4.

Or some nonsense like "(About) languages and cookies."

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:29 pm
by tommus
"إذا 您 cannot comprendre эту frase, you came to the right place!"

EDIT: эту

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:51 pm
by Serpent
эту looks better near frase.
anyway if you can understand this, you're welcome too :lol:

Re: We need a new forum tag line! (brainstorming)

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:01 am
by tommus
Serpent wrote:эту looks better near frase.
anyway if you can understand this, you're welcome too :lol:

Thank you! I edited the correction.