[governance] Communication Challenges [Brainstorming]

[Ginger Paque]

I really appreciate the thought and energy for these ideas. Note that when
we say 'Spanish', we really mean 'non-English', right? We all need to to
try to communicate--it is in our own best interests to understand and to be
understood.

However, there are already excellent discussion spaces for Spanish (other)
-language speakers and issues. I see a, b, and c as a time-consuming
additional list/step which may add distortion to our work. An 'ambassador'
would have a very difficult time expressing the voice of a diverse group.
How would that be different from the input of our current Spanish (and
other) -speaking members?

Does anyone know of another list that has multilingual discussions, or has
found a solution to this problem? How do Spanish (or other) language lists
handle non-Spanish speakers?

When I was on the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA)
Task Force for WSIS, we had 10 members, speaking 8 languages. We spoke in
English, as our common language, even though the sponsors/organizers were
Danish, and we were funded by the Danish UNA.

Very unfortunately, until automatic translators are better, I think that
for instance, the onus is on me to make myself understood on a Danish
mailing list. I think I must work to understand the intention, as well as
the words. I have also seen that, with few exceptions, well-meaning
questions are answered openly by the members of the list.

I would like to see more discussion on this topic.
Gracias!
Ginger

Ginger (Virginia) Paque

VirginiaP at diplomacy.edu
Diplo Foundation
Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme
www.diplomacy.edu/ig
**
**


On 15 February 2013 08:09, Avri Doria <avri at acm.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Interesting proposal.
>
> Is Spanish the only language we have this issue with?
> Or would this be a pilot that could/would be expanded to other languages
> if it worked well?
>
> One thing, I think that extra time would need to be built into the
> schedules to handle this.
>
> avri
>
> On 15 Feb 2013, at 05:17, Norbert Bollow wrote:
>
> > Sala <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> How can we turn this challenge of communication into an opportunity?
> >> Any thoughts?
> >
> > Maybe this experience of communication problems can serve as a
> > motivation to create a "Spanish Language Caucus" for
> >
> > a) discussion in Spanish of global information society issues;
> >
> > b) discussion of information society issues concerning specifically
> >   users of the Spanish language;
> >
> > c) selecting Ambassadors, trusted by the "Spanish Language Caucus"
> >   community, who able to communicate in English as well as in Spanish,
> >   and who would be willing to engage in global fora on behalf of
> >   Spanish speakers who don't have sufficient English language skills
> >   to be able to effectively engage directly
> >
> > ?
> >
> > Of course the Ambassadors would report back to the "Spanish Language
> > Caucus", etc.
> >
> > If this works well, maybe it'll set a good example that could be
> > followed by other language groups.
> >
> > Greetings,
> > Norbert
> >
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