Is this an English language forum?

[M18922]

Unfortunately the Irish language is dieing out because of lazyness. I live in one of the very few Gaeltacht areas where most things are done through Gaeilge. But with a lot turrism from Britain and America the language is being lost here aswell.
Níl sé go-maith.

I have been guilty of posting English threads in the past. I try to use correct terminology now though.

Cheers, Patrick

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Unfortunately many English speakers never bother to learn another language or go abroad expecting everyone else to speak English. It's embarrassing, arrogant and completely unnecessary.

I go to Germany or France and I make every effort to speak the native language. So far I've never gone hungry, always found a toilet and always had a roof over my head. I struggle on some things but the person I'm communicating with will always appreciate my effort to converse with them in their language and not expect them to switch their language in their country to mine.

On this forum we don't want to go the same way as my first lines. We want to encourage and help members to learn the correct names for their pieces. Yes, the correct names. A German badge for example was made in Germany and given a German name. We can translate that name into another language to gain the meaning but we shouldn't use that meaning in everyday use. We should make every effort to use the correct name for the correct piece.

It is our mentality of taking the easy option and our laziness that takes away from the hobby and actually takes away from history. If we continually ignore the origins of our collections we are guilty of erasing history and the terms and names will be lost to time.
If you make the effort to collect militaria or indeed anything else from times gone by and preserve it for future generations, you should also make the effort to preserve everything about that piece - including it's name. It's such a basic and easy thing to do.

Bravo.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

23 June 34 RZM circular. .jpgUntitled.jpgReiter .jpgembroidery of cuff titles June 1934.jpgSS PB badges June 1934.jpgRFSS model introduced. .jpgcatalog x2 1.jpgholbei Der Krämer, aus Ein Totentanz geschnitten von Hans Lützelberger um 1525.jpgalfred-rethel-1816-1859-auch-ein-totentanz-holzschnitt.jpgWehrkreise.jpgUntitled.jpgUntitledx.jpgcatalog .jpgAdrian's Saxon tour is also a fine example of why German is a living language, knowledge of which brings great benefits to those energetic enough to learn even some of it.
A vocabulary of two or three hundred words, especially the relevant terms is surely easy enough for most anyone in my experience.
My life is divided into two: the epoch from 1953 until 1972 in which I spoke no German; and the years since, in which I have used German every day, not the least to be an effective and focused collector.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

...and I do not use the digital translation thingies, which are a huge change from my youth when it was all done in the medieval manner.
I just spent a week in Potsdam working with my colleague on the translation of my book. We went line by line, sometimes going back and forth for half an hour over a single word.

[jimpy]

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"

I'm no expert when it comes to learning foreign languages, (I used to be able to order a pint in about 6 different languages when I was younger! LOL), but to me, and maybe I am being a bit naive here guys, it is common decency if nothing else, that you attempt to learn something of the basics of the native language if you are in a foreign country. Similarly, IMO, it seems sensible to me to learn the appropriate "native names" for items that you/we are collecting, even if you cannot pronounce the word correctly! LOL

Just my 2pennorth guys.

Regards etc
Ian D

AKA: Jimpy

[BOB COLEMAN]

No matter what one collects, your collecting skills will improve based upon the effort you put in to it. During the period I seriously collcected Japanese swords, I had to learn a new language for me and also have the ability to read kanji used in sword inscriptions. A difficult task as many kanji were done away with during the reorganization of the Japanese educational system following the war. He who wants everything spoon fed will never graduate from the level of a very basic beginner.
I would like to hear from the original poster of this threads as to what he thinks about these comments and do they reflect what he meant.

[Eric Zentner]

[QUOTE=BOB COLEMAN;714877]No matter what one collects, your collecting skills will improve based upon the effort you put in to it. During the period I seriously collcected Japanese swords, I had to learn a new language for me and also have the ability to read kanji used in sword inscriptions.

You had your wife as a bilt in teacher though, Thats not fair

Eric

[Friedrich-Berthold]

No matter what one collects, your collecting skills will improve based upon the effort you put in to it. During the period I seriously collcected Japanese swords, I had to learn a new language for me and also have the ability to read kanji used in sword inscriptions. A difficult task as many kanji were done away with during the reorganization of the Japanese educational system following the war. He who wants everything spoon fed will never graduate from the level of a very basic beginner.
I would like to hear from the original poster of this threads as to what he thinks about these comments and do they reflect what he meant.

I would like to hear from the person in question, as well, actually.
Another issue that causes me concern is the entitlement that pulsates in the many to levy requirements on the few who extend themselves over and over again.
Easy enough as a posture is that of endless critic without a positive contribution in terms of persistence as well as detail and service to others.
No one is entitled here to demand much of others without demonstrating their own authority through deeds.
I do not want to seem like an adherent of Ayn Rand, which I am surely not, but the puerile pouts of the parasites versus the pillars of this site are seriously out of whack.
Bob's point that many of these figures have no collection, no knowledge, and less good intentions is repeated each day.

[Wagriff]

Unfortunately the Irish language is dieing out because of laziness. I live in one of the very few Gaeltacht areas where most things are done through Gaeilge. But with a lot tourism from Britain and America the language is being lost here as well.
Cheers, Patrick

Not actually fair, though, to call it's cause as laziness. The several hundred year occupation by the English pretty well started a ball rolling that once implemented could not be practically stopped. After nearly 800+ years of forcibly suppressing and eliminating the Irish language, it has all but disappeared today-aside from a number of academicians and your Gaeltachts, as you said. The Statutes of Kilkenny of 1367 was one of the 1st openly determined efforts to eliminate Gaelic from Ireland, and after several painful (literally) centuries of these and other laws being forced upon the people, they have for all practical means succeeded.

In the meanwhile, I've been watching this discussion with considerable interest. I think that it's boiled down to a byproduct of the age of instant gratification. Many of us here have grown up learning the old hard way, but the next wave has never had such learning-they've always learned what they've needed to know by staring at a tiny computer screen in their hand and pecking at it with their finger tips. Quick information-and quite often very accurate. But the basic Hows and Whys, etc are bypassed in the process. It's akin to learning algebra by using a calculator. You get the right answer immediately, but have no idea as to How. Required school supplies now include a laptop computer. I've often wondered how you can Learn with such resources. But, today's generation would counter by asking "Why do we Need to learn? The answers are right There! You're just jealous because You didn't have it easy like we do!". Pretty much, the old generation could do Anything-from building a house to stripping down a car engine. Today's generation couldn't build a boiled egg without instructions, But...they Are excellent information finders. It's not "Learning" as defined by books, but what Is it? It seems to Work, somehow... It's a hell of a situation, and expressed quite well by another old school style learner-Albert Einstein "I fear the day when technology overlaps our humanity. It will be then that the world will have permanent ensuing generations of idiots."

[ObKrieger]

I think that it's vital to have at least a general understanding of German when it comes to collecting German militaria. If learning both Arabic and German have taught me anything about the world, it's that the language of a people directly reflects the mindset of the people. One can spend years studying German culture, and he or she will only know die Deutsche Leute on a textbook level. When you can understand the language, it opens your mind to a whole new world of what it means to be German. When it comes to the study of Nazi Germany, one should discard of his or her (particularly rampant) ethnocentrism, and see the years 1933-1945 from a German perspective.

Too many people forget that Nazi Germany wasn't simply the SS and the Holocaust. There was/is and entire culture associated with it. My study of German has helped me grasp an understanding of this culture.

As far as the idea of English being the primary language of this forum goes, I should note that the name of this site is 'Warrelics.eu', not 'Warrelics.uk'...