English board?

CuLT

Sorry if this has been asked and vehemently abused before , but why is there no English board?

There's boards for all the other major languages, and english is one of the most difficult to use.

ecksor

Could be interesting. What sorts of discussions do you think would/should live there?

CuLT

Well, I believe there's quite a few things that could fall under this category.

Two examples,

Help on writing - in particular essay writing, it can be quite difficult to judge your own work before submitting it, for leaving cert and college students it should allow them to gauge their ability and improve upon it.

Debating/MUN - for debating it's nice to have a few illustrious quotes etc to throw at an audience.
MUN requires quite a bit of formal language, this could be broken down for people to get them more interested, when I first tried MUN the formality scared me away.

ecksor

Moving this to feedback/suggestions ...

This sounds to lean a bit more towards literary english than I would have expected from your request that it be under languages. And there is already a literature board ...

DapperGent

It would certainly be nice for people who don't have english as a first language to have somewhere to ask about grammer etc and especially Irish colloquialisms and idiom.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a heifer between two bread vans." and so forth.

Sloth

I think the board could turn into pedantic spelling corrections like the fact that grammar is spelt with an a not an e. In other words, I'm all for it.

CuLT

ecksor, I would have to say that I believe there is quite a big gap between Literature, and what I'm suggesting.

Those two were JUST TWO examples. As sloth points out, nitty gritty things would most likely pop out in discussions, but thats how a language is improved.

For example, someone might be unsure as to how to word something they wish to say or write. Some of the most common mistakes in english that people make could be so easily resolved if they only had reference.

An english board could allow people to set their perception of the language straight, give them better ideas on how to articulate themselves and improve their vocabulary.

sceptre

Originally posted by Cultellus
Debating/MUN - for debating it's nice to have a few illustrious quotes etc to throw at an audience.
MUN requires quite a bit of formal language, this could be broken down for people to get them more interested, when I first tried MUN the formality scared me away.

So what's MUN then?

Incidentally (and very OT), I adjudicated at an Irish debating IV about three weeks ago - drove me nuts when one team attributed a Niccolo Machievelli quote (which he didn't say anyway, yup, you know the one to which I refer) to Thomas Aquinas and every other team in the debate ran with it. Suggest you come up with your own self-made quotes as adjudicators generally couldn't give a crap whose catchy phrases you remember.

DapperGent

Originally posted by sceptre
(which he didn't say anyway, yup, you know the one to which I refer)

I don't know which one you refer to.

Plus you've piqued my curiosity.

sceptre

Originally posted by DapperGent
I don't know which one you refer to.

Plus you've piqued my curiosity.

the end justifies the means

Gordon

I think it's a great idea personally. I love the roots of English and finding out how to perfect my English.

Although as mentioned, it is going to be the hive for pickyness and anality!

DapperGent

Originally posted by sceptre
the end justifies the means

Doh!

*slap*

Praetorian

It does sound like a tremendous idea! It would be beneficial for anyone studying for their junior or leaving certificate, for people learning the language and possibly for people just trying to become more proficient at English.

I would be willing to lend a hand, or at the very least contribute regularly!

Sloth

I hope this forum leads to in depth cultural discussions ala Newsnight Review. I wanna be either Germaine Greer or Mark Kermode and as such want to mod it.

Amz

I think it's a great suggestion and would most definitely find a use for such a board.

yellum

Nice idea. Why not have some script to create a new word of the day.

Wheres Typedef on this matter ?

ecksor

I used to maintain a word of the day in a past life ...

CuLT

Excellent , I'm happy to see that other people are along the same train of thought .

sceptre, MUN is Model United Nations, I think someone like PHB, SOL or Provost would be able to give it a much better explanation than I could

I like the word of the day idea, I flick through the thesaurus quite frequently while essay writing, just to bring a little more depth and care into what I write.

Prae, thats an idea I had in mind too, I believe that a board like this would have given me quite a boost at junior cert level. I was god-awful at essay writing, never could quite make a good story out of my ideas, took ages to get to where I am now, have essay writing under control.

Praetorian

So what do we need to do to start an English board?

I am going to propose an English board by Email to the boards.ie hierarchy. I think the people in charge are Cloud, Devore, Ecksor and Regi. If successful, I will compile a list of web resources that I've found to be useful in the past. I’ll also post some good examples of short stories which might help others.

The benefits of an English board have been outlined by different people above, but I’ll restate the positive points.

Beneficial for students studying for the Junior and Leaving certificate, specifically Essay writing / prose, drama and poetry.

Beneficial for people learning the language. It will be a place where people can “ask about grammar etc and especially Irish colloquialisms and idiom”. - As suggested by Dappergent

It would be beneficial for anyone trying to become more proficient at English. I think we’ll all learn something!

There could be interesting “in depth cultural discussions” – As suggested by Sloth

“An English board could allow people to set their perception of the language straight, give them better ideas on how to articulate themselves and improve their vocabulary”. – As suggested by Cultellus

Debating help and suggestions. – As suggested by Cultellus

“Why not have some script to create a new word of the day”. This would be a great way to build up ones vocabulary – As suggested by Yellum

ecksor

Calm down, I'll set up your english board in a minute. Under Languages you want it?

I've already started working on the word of the day stuff btw, although the only place it is visible is in my signature for now.

(I used to maintain a word of the day on redbrick.dcu.ie, and I'll be running it in much the same spirit).

Praetorian

That was quick! I had not even composed the email yet!

Languages? Yes I think so!

yellum

I propose Cult and Prae for as mods

ecksor

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/f328.html

GoneShootin

Sloth : want to mod it.

dear god NO

ozpass

Praetorian gets my vote for moderator.

Praetorian

Thanks to Ecksor for setting it up!

Also thanks to Yellum and Ozpass!

Gordon

I vote sloth for mod of anarchy

Amz

I second yellum's vote for Praetorian and Cult as moderators!

Praetorian

Thank you Amz

ozt9vdujny3srf

Judging by the quality of posting that I have seen on this Forum from time to time, it’s clear there are a lot of talented debater's on these forums.

Anyway, it might be the only forum on boards where people actually use the language properly all of the time.

I think if this forum were to be made, it would be worthwhile disabling smilies in the forum, so as to make people who want to use them express themselves using English, which can sometimes be a lot more challenging. (Without cheating and just using them even though they don't work)

It would also be a great place to lose all the bad habits we all get from posting on message boards and using IRC.

This board gets my thumbs up.

CuLT

Thanks guys