Roan Kattouw wrote:
Before the conference, I assumed correctly that there
would be a track
about Latin America with most talks in Spanish, but I didn't know
there were gonna be simultaneous translations, let alone that English
talks would have Spanish translations. I don't know if this was
communicated in advance, maybe I missed that. I didn't particularly
like having the closing ceremony partly in Spanish, especially since I
wasn't expecting it and didn't grab a headset.
I'm generally supportive of the efforts to make Wikimania
multilingual, and I would support similar setups with Polish and
French (or whatever the language of the organizing city in 2011), but
I think more consideration should be taken for people who don't speak
the second language. The schedule should be more explicit about which
language(s) are spoken in which sessions, including plenary sessions,
so people don't end up attending a session they don't understand.
I didn't feel bothered by the use of Spanish in some sessions, or even
to some extent in the closing ceremonies. We do want to attract people
from the host country and its near neighbours, and having some sessions
in its language is a very small price to pay for that. IIRC, however,
one element that was in Spanish only at the closing session was
instructions about going to the party. If anything should be stated in
both languages it's practical instructions of this kind.
Ec