On 6/13/05, David Friedland david@nohat.net wrote:
Do we have a policy on this? Should we?
My opinion is that we should not allow or least sternly frown upon discussion on the English Wikipedia in languages other than English.
In general, I disagree with you.
For practical reasons writing in other languages is already 'discouraged' if by no other means than the simple fact that few others will understand it in most places. If anything at all needs to be done, I'd suggest that someone leave a polite reminder that this is the English Wikipedia, most english-first-languagers are notoriously monolingual, and that the peanut gallery would really like a translation. :)
I, for one, have been glad that speaking in foreign languages is permitted, because it is the only way I've been able to work with others when I've made the effort to contribute media I created to non-english wikipedias.
If you're concerned about conspiracy, I'm afraid that the situation is already beyond hope: Those that would wish to hide their conversations from you could do so far more effectively by communicating via private mailing lists or wikis. ... They could even use the 'email this user' feature, unless you suggest that we disable it as well. :)
If you're worried that someone is making fun of you, then end your worries: As you've pointed out, few people can read the material... so you've been releaved of any need to defend yourself.