Yahya, I am not disputing the essence or beauty of language. The gift of gab, especially the ability to put it on paper, is one of the greatest attributes of man. The inflections, intones, it's ability to transmit a message to many, and, finally the fact that it describes things that none of our other "attributes" are able to describe so aptly, makes language a thing of beauty and wonder. But my point was not an exercise in the beauty or essence of language, but, rather, it questioned the logic of posting in other languages on the L. The only reason I raised my objection is simply because, like it or not, English is our official medium of communication on the L.. Similarly, a Bantaba is a place where people come together and have a discussion in a common language. And it is usually characterized by rapid fire questions and answers, no place for someone that cannot or is not willing to understand the medium of communication. An attempt to do anything else but to conform to the language that is being used is a futile exercise in my opinion. One could argue that there are a few others who are not fluent in the language and they need to be catered to. These people understand a bit of English, otherwise they would not be part of the L. But what about the majority of us who would like to read about a topic regarding the plight of our African brothers in Mauritania or police brutality towards Gambians in Sweden, but cannot do so because it is in a language that we are unable to comprehend? For this reason, I suggested a compromise whereby, along with every post in a foreign language, there should be an accompanying translation in English. This would serve a dual purpose. First, it would help those who are not so fluent in our official medium of communication to learn English and to therefore be better equipped to actively participate in this Bantaba in the future. Also, it would allow the majority of us to understand the content of French posts etc. Since my initial response to Fatou's post, I have modified my stance. Hopefully, I am not being unreasonable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------