How can we encourage more users to use the language tags? I'm a newish user and am not well acquainted with all the announcements pages and so on. Shane Smith 20:31, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
How does one put a tag on?-- 1 black hand °T° 17:26, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
I REALLY DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT MEANS ALL THIS.I AM JUST LIKE KNOW SAME ABOUT BRILHANT SINGER PIET ARION. Thank you. Helena Spirin WHITINGTON Whitington16 ( talk) 03:54, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
I'm somewhat concerned about Category:User en-3, the text of which is "These users are able to contribute with an advanced level of English". It's the third of four grades for non-native English speakers, but the wording strongly suggests that it's even better' than Category:User en-4 and Category:User en-N. It should be made explicit that, despite being advanced, the user is still not a native English speaker. - Ashley Pomeroy 15:41, 20 August 2005 (UTC)
You should also take a look at Category:User en-5. I'm not certain what "professional level" implies. Is that the skill level of a professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, or is the skill level of someone who specialises in English, such as an editor? David Corbett 23:45, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
My native language is not English, but having grown up in Australia, I use English like a native speaker. I use this particular tag, but it's not entirely clear whether it's for people whose native tongue is English, or those with competencies near that of a native speaker. What is the actual role of this tag? Should the wording be changed? 02:46, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
We only need to put Native Users in the EN-N +cat and then add the EN +cat to the bottom of EN-N +cat. Thanks SirIsaacBrock
I don't understand what the N does. [[Category:User en|N]] vs. [[Category:User en]] The first tag is in use at the page Category:User_en-N -- Tunheim 08:47, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
Why does the en-N say that the next better level is en-5, while the en-5 article says that en-N is better? It seems logical that en-N is better, but that's just me. C0N6R355 20:36, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
A little vandalism I guess. Tourskin 18:13, 2 June 2007 (UTC)
Not just here, but for all language categories. I think it should be based on functional competency. I also believe the Native category should be removed from the scale - I know non-native speakers who are embarrasingly more fluent and with a greater vocabulary than native speakers.
If the IELTS scale, which uses nine bands, is used as a template, we could define language fluency according to these requirements
en-1 = upto level 3 ("extremely limited user - Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur."). If you think this is too generous for somebody claiming some fluency we can go up to level 4 ("limited user - Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in use of complex language.")
en-2 = upto level 5 ("modest user - Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field.").
en-3 = upto level 7 ("good user - Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning.").
en-4 up to level 9 ("expert user - Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding."
any comments? Kransky 02:29, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
What is the meaning of "a native speaker of (English)"? Is it related to the phrase "speaks (e.g. French) like a native" which I presume means a native of France or someone born there. If Wikipedia uses the words "a native speaker of (English)" in a special way shouldn't it define them? The subject was raised above more than a decade ago but ignored.
Google defines native as "a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not." What is a native speaker? Eddaido ( talk) 02:56, 30 October 2018 (UTC)
How can we encourage more users to use the language tags? I'm a newish user and am not well acquainted with all the announcements pages and so on. Shane Smith 20:31, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
How does one put a tag on?-- 1 black hand °T° 17:26, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
I REALLY DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT MEANS ALL THIS.I AM JUST LIKE KNOW SAME ABOUT BRILHANT SINGER PIET ARION. Thank you. Helena Spirin WHITINGTON Whitington16 ( talk) 03:54, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
I'm somewhat concerned about Category:User en-3, the text of which is "These users are able to contribute with an advanced level of English". It's the third of four grades for non-native English speakers, but the wording strongly suggests that it's even better' than Category:User en-4 and Category:User en-N. It should be made explicit that, despite being advanced, the user is still not a native English speaker. - Ashley Pomeroy 15:41, 20 August 2005 (UTC)
You should also take a look at Category:User en-5. I'm not certain what "professional level" implies. Is that the skill level of a professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, or is the skill level of someone who specialises in English, such as an editor? David Corbett 23:45, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
My native language is not English, but having grown up in Australia, I use English like a native speaker. I use this particular tag, but it's not entirely clear whether it's for people whose native tongue is English, or those with competencies near that of a native speaker. What is the actual role of this tag? Should the wording be changed? 02:46, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
We only need to put Native Users in the EN-N +cat and then add the EN +cat to the bottom of EN-N +cat. Thanks SirIsaacBrock
I don't understand what the N does. [[Category:User en|N]] vs. [[Category:User en]] The first tag is in use at the page Category:User_en-N -- Tunheim 08:47, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
Why does the en-N say that the next better level is en-5, while the en-5 article says that en-N is better? It seems logical that en-N is better, but that's just me. C0N6R355 20:36, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
A little vandalism I guess. Tourskin 18:13, 2 June 2007 (UTC)
Not just here, but for all language categories. I think it should be based on functional competency. I also believe the Native category should be removed from the scale - I know non-native speakers who are embarrasingly more fluent and with a greater vocabulary than native speakers.
If the IELTS scale, which uses nine bands, is used as a template, we could define language fluency according to these requirements
en-1 = upto level 3 ("extremely limited user - Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur."). If you think this is too generous for somebody claiming some fluency we can go up to level 4 ("limited user - Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in use of complex language.")
en-2 = upto level 5 ("modest user - Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field.").
en-3 = upto level 7 ("good user - Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning.").
en-4 up to level 9 ("expert user - Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding."
any comments? Kransky 02:29, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
What is the meaning of "a native speaker of (English)"? Is it related to the phrase "speaks (e.g. French) like a native" which I presume means a native of France or someone born there. If Wikipedia uses the words "a native speaker of (English)" in a special way shouldn't it define them? The subject was raised above more than a decade ago but ignored.
Google defines native as "a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not." What is a native speaker? Eddaido ( talk) 02:56, 30 October 2018 (UTC)