[Improve Content] Non English speaking subscribers

Hello Pedro,

Please don’t take offense at the Orchid list. If people were rude to
you then I, and others apologize for them. Consider the list to be a
little like a group of equals who are discussing something, rather
like a bunch of students.

No one on Orchid that I know of is interested in causing pain to
another person. I think you can assume that if it feels like someone
is attacking you then there is a misunderstanding of some kind
happening.

Orchid people just like to get at a problem until they can come to a
consensus about it. Look at it as an opportunity to learn.

Please stay on the list and people will make allowances for your
English, which actually seems very good. Better than my other
languages…

best

Charles

Charles Lewton-Brain
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada

I would like to chime in and reinforce what Charles Lewton-Brain said
about non native English speakers on the Orchid list.

Unless you have tried to express yourself in someone else’s native
tongue, you won’t know how it feels to be made fun of when you make an
error in pronunciation or grammar. It takes guts to put yourself on
the line like that.

As for Pedro’s comments about pickle, as I remember it he said
something like: "If we talk about neutralizing pickle, then it is not
an acid because the pH is 7… "

Maybe the language is misleading, but I had no trouble getting the
idea that he was talking about neutralizing the pickle so it wouldn’t
act like an acid.

Riccardo Accurso
Ricco Gallery of Contemporary Art Jewelry
125 W German St /PO Box 883
Shepherdstown, WV 25443-0883

Hello Pedro, Please don't take offense at the Orchid list. If people
were rude to you then I, and others apologize for them. 

Might I add to Charles’ comment here? Not only do I agree with him,
that we all try to have the best intentions, we often can actually be
rude because we are human and can be self centered. I, for one, like
to apologize frequently, since I KNOW I can be a jerk. . .and I
really am working on it. But consider this also. We are from so
many different cultures. How could we know how someone from a
different country, with command of a different language as a native
language, will react to something? We sometimes assume that
something we say will make another feel the same as if it were said
to us. And another problem exists here on these forums. Some of us
type our messages just as if we were speaking them. But our facial
expressions don’t show up in the message (except for smiley faces and
the like :-). Perhaps sometimes we say things with a smile or a
smirk, or even a wink, but all that is there to read sounds like an
insult. Americans are very fond of irony. Personally, I just like
to sound off to get things started. So, please, Pedro, be patient
with us. I, for one, am only fluent in one language, and know only a
smattering of classroom french (Parisian, and only good in Montreal,
I understand). (Oops, hope I don’t insult any of you Montreal’ans.)
I have great admiration for anyone who can speak my language better
than I can speak his or hers. I believe every contribution we get
here is worthwhile, and every member valuable . . .even if I don’t
always have optimal control over these mood swings of mine. %^}
<-that’s me, cross-eyed, nose out of joint, and a silly smirk on my
face.

David L. Huffman