Self-insight

18:30 < talvi> I know my rants can be very annoying sometimes.
18:30 < talvi> You're probably all sitting there thinking "When will this guy
               shut up!"
18:30 < talvi> heh
18:30 < talvi> If I start babbling on for pages on end, feel free to say "We
               all stopped listening 10 minutes ago"

We have to remember this one. 

Decisions, the prequel

18:39  * Myrddhin always wakes up wanting to learn some specific language, yet
          a after a few minutes of reading any language-learning forum, he is
          filled with doubts again :P
18:40  * Wiseman is glad he just picked one and closed his eyes, hoping for the
          best.

Decisions, decisions

19:30 < Myrddhin> I always feel so serene when I decide to learn German

presenting : wibble

Hello there! I am currently living in Georgia in the United States though I was raised in Britain and I am of Hakka extraction.  Natively I am an English speaker with some knowledge of Cantonese, Hakka and some smatterings of a few european languages.  I'm not sure when I joined #languages exactly, somewhere around 2001 or thereabouts.  I also enjoy travel and speaking with people all around the world which IRC has provided some of, and that I met my wife over IRC too :)

How to get there

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an - by today's standards - ancient protocol for instant messaging/chat. It has been called "Multiplayer notepad" because of its basic functionality. More info about IRC here.

There are multiple IRC networks, we are located on one called Undernet. Lately the network has suffered some stability issues, and there are rumours that the future is uncertain. However, do not let that worry you! We are still there. More info about Undernet here. 

To connect to IRC you need an IRC client. (Personally I would recommend X-chat for a graphical client (supports most OS:s) and is fairly userfriendly, and if you are more comfy around computers - irssi.).   The quickest way to connect if you don't have an IRC client or cannot or don't want to install a client is through a web client (in your browser window). Try this one: http://www.mibbit.com/

History

From the archives - "About":

#Languages is one of the few channels on IRC devoted to talking about linguistics. All its members are interested in languages to some extent and they are willing to help those with linguistic problems in any way they can. However, many other topics are often discussed at #Languages, such as philosophy, sociology and culture. Anything goes so long as you discuss in a polite way and respecting all members.

_______

From the archives - "History":

#Languages was founded in early 1999 by two Finns, Chaosborg and Vaev.
The channel started off with few people, just the two founding operators and some occasional visitors, among which there was a Romanian. In June 1999, rashd (now known as _miguel^) popped up and he decided to enter the channel on a regular basis. In time, he became an operator, too. More people joined the channel later on. Abavagada was the most regular, but also Angasule, Wivani, Silva, _Anais_ and some others. Chaosborg drifted away from the channel slowly and eventually disappeared. So did Abavagada and the most of the members during 2000 and 2001, because they did not accept the fact that #Languages was not exclusively devoted to talking about linguistics, but also to making friends and chatting about culture or just life in general.
TimeLord joined the bunch in 2000 and became a quite regular member. He changed his nick to Jabbrwock in 2002. Wiseman, Noumenon and Silme joined the channel in 2001 and have been fairly regular members up to now, too. Sleepy and Hobbes are recent regular members, as well, and have operator status.

Written by Vaev(or Jabbrwock?) February 2003

Pittsburghese

I've had questions about this mysterious "Pittsburghese," which, by times, is odd enough that outsiders don't always understand. (Fortunately those incidents are few and far between.) Here, two links for you to take a look for yourself:

The Academic Approach: Pittsburgh Speech & Society

The Light-hearted Approach: Pittsburghese

Kate's Presentation

I'm known as River/Matíka on IRC and as Kate IRL. I was born in western Pennsylvania, land of the notorious "Pittsburghese" dialect. My native language is English; I can speak German and Spanish also. I've also dabbled in Swedish, Finnish, Russian, French, Hindi, Japanese and Punjabi. At some point I will probably try, on a more serious level, to take on Finnish and Japanese (though hopefully not simultaneously!).

There's a lot more to say than just that, but I guess if you want to know, you'll have to come and find me on-channel. ;)

Call to Arms

The pen is mightier than the sword, or in this case: The keyboard is. Unless you use handwriting recognition on a tablet of some sort. In which case you might even use your finger. Uh...

Regulars: This thing will not work unless we all help.
1) message me with an e-mail adress I can send an invite to, so you can become a contributor.
2) make a short post with an introduction of yourself.
3) post stuff you think is interesting - language resources, thoughts and reflections, or if you want - a link to a some silly, smart or totally wrong article/blog/page with a comment (debate is good!). This space is what we make it into. Just one thing: I am going to try to keep an eye on content, so TRY to stay on topic at least 80% of the time. I suggest that we try to stay away from politics, religion or offensive material for the last 20% though...

Thoughts?

PS: Hate the layout? Talk to me about it instead of being irritated and taking it out on your cuticles, the troll in that other channel, or your mother. Even if the the troll deserves it. You can even do both, if you like!

Presentation: Silme

Hello. I am Silme, or sometimes Sionnach. I have been on the channel for more than a decade, and am the triggerhappy one that usually wind up making us a new homepage every five years or so (on average).

I think the contributors/regulars should write a short presentation here - saves us the "which languages do you speak and what is your native language?" list every time we get a new person dropping by.

Thoughts?

PS: My languages are Norwegian, Swedish and English fluently, messing about with German, Finnish, Dutch, Danish and Navajo - mainly... 

Moving Into Modern Times?!

#languages on Undernet has had a homepage since the 2004 or 2005 that has never been updated, and with very dubious html code. A sudden idea struck to move into the blog format - where the channel members can contribute with posts - even if it is just a good resource link they found. Since approval was general (we do not HAVE to update regularly afterall), I hit the necessary buttons and here we are.

But where are we heading..?