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Please don't use flags for disambiguating languages. (http://flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/why-flags-do-not-represent-language/ http://flagsarenotlanguages.com

Please don't use flags for disambiguating languages. (http://flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/why-flags-do-not-represent-language/ http://flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/why-flags-do-not-repres...) is a starting point. Basically - some languages are spoken in more than one country (eg. English in US, Britain, Australia, India) - some countries have more than one language spoken in them (eg. see any large country) - you will end up accidentally annoying people when you accidentally get it wrong. (is Cantonese, Tibetan and Mongolian the same language as Mandarin? You realise they are not mutually intelligible and come from different language families?) I suggest you write the language name in the language itself. If you desperately need something short use the Unicode language codes. Edit: Really like it. Definitely continue.

adamors 13y ago
This. A lot of European countries are either multilingual or have large minorities that speak another country's language natively.
- gngeal 13y ago
  Even better - Europe is effectively comprised of multiple (rather smooth) dialect continua, with national states pretending to have distinct languages, while the actual language situation is much more blurry.
- pattisapu 13y ago
  Pardon if this is a dumb question, but what is it that people mean on HN when they say "This." ?? I've seen it a few times now and I still don't understand.
  - markdown 13y ago
    It's shorthand for 'I agree with what this guy said'. An alternative is '+1'
  - crntaylor 13y ago
    It's a piece of internet slang meaning "I strongly agree" and it adds just as much to the conversation (that is, nothing).
  - fsckin 13y ago
    They're agreeing with the parent.
  - gngeal 13y ago
    It's the same thing as "+1". ;-)
trekky1700 13y ago
The flags are something that have been used by sites for years, a lot of people are used to it. I speak English but am Canadian, I know to look for the Union Jack if I want English and the French flag for France. Perhaps it's not as simple in other places, but I really don't think it's a big issue. A lot of people can figure it out with a very minimal level of thought/remembering prior experiences. The Union Jack for instance could represent Gaelic, Welsh or Cornish, but most people know it means English. To me, I rather liked seeing the flags, I thought it was a nice touch and added to the look and feel (rather than writing out the language name in subtitle font).
adamzerner 13y ago
Who cares? Focus on the central point. DH6. http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html
- polymatter 13y ago
  I'm sorry, I don't see how I'm disagreeing with an awesome Show HN. I was trying to provide feedback to improve UX. I like this, I want it to succeed, I personally know English teachers who can recommend it to their students.
  - adamzerner 13y ago
    The use of flags to disambiguate languages is a trivial point because it's impact on the success or failure of the idea is minimal.
zht 13y ago
but in this case it's about the written language and less about verbal dialects. Chinese and Cantonese are representable by the same written language.
- polymatter 13y ago
  Sorry, no. > "Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with Mandarin Chinese, the two languages are not mutually intelligible because of pronunciation, grammatical, and also lexical differences" from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese). Fluent and literate Cantonese are not automatically fluent and literate in Mandarin. In the same way fluent and native English speakers are not automatically fluent and literate in German, despite using the same alphabet and sharing some vocabulary and grammar.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

adamors 13y ago

This. A lot of European countries are either multilingual or have large minorities that speak another country's language natively.

gngeal 13y ago
Even better - Europe is effectively comprised of multiple (rather smooth) dialect continua, with national states pretending to have distinct languages, while the actual language situation is much more blurry.
pattisapu 13y ago
Pardon if this is a dumb question, but what is it that people mean on HN when they say "This." ?? I've seen it a few times now and I still don't understand.
- markdown 13y ago
  It's shorthand for 'I agree with what this guy said'. An alternative is '+1'
- crntaylor 13y ago
  It's a piece of internet slang meaning "I strongly agree" and it adds just as much to the conversation (that is, nothing).
- fsckin 13y ago
  They're agreeing with the parent.
- gngeal 13y ago
  It's the same thing as "+1". ;-)

trekky1700 13y ago

The flags are something that have been used by sites for years, a lot of people are used to it. I speak English but am Canadian, I know to look for the Union Jack if I want English and the French flag for France. Perhaps it's not as simple in other places, but I really don't think it's a big issue. A lot of people can figure it out with a very minimal level of thought/remembering prior experiences. The Union Jack for instance could represent Gaelic, Welsh or Cornish, but most people know it means English. To me, I rather liked seeing the flags, I thought it was a nice touch and added to the look and feel (rather than writing out the language name in subtitle font).

adamzerner 13y ago

Who cares? Focus on the central point. DH6. http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html

polymatter 13y ago
I'm sorry, I don't see how I'm disagreeing with an awesome Show HN. I was trying to provide feedback to improve UX. I like this, I want it to succeed, I personally know English teachers who can recommend it to their students.
- adamzerner 13y ago
  The use of flags to disambiguate languages is a trivial point because it's impact on the success or failure of the idea is minimal.

zht 13y ago

but in this case it's about the written language and less about verbal dialects. Chinese and Cantonese are representable by the same written language.

polymatter 13y ago
Sorry, no. > "Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with Mandarin Chinese, the two languages are not mutually intelligible because of pronunciation, grammatical, and also lexical differences" from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese). Fluent and literate Cantonese are not automatically fluent and literate in Mandarin. In the same way fluent and native English speakers are not automatically fluent and literate in German, despite using the same alphabet and sharing some vocabulary and grammar.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]