Language Policy

Q u o t e:
If you would be so kind as to check your Change Realm list you will see there are two tabs. One of these is labled "Oceanic". The other is labled "United States", which would mean "us", the United States of America. It isn't North America, it is the USA.

Those appellations signify only the timezones to which the realms therein adhere: Those in the "United States" tab are on Pacific, Mountain, Central, or Eastern time, whereas those in the "Oceanic" tab are on AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Allow me to offer a reminder that you are part of the North American region of World of Warcraft, which supports the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia — while it could be argued that English is the primary language in the United States, given that it is a lingua franca of sorts, there are a number of languages (including French) employed in the other supported countries within this region. To suggest that English should be the sole tongue used in-game is mere provincialism, and I'm unaware of plans to have any such restrictions made toward that end.

Q u o t e:
Second, the immigration reform bill S. 2611 would make English our official language and it passed the Senate on May 25, 2006. It is currently in conference in the House of Representatives if you want to be technical.

To reiterate the above, the United States is not the only country within this region, and therefore its "official language" is ultimately immaterial.

Q u o t e:
I am not trying to force people to only speak English on US servers. What I am suggesting is that people refrain from speaking anything other than English on zone-wide channels. My reasoning is clear, and as yet unaddressed. While your "real" language may have a long and glorious history, complete with oh so snooty teacups, mimes, and baguettes, it is still gibberish to those who do not speak it.

I'm uncertain what, precisely, you seek; the Game Master Department, to be sure, shan't discourage players from speaking in their native tongue in public channels, so long as their messages are not excessively or repetitively broadcast — that is to say, "spammed" — and they make no use of profanity or other inappropriate language. If you'd like a "public service announcement" to that effect, might I recommend politely requesting in-game that people take their conversations to private channels, and avoiding the sort of nationalistically offensive comments you appear to be approaching here? Flinging stereotypes around certainly shan't help your case any, and it serves as poor corroboration for your arguments.

Q u o t e:
It is primarily the result of Norman soldiers attempting to pick up Saxon barmaids.

Ha! How charming, I've never heard it described that way. I'll need to remember that. :)

As I understand it, English began as a rather heavily Germanic language — it still is, at its roots, and this can be seen in its guttural sounds in comparison to other tongues — and then slowly incorporated French and Latin, among other languages, over time. This explains why we often have two or three different words for the same concept — one comes from Anglo-Saxon, one from French, and one from Latin. N'est-ce pas? ;)

Q u o t e:
So for English to have Germanic origins makes sense.

The Anglo-Saxons, after all, were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes — all Germanic. ;)

I see no reason to resurrect a thread with an inappropriate comment such as that.