What should be the International Olympic Committee's official language policy?

[Machjo]

I think that having the Olympics in only one location would take away something from them. Spotlighting a country I think is a large part of the excitement.
It is costly but a lot of the venues will be in use for many years and I don't doubt that there is a financial benefit to the host country from all these travelers!

Sure it would take something away from them... costs.

Montreal just paid off its Olympic debt recently after many decades.

 

[Machjo]

And as for highlighting a country, there are plenty of reasons to visit Canada besides the Olympics anyway.

 

[Nuggler]

Urdu.

Spoken by at least a few hundred people in Canada. Should be made one the official
languages.:-?

 

[Risus]

Sure it would take something away from them... costs.

Montreal just paid off its Olympic debt recently after many decades.

But there was a lot of corruption and mismanagement there.

 

[lone wolf]

The Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby. I'm still waiting for all these pregnant guys

 

[L Gilbert]

A simple solution would be to say that the Canadian government should not fund the Olympics at all. That way, it would be a purely private sector matter, and then they could speak Klingon if they wish and it would be none of our business.

Exactly.

 

[L Gilbert]

The Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby. I'm still waiting for all these pregnant guys

Right, it's the gov'ts that run the hosting countries that end up with the deficits.

 

[earth_as_one]

I vote for Na'vi.

 

[gopher]

whatever choice the IOC makes ...

 

[Johnnny]

I vote for Na'vi.

i had to google that

 

[Machjo]

whatever choice the IOC makes ...

I can agree with that... along with making the IOC financially independent of any government funding.

 

[Machjo]

DOOOOO it in english and french

Only? I'm assuming you would include the local language of the games too, no?

 

[L Gilbert]

Klingon.

 

[JLM]

English only period.

 

[El Barto]

I wonder if anyone here would of complained if it was strictly english.
I seriously doubt they would have .

 

[JLM]

I wonder if anyone here would of complained if it was strictly english.
I seriously doubt they would have .

Well, then that should settle it..........:lol::lol::lol:

 

[Machjo]

I wonder if anyone here would of complained if it was strictly english.
I seriously doubt they would have .

Of course not. We're all English-speakers here.Somehow I doubt the IOC, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, would be too fond of the idea. I can also think of a few countries that are quite sensitive to language as a matter of national pride (e.g. Italy, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, France, and that's just a few of those I know of). A number of countries would insists on their national languages being included.

Now if you're talking about the Vancouver Olympics specifically, then it would be more accurate to say the local language, since obviously the local language will vary from place to place. And should English be included at Olympic events in non-English-speaking countries?

I'm not saying I have the answer, but to just say English is a tad bit simplistic when you consider the symbolism that language carries with it, whether we want it to or not.

 

[Machjo]

Personally, I think the fairest solution would be to include the language of the hosting-city's choice followed by an international auxiliary language. It would be hard to complain about including the local language, obviously. And to cater to the international community without giving any one national or ethnic group an unfair advantage over others, include a language that is easy to learn by design as the second language, so as to not offend local sentiments.

 

[JLM]

Personally, I think the fairest solution would be to include the language of the hosting-city's choice followed by an international auxiliary language. It would be hard to complain about including the local language, obviously. And to cater to the international community without giving any one national or ethnic group an unfair advantage over others, include a language that is easy to learn by design as the second language, so as to not offend local sentiments.

Yep, two languages is a good idea - English and English :smile:

 

[TimeToVote]

Come on guys... WHO decided to make it French 1st in CANADA? WTF?!
We get French shoved down our throats unuff here in Canada, we don't need to have it in the Olympics too! Gesus this makes me mad... "they" think they are so special, if it wasn't for the MILLIONS of tax payers dollars that the CDN Gov't dumped into QUE we wouldnt see one french speaking puke at the Olympics... IMHO

Time To Vote "again" if you ask me...:angryfire: