[Pc_Support] [OT] ¿Español para los tecnólogos?

[Wise Ubuntu User Patrick]

On Wed, 2005-10-19 at 10:15 -0700, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> I was going to bring this up in person at the LEAP meeting
> tomorrow night, but since it is likely I will not make it or
> be late due to work, I will bring it up on the list.
> 
> - Gaining Opportunity
> 
> As a central Florida resident, I've always felt the closet
> reality that I am hindered by lack of speaking/writing
> Español.  3 years of formal Español grammar has netting me
> nothing, because I do not expose myself to it enough only to
> wish I could find some way in my profession.  Especially now
> since there are a lot of opportunities, for both myself
> locally, as well as for my current employer in Latin and
> South America.  Which is why I'm writing this e-mail.
> 
> The most direct use of Español by myself will be in two
> forms:  Technical conversation and, given time, technical
> writing.  First and foremost, I need to have a means to
> convey technical information and engage in technical
> exchange, even if at a rudimentary, broken and almost "hack"
> way to start.  Eventually I believe I can take that level and
> extend it to proper grammar and prose, both in speech and
> writing over time, since I do remember much of my formal
> (albeit almost useless from a practical standpoint)
> education.
> 
> - Getting Geeky With It
> 
> Which brings me to this e-mail.  Depending on how many
> technologists (not necessarily Linux or a specific product)
> we have at LEAP who speak Español fluently, I would like to
> start an informal clique.  This clique would be people who
> would want to exchange e-mail off-list (no mailing lists
> necessary, we're talking only a few people), and possibly
> meet informally on occassion (maybe once a month).  Key to
> this clique would be a number of willing, Español speaking
> technologists who would share a few hours a month with us in
> e-mail, possibly in person.
> 
> By e-mail, I mean taking the time to discuss current
> technology in Español almost at an annoying pace for them, to
> those of us who have had only formal, non-practical exposure
> to the language in the past.  In person, and probably more of
> an incentive to overcome that annoyance, I would like those
> of us "peer, English-only speaking technologists" to take our
> "peer, Español speaking technologists" to dinner or other
> social events were the "learners" would fund the event.
> 
> - Is this a stupid idea and/or not feasible?
> 
> These are just some ideas on how we could get this rolling,
> even if it's just a few "peer technologists" and "peer
> learners" who only meet occassionally.  I don't know if this
> would work, let alone if we have enough Español speaking
> peers in our group who would be interested, but I figured I
> have to ask.  Because from my point, it's probably the only
> way I'm going to get some practical Español under my belt. 
> And I believe this way will have the best, most direct
> impact, professionally for myself, my employer, my clients
> (or prospective clients), etc...
> 
> I apologize for the off-topic post in this matter, but I
> don't want to continue as an English speaking-only
> technologist in a country that is clearly one of two
> languages now.  To do so is to only limit my opportunties
> (regardless of any ideological aspects), and that's all that
> matters to me.  It is my sincerest hope that through trial'n
> error of such approaches, I can find both a fun and directly
> professionally applicable way to learning Español.
> 
> Besides, in the worst case, I'm only out a few bucks bribing
> people to dinner to geek speak for a few hours.
> 
> 
Join some usenet lists, and on-line lists that are in Español?
Lurk for a while, but, try to read many topics, and jump in when you see
the best chance!