Languages & Fandom - A Poll

[rodo]

First of all: This is all lian's fault. And the fault of the anonymous person who so generously gifted me with two months of paid time (&hearts). This is also a follow-up post to my last post about fandom and language, in a way. It's also my first poll, so please tell me what I could have done better.

Note: For the purpose of this poll, I won't define "fandom" or "(language) fandom". I'll leave that up to you.

Poll #247 fandom & language

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 259

View Respondents

What language(s) do you use to participate in fandom?

View Answers

English
259 (100.0%)

German
33 (12.7%)

French
18 (6.9%)

Italian
4 (1.5%)

Dutch
2 (0.8%)

Japanese
13 (5.0%)

Chinese
3 (1.2%)

Spanish
20 (7.7%)

Finnish
0 (0.0%)

Swedish
5 (1.9%)

Russian
8 (3.1%)

Czech
1 (0.4%)

Portuguese
2 (0.8%)

Norwegian
3 (1.2%)

Polish
1 (0.4%)

Hungarian
1 (0.4%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
1 (0.4%)

Greek
0 (0.0%)

Filipino
1 (0.4%)

Indonesian
1 (0.4%)

Hebrew
1 (0.4%)

Danish
4 (1.5%)

Arabic
0 (0.0%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
4 (1.5%)

What language(s) do you use to write and translate fic?

View Answers

English
208 (95.4%)

German
22 (10.1%)

French
9 (4.1%)

Italian
2 (0.9%)

Dutch
2 (0.9%)

Japanese
7 (3.2%)

Chinese
3 (1.4%)

Spanish
15 (6.9%)

Finnish
1 (0.5%)

Swedish
0 (0.0%)

Russian
8 (3.7%)

Czech
1 (0.5%)

Portuguese
2 (0.9%)

Norwegian
0 (0.0%)

Polish
0 (0.0%)

Hungarian
0 (0.0%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
0 (0.0%)

Greek
1 (0.5%)

Filipino
0 (0.0%)

Indonesian
0 (0.0%)

Hebrew
1 (0.5%)

Danish
2 (0.9%)

Arabic
0 (0.0%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
5 (2.3%)

What language(s) did and do you use to read fic and/or follow canon?

View Answers

English
259 (100.0%)

German
37 (14.3%)

French
31 (12.0%)

Italian
7 (2.7%)

Dutch
1 (0.4%)

Japanese
28 (10.8%)

Chinese
5 (1.9%)

Spanish
22 (8.5%)

Finnish
3 (1.2%)

Swedish
5 (1.9%)

Russian
11 (4.2%)

Czech
2 (0.8%)

Portuguese
3 (1.2%)

Norwegian
4 (1.5%)

Polish
2 (0.8%)

Hungarian
2 (0.8%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
0 (0.0%)

Greek
0 (0.0%)

Filipino
2 (0.8%)

Indonesian
0 (0.0%)

Hebrew
1 (0.4%)

Danish
7 (2.7%)

Arabic
0 (0.0%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
1 (0.4%)

What languages do you use to read/write meta?

View Answers

English
249 (97.6%)

German
20 (7.8%)

French
6 (2.4%)

Italian
1 (0.4%)

Dutch
1 (0.4%)

Japanese
3 (1.2%)

Chinese
1 (0.4%)

Spanish
14 (5.5%)

Finnish
2 (0.8%)

Swedish
2 (0.8%)

Russian
7 (2.7%)

Czech
1 (0.4%)

Portuguese
0 (0.0%)

Norwegian
1 (0.4%)

Polish
1 (0.4%)

Hungarian
1 (0.4%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
0 (0.0%)

Greek
1 (0.4%)

Filipino
0 (0.0%)

Indonesian
0 (0.0%)

Hebrew
1 (0.4%)

Danish
1 (0.4%)

Arabic
0 (0.0%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
2 (0.8%)

What is your first language (two or three if you were raised bi- or trilingual)?

View Answers

English
137 (53.1%)

German
38 (14.7%)

French
12 (4.7%)

Italian
3 (1.2%)

Dutch
6 (2.3%)

Japanese
1 (0.4%)

Chinese
10 (3.9%)

Spanish
21 (8.1%)

Finnish
5 (1.9%)

Swedish
10 (3.9%)

Russian
8 (3.1%)

Czech
2 (0.8%)

Portuguese
3 (1.2%)

Norwegian
4 (1.6%)

Polish
2 (0.8%)

Hungarian
2 (0.8%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
0 (0.0%)

Greek
1 (0.4%)

Filipino
4 (1.6%)

Indonesian
0 (0.0%)

Hebrew
3 (1.2%)

Danish
9 (3.5%)

Arabic
1 (0.4%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
14 (5.4%)

What languages do you speak/are you able to read/have you learned?

View Answers

English
228 (89.4%)

German
104 (40.8%)

French
114 (44.7%)

Italian
30 (11.8%)

Dutch
11 (4.3%)

Japanese
38 (14.9%)

Chinese
13 (5.1%)

Spanish
76 (29.8%)

Finnish
6 (2.4%)

Swedish
26 (10.2%)

Russian
20 (7.8%)

Czech
3 (1.2%)

Portuguese
8 (3.1%)

Norwegian
14 (5.5%)

Polish
5 (2.0%)

Hungarian
1 (0.4%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
1 (0.4%)

Greek
3 (1.2%)

Ancient Greek
14 (5.5%)

Latin
46 (18.0%)

Esperanto
1 (0.4%)

Filipino
4 (1.6%)

Indonesian
1 (0.4%)

Hebrew
7 (2.7%)

Danish
17 (6.7%)

Arabic
3 (1.2%)

Other constructed languages (e.g. Klingon - please specify)
1 (0.4%)

Other (please specify)
32 (12.5%)

What was your first fandom (language)?

View Answers

English
204 (78.8%)

German
26 (10.0%)

French
3 (1.2%)

Italian
0 (0.0%)

Dutch
3 (1.2%)

Japanese
1 (0.4%)

Chinese
0 (0.0%)

Spanish
9 (3.5%)

Finnish
1 (0.4%)

Swedish
2 (0.8%)

Russian
4 (1.5%)

Czech
0 (0.0%)

Portuguese
0 (0.0%)

Norwegian
1 (0.4%)

Polish
2 (0.8%)

Hungarian
1 (0.4%)

Turkish
0 (0.0%)

Korean
0 (0.0%)

Greek
0 (0.0%)

Filipino
0 (0.0%)

Indonesian
0 (0.0%)

Hebrew
0 (0.0%)

Danish
1 (0.4%)

Arabic
0 (0.0%)

Other (please specify in the comments)
1 (0.4%)

What was your first fandom (media)?

View Answers

TV Series
94 (36.4%)

Movie
15 (5.8%)

Book
87 (33.7%)

RPF
7 (2.7%)

Game
9 (3.5%)

Anime
33 (12.8%)

Cartoon
2 (0.8%)

Musical/Play
2 (0.8%)

Comic
1 (0.4%)

Manga
8 (3.1%)

What was your first fandon (e.g. Harry Potter)

View Answers

Did you participate in this poll?

View Answers

Yes
258 (100.0%)

PS: I would appreciate it if you would pimp this poll.

Comments

[sabeth]

Um, I ticked Latin and Ancient Greek there because I did study them in high school for 6 and 4 years respectively and I never get to brag about that! But while I'm still okay getting the general gist of simple Latin texts, I'd be completely lost when faced with Ancient Greek, and could thus probably not use it for purposes of fandom participation. :D;;

[bettina]

I ticked German for the "What was your first fandom (language)?" question, because mostly I really got into fandom into my early teens when I joined a Star Trek club, which was of course in German. Online fandom was English from the start (mid/late-90s).

[scribblesinink]

Oh, it'll be interesting to see the results!

(And since you asked for comments on the poll itself: the question "What language(s) do you use to write and translate fic?" might have worked better as two questions. I do write, but never have translated a single piece of fic in my life :-) I did interpret it as "What language(s) do you use to write fic?")

[mllesatine]

What languages do you speak/are you able to read/have you learned?

I'm studying Polish, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian and I learned French in school. French is mostly gone but I hope I will be able to participate in fandom one day using Polish and SerCroBo. I talked to a few people in fandom circles using Polish but we didn't talk about anything fandom-related.

[eumelkeks]

I will pimp it, now that I have my internetz back!

[christycorr]

Tee hee. Portuguese-speaking fandom represent!

I saw a Merlin fic in Hebrew somewhere in my flist a couple of weeks ago, and the very thought of fanfiction in Hebrew blew my mind a little—I'm so used to associating the language with quasi-exclusive religious usage!

Anyway. Yes. The poll shall be duly pimped.

[anotherslashfan]

I'm kind of confused because I remember starting with Zetsuai/Bronze fic, but that was in English - still, I read mostly German fic in the first year... it's been eight years, I just don't remember anymore.

[khana]

have you linked this to metafandom? it might get less skewered towards German if fid it that way...?

[xavie]

I like it that you decided not to define 'fandom' in this poll. When I started reading fic on the internet I started out with originals in German. That feels for me like fandom because the stories follow the same patterns and authors and readers are active in roughly the same communities.

[yvi]

I used to translate from English to German, but that was several years ago. Since you wrote 'do', I assume you mean currently?

[solesakuma]

... Now I kinda want to get into German fandom.
Reading fic did a lot of good to my English so maybe...
/random

Regarding canons, I try to follow them in the original language if I understand it. If not, in whatever language is uploading quicker (which led to things like watching a series in English, Spanish and French).

[myownspecialself]

for "Other languages" I am able to read: Catalan

[lian]

Rodo, remind me to make a graph for this after this poll has seen a little more participation -- I'd like to see one for ease of comparison's sake :)

[elefwin]

What languages do you speak/are you able to read/have you learned?
Romanian.

[cafecomics]

2) I used to translate BtVS fic from english to french and I recently translated a PGSM fic from portuguese (brazilian) to french. I write fic in french.

6) What languages do you speak/are you able to read/have you learned?.

Speak/read : french, portuguese, english (8 years in junior high/highschool), spanish (3 years in highschool + 4 at university) <- I read fic in these 4 languages.
Learnt : german (5 years), swedish (3 years) but err... lack of practice = Ich habe fast alles vergessen!

8) I may have started in anime/manga, but I've been most active in US TV series fandoms (BtVS mostly).

As far as I remember, my first fanart was a Goldorak drawing (anime, UFO Robot Grendizer in japanese). I was 6 or 7 and it was pinned on the wall of my CE1 classroom (2nd grade). I entered online fandom years later (at university) through usenet (fr.rec.anime) and my first post was about Sailor Moon (or rather Sailor V).

[magic_at_mungos]

I learnt German and French at school and even thought I could maybe partcipate in fannish behaviour in German. (ie very slowly! :D), I wish I could remember enough French to do so. But I haven't studied French since I was 16 and I'm now 25.

[elleth]

Hi, here via metaquotes on LJ - I just thought I'd leave a note re: poll answers. I'm German, native German speaker, and my first fandom (that is in the sense of active participation on the internet) was the XFiles. I started out in the German fandom exclusively for a while, part of the reason being that my English wasn't sufficient for talking to native speakers, but got sucked into the English part of the fandom via fic reading. For the Tolkien fandom (being my current one since around 2002/3) I started out German as well, but am by now using English for ALL matters regarding fandom, even when talking about it/RPing with German friends - always English, and they reply in the same way. I don't know why, just thought it might be interesting for you. Fandom = exclusively English in all ways.

As for ConLangs, I know some Sindarin, Quenya and a bit of Adûnaic, and in terms of Others, Plattdeutsch, that is Low German as spoken in Northern Germany. Hope this helps some. Interesting poll at any rate.

[inarticulate]

This poll was hard, because I don't consider myself even so much as "good" in Japanese, but I DO play Japanese-language canons that haven't been translated, and I DO dabble in Japanese fic-reading with extensive (mis?)use of a dictionary. I also dabble in reading in Spanish, but, because there's not the canon component and it's more of a "I am reading fic by friends which happens to be in Spanish (and not understanding a fair amount," I didn't click that ticky box.

For all intents and purposes, I'm English-only.

[ex_saved750]

I'm Spanish, not bilingual, started out in the Spanish Harry Potter fandom and soon thereafter ran out of fic to read, so now I'm actually fluent, to some extent, in English, all thanks to fandom. I think that happens a lot--it's not that you don't like your own language, it's that the content in it is just not enough after a while, and eventually you forget how to write prose in your mother tongue.

That may be just me, though.

Anyway, I wanted to clarify that I only read fic in Spanish now if I know the author and am detached enough from the canon to take the dialogue as it is rather than translate it in my head as I read. I'd read fic in the other languages I can read (high school French, Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, took a few months of Italian a while ago) if, you know, I stumbled across something interesting. Which I never do.

[sabinetzin]

I had to go and change my answer, because I almost forgot- I've written fic that was partially in Nahuatl. I also read a little bit of classical Yucatec.

[alchemia]

My "other" responses are all for American Sign Language (asl)

Also, I was trilingual ASL/english/polish when young, but i have since forgot 99% of it, so I didn't check that one; I wasn't entirely sure if I should or not.

[calime]

Well, my first language is Other, that is Estonian, but the fandom participation is mostly exclusively in English (mainly due to the source canon being in English - and this is why the few ficcy things I write are in English, too).
And re: the languages I've learned - Swedish and Latin are purely on the level of 'have learned and have some rudimentary knowledge of'. English is a language I probably read even more in than in my native Estonian, and Finnish and Russian I can read and get by in, but not as well as in English.
Also, I'm sure you are aware that your poll results are most likely going to be skewed towards the English language users, even if it gets pimped far and wide, am I right? (not meant as a criticism, just an observation).

[fragmentedspace]

my first language is spanish but my interactions in fandom have always been in english 90% of the time. i'm not complaining though, i'd be much less fluent in the language otherwise.

it took me a long time to be able to read fic in my own language without finding it off-putting, and even so, reading in english still feels more natural.

[ariadneelda]

Interesting poll!

I first read Harry Potter in Greek (I'm Greek) but I wasn't in fandom back then, so I don't consider it my first fandom language. Since I got into fandom after the fifth HP book, I've only read canon (and fic) in English. In all other fandoms too, I only read and watch things in English. (For anime, I need English subtitles.) One thing is certain, my English has improved a lot in the last five years. ;)

I didn't reply to your second question since I don't write or translate fic; I make fanart. And I'm not sure I should have checked German as a language I speak. I did learn it but I have forgotten it and can barely speak it now. I wouldn't be able to read fic in German.

[jassanja]

I'd say Swiss German is my first language
For young children there really is a big diffrence, and politicans are currently having a fight if Swiss German or "proper" German should be used by teachers when comunicating with pupils outside of grammer classes