-A +A
Volume II, Issue 1, October 2001

The Challenge of International Publishing


Points of View
By Susan J. Ellis and Steve McCurley

With this issue of e-Volunteerism we start our second year of publication. It was our intent - from the beginning - to publish something of value to colleagues anywhere in the world. We wanted to engage contributors and readers from as many countries as possible, representing a wide array of settings. Volume I did indeed offer the thoughts of volunteerism leaders in over twenty different countries (and all continents). Perhaps the most exciting capability of the Internet is simultaneous access to materials (allowing for some difference in server updating). No matter where you live on this planet, when e-Volunteerism goes online, you can read it at the same moment as everyone else.

With these successes have also come challenges, many of which we didn't anticipate, some of which illustrate the difficulties of being truly international.

The full article is only available to subscribers.

Subscribers: Log in at top left or, if you have logged in and cannot access the article, your subscription has probably expired. Renew Now.

Non-subscribers: Subscribe now for full year ($45) or 48-hour access ($10).

Comments

Rick Lynch, Consultant/Trainer, Seattle WA USA

October 15th, 2001, 6:32pm

After many years of consulting and training in England, I came across a new term that I hadn't heard in the US. I was asked "Will we be working in syndicates?" And shortly thereafter I was told "We have three syndicate rooms if you need them." As you have probably divined, it means the same as small groups.

Rob Jackson, Royal National Institute for the Blind, Volunteer Development Officer, London England

October 17th, 2001, 6:32pm

A few lighthearted thoughts in response.

With global warming the concept of spring, summer, fall and winter may become even more abstract and varied no matter which hemisphere we're in.

American English is not British English - quite true. British English sometimes isn't English English either, and then there is Queen's English...

Also, good old Mr Gates seems to have programmed MS Word's spellchecker to revert to American English every so often. Obviously a sneaky attempt to get us all writing English the same way.

Terminology - the US phrase 'terminating a volunteer' always causes a smile here in the UK. Arnold Scwhartznegger movie images spring to mind.

All joking aside, I think all this diversity only helps to strengthen our field. As we have to explain our terminology we have to think about the root meaning of the language we use, helping us in turn to develop our thinking and thus practice in this great worldwide arena of volunteerism.

Rosie William, McEwan Lyell, Adelaide SA Australia

October 18th, 2001, 6:31pm

I think language is kind of "neat" (a Canadian word I learned while on exchange!!) It is also rather nice that you guys here at e-Volunteerism worry about these kinds of things and believe that even when we are at "home" we should probably check out that people have understood our meaning when we speak....:0)

While I was away in Canada and traveled through England etc. I found I unintentionally had people in fits of laughter !! Just for example finding the "toilet" somewhere..... or is that "bathroom" or "loo". It's these little differences that makes things so great I think !! I have so many examples of little hiccups whilst working in Canada due to different language and it is surprising that just between Australia and Canada there are so many differences. I was running a volunteer training program and gave instructions for an activity and then stood back while they did the exercise and I was confused about what on earth they were all doing !! It turns out they all "heard" something different to what I meant. It was the joke of the group for weeks to come. I asked my program assistant if she was "flat out" cause I had some work she could do. A simple question I thought !! She just cracked up on the floor and didn't have a clue what that meant. You know "flat out like a lizard drinking" I say, not knowing what is so very funny!! (meaning "do you have a lot to do just now?" !) And just as a side line, I got to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving while in Canada as well ..... (You did know that Australians don't have those things, right?) I wish someone had told me on Halloween that I could have worn my pajamas to work !! Finally as I conclude my reminiscing..... you really had to be careful when inviting people over to "supper" that they knew that you don't mean a light snack after "tea" that in fact meant "tea" itself ..get what I mean?.......:0)