komenstanto:For me the exam system makes more sense for equality above the nation you reside in. For instance, there could be antagonism between British and American, as the British think Americans are stupid, and so there would not be equal communication, but with an objective exam system, only the facts would be of interest. Also, nations have different forms of communication, even speaking the same language. China and some Asian nations are concerned with "Face", and if there is no objective standard unrelated to any living human being, exams for instance, then these other issues should not matter as much, as it will all be in the open.

Otherwise it would be like a bad classroom environment with some extroverted students dominating. I for one would not want to toy with say someone from Poland who maybe has psychological issues related to Poland rather than a true international mindset. A 3rd party correction system would prevent students from correcting each other without warrant.

I give up - I can't understand any of this. OK, I am out.

@geo63 - I believe, that this is a culture matter. There excist cultures where people need strong self-positioning inside their social constructions. So, before that self-postioning folks are start any "normal" talk with you they will find out your postion to several matters first which they believe are important according to their believes i.e. Where are you from? How long did you learn Esperanto? Did you pass any (KER) excams? How much E-o events did you attend? ktp. After finishing that "self-positioning check-list" the "normal" conversation can begin. They call it "small talk". But why not talk about the current situation both communication partners are in right here, right now? Means creating of closeness instead of distance? ( individuisma kontraŭe kolegisma pensado )

erinja:geo63, it's no problem. No one will force you to take an exam. Your language level, in that case, will be marked as either "basic" or unspecified.

geo63:

komenstanto:I like the idea of an automatic level raising related to exams passed. Its silly to let people choose their own level. Anyone could say they are advanced, but not be advanced.

And what should I do that for? Will I profit? No.

I vote for "unspecified". "Unknown" would also be fine. It has a taste of mystery, adventure, unexplored land...

I agree that excams are well proper for self-positioning. The matter is that folks who don't feel any self-positioning motivation should be capable to choose the level "unspecified" and folks who feel self-positioning motivation should be capable choose (preferable KER) excam language decorations.

?!

Chainy:?!

+1

komenstanto:For instance, there could be antagonism between British and American, as the British think Americans are stupid,

!?

komenstanto:I for one would not want to toy with say someone from Poland who maybe has psychological issues related to Poland rather than a true international mindset.

!?

Is this guy joking? It's almost Mikijo style.

erinja:

Chainy:

erinja:
In the new lernu, forum postings will likely contain an indicator of the poster's language level

I wonder how that will be decided?

The plan is that all levels will be determined by exam. If you want a higher level, you have to take (and pass) the exam for that level.

On the opposite side of things, some current lernu users are overly modest with their levels. Perhaps they have passed a high level exam, but they forget to update their level. Under the new system, when you take and pass an exam at a certain level, your profile will be updated automatically to reflect your new level.

Forgive me if I'm chiming in late here, but does this mean that I'm "basic" since I've passed the first exam? Or am I "intermediate"? Because "basic" sounds like something you'd call a beginner, and "intermediate" prob'ly sounds too good for me (EDIT: and the intermediate exam's been peaving me off, I keep getting two wrong in one section without fail (pun not intended), and it's normally a combination of something like a trick question along with a beginner's error )

Perhaps we need a ranking system based on negativity
"Utterly Atrocious" "Bad" "Not so bad" "Passable" "Nice" "Excellent" "God of Esperanto"

(a bit like how some Japanese games have F E D C B A S SS SSS SSS+ SSS++ SSS+++)

Anyway, I'm excited. The last minor changes do give the site a new feel, even if it's only minor.

Perhaps it would be best to put some kind of an evaluation system into each post (like "useful" - "not useful" buttons). The more "useful" presses one gets, the more reliable s/he is (with "unusefu" presses geting the oposite in rank). Then the total rating could be presented along with user logo. But frankly, I would not pay any attention on such ratings anyway.

geo63:Perhaps it would be best to put some kind of an evaluation system into each post (like "useful" - "not useful" buttons). The more "useful" presses one gets, the more reliable s/he is (with "unusefu" presses geting the oposite in rank). Then the total rating could be presented along with user logo. But frankly, I would not pay any attention on such ratings anyway.

It'd be hard to apply that to Esperanto language ranking though wouldn't it? Unless we put them only in the EO only section, thus encouraging users to go there to "prove themselves"?

What is it all about? I don't understand. Examinations? What authority dares to make me take an examination in EO? I can assess my level by myself. If my EO is poor I can improve it in a month's time through extensive reading. After a year of asiduous study I can/could become Zamenhof's alter ego. I could as well lose my perfect competence by neglecting EO and breaking off with it completely, which in fact I once did years ago.

Let me remark that the competence in a language is time-conditioned and relative. 20 years ago I was fluent and good at portuguese, Now? Well, I read it easily.

As I said before, no one is forcing ANYONE to take an Esperanto exam.

We are talking about the language level that's marked in your lernu profile. Currently, you choose your level from a list. In the future, you won't choose your level on your profile. It will be determined by your exam results.

If you don't take an exam, you simply won't have a level marked in your profile. That's all. No problem!

Even now, the language level is an optional bit of information in your profile. You don't have to have it marked. That will remain true in the future.