languagelounger

Hi There were posts on 29 March, 1 snd 8 April, and the reason is that people get confused about when we're taking a break. We were taking two weeks off from regular weekly events and if I handn't posted reminders of that, there would have been more messages of the "I turned up and there was no-one there" variety - that's what has happened in the past. Today, there are multiple threads running from the Nun's Head (two); The Great Exhibition (three) - including 4 pure bumping posts just today on one of their three threads; a dance teacher (three) and flapjackdavey (three). These people are all running separate threads for different classes or events they run. Is it okay therefore, if were are running different events on a Monday and a Wednesday, to have two separate threads, like the Nun's Head and The Great Exhibition, and the dance teacher have separate threads for different events they are running? That would mean that the separate threads each had fewer posts. Thanks

Mark - For information, the message in question from "The Administrator" was sent to us at 22:27 on the 30th April and said:" You can post once a week frmo now on, no more. I will check again in a month and I may change that to fortnightly if you break the rule." There is nothing in what you post in Terms of Use that says that event organisers may only post once a week. Hence we found this message rather baffling. As you may recall, we have received similar messages out of the blue previously, on one occasion saying that because we were a business, our thread had been moved to the business section. This was done without any warning. LL is not a business, and you (personally) moved the thread back to the Events section at my request. I have noticed that the baffling messages of a similar (and rather strange) nature always seem to be posted late at night. Perhaps this will help to identify the person who sends them? Thank you.

I received a private message which was signed "The Administrator". I replied but received no response. The way you operate is turning out to be rather confusing. People are invited to use the East Dulwich Forum to promote local events. Obviously, with events there will be occasions when, due to illness, or other events beyond the control of the organisers, eg the riots, weather conditions, last minute changes/cancellations have to be made. We posted one such message on the 27 April, and received a private message from "The Administrator" objecting to this message - which simply advised that one of the groups had been cancelled - saying that going forward, we could not post any updates. You also without even advising me removed all our mesaages back to 23rd April, which was very confusing to individuals who had posted on the thread asking for information, and obviously caused them inconvenience. If you are in fact only offering the opportunity to mention an event once, this effectively renders the message board useless for event organisers, since people who have been attracted to an event cannot be advised of unforseen changes. Also, the poster cannot control whether other people post on the thread - even if they ask them not to. You have effectively told us that people are banned from posting perfectly normal messages and enquries (approved under your own rules) on your message board. Hence I hope you understand that your message was totally baffling. Would you not inform people in advance, that if anyone replies to their post, of if they update it with essential information, that you are going to remove all the postings, without warning? This would make more sense than inviting them to start using the site, and then tell them, after they have posted, that they are unable to update outdated information. It's baffling, and hence, I have enquired who owns the East Dulwich Forum, so that I at least know who to try to communicate with. The messages we receive from "The Administrator" are from different people (this is very obvious from both the content and the tone of the messages, which vary strikingly and puzzlingly from one message to the next). I can't see any information anywhere which says who the owner of the site is. Is that information available please? I would mention, that LL does not bump up messages at all, and specifically asks people responding to postings, to reply only by private message, so that the thread is not always rising to the top of the list with queries which might only be of interest to the individual poster. Language Lounge runs twice a week and as there are several groups for different languages, there are often changes to the details of the groups that have to be notified. Most often, this is when one of the teachers can't make it because of illness or child care issues, etc. This is the only reason additional messages are posted - apart from messages from enquirers, over which, very obviously, I have no control. We did start out with separate threads for Mons and Weds, but you asked us to consolidate into one. LL is completely non-profit making, we organise free classes and swaps, and in some cases teacher shares (where the teacher is paid, but allowing people who couldn't afford individual fees, to share the cost between them). I started and organise it - all the history on the EDF, right from 2008 - and make no profit of any kind from it. If you in fact want people to pay to advertise on the EDF then please say so openly. But you do say that you are offering a free service and invite people to use it, so it is very baffling, that you would then object to them doing exactly what you have invited them to do. Please could you explain how people are supposed to know what the "rules" are, or if you in fact want people to pay for posting on the EDF, if you are open and clear about this, they will be able to make a decision accordingly. Thank you.

Just to put this back on track, as I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has first hand knowledge of a similar incidence to this: I had a great aunt who was not married and died in childbirth in an institution run by Roman Catholic nuns at the end of the 1930s in England. I have first hand evidence (from people who knew her) that this happened. However, there is no record of the baby - no record of birth or stillbirth. I'm told the baby lived and was adopted. I wanted to find out if "unofficial" adoptions were arranged in the UK by the Catholic church as has been proven to have taken place in Spain (there is a very high profile court case taking place in Spain relating to such incidences, at the moment). I'm not making any suggestions about what the motives were. First one would need to find out whether there was such a practice, if it was widespread, and if the Catholic Church kept records of where the babies went - if so then those records should be made public. My mother's cousin would be in their early 70s if still alive, and, it's reasonable to suppose, would never have had any idea of who their family was. This is not about blaming the church officials involved - my relatives apparently just let a baby be adopted that had grandparents and several aunts and uncles.

Who is the owner please?

Thanks for the expanded info, Pibe. The news story about the court case in Spain just made me wonder. I only discovered after my mother died, that I'd had a great aunt who was unmarried and died giving birth in a home for unmarried mothers, run by nuns. I was astonished because my great aunt had been completely written out of the family history. Neither my grandfather, or great aunts and great uncles, or my parents' generation, who had also known her, had ever mentioned her. I was told by someone who'd known my family, that the baby had been born healthy, and that the nuns had probably arranged an adoption. I presumed they meant a legal, on the record adoption. I wanted to trace this person, my mother's cousin, but there is no record of the birth at all - no record of a still birth, or a live baby.

Hi Could anyone tell me who owns the East Dulwich Forum and how to contact them? I don't mean via the Administrator as this seems to be different people. Many thanks

In Spain there's a court case going on which has revealed that it was common practice in Spain until the 1970s to tell single mothers giving birth in Roman Catholic run hospitals/homes for unmarried mothers, that their children had died, and then give the baby to a couple, and pass it off as their natural child. The report I saw mentioned 300,000 cases, which is staggering. This set me wondering whether this had also happened in England. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who might know whether the Spanish/Irish practice of telling single women giving birth that their child had died, and then giving or selling the child to someone else, without any official records or legal adoption, may have gone on in England also? (In the case in the news in Spain, the children were actually being sold to childless couples).

I know what you mean Minder. I would have thought it should be 14 July for a celebration of the French language anyway, since that's the French national day and also is an important symbolic date for the independence of many Francophone countries. The official date they have chosen is March 20, but in London the French govt is paying for a party on the Saturday, 17th. Possibly a good day to be French-Irish. Apparently 20 March was chosen by a group of American teachers of French, originally. You can imagine that they aren't allowed to mention Bastille Day in the US. Perhaps if anyone says the word "revolution" in US schools they get locked up for being socialistic. I like the idea of the food trail, but I don't know whether the French cafe is ever so French, is it? - although the coffee is quite nice.

The UN has nominated some days to celebrate its official languages and is kicking off with International French Language day, which is being celebrated in Central London on March 17th, right under Admiral Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square, with a free concert. International English language day will be on April 23rd (Shakespeare's birthday)and 6th June, the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, will be Russian day. Spanish day is in October and the Chinese day hasn't been agreed yet. It would be nice to do something locally. A guided walk around the area in French and English to highlight French connections has been suggested for the 17th, the only problem is knowing whether there are any? Would be grateful to hear from anyone who knows. Thanks.

I would love to see an example of des vieux objets industriels ?tranges and have nothing but admiration for people who can trade them for money.

I bet it is a very lovely shop. I just think the English habit of having to stick a French label on something before we can believe it has any value, is aa bit comical.

Le Garage? Does everything for sale at Le Garage automatically become un objet and if it were The Garage, would it all just be a heap of junk? Can we solve our current economic problems by renaming everything in French, whiie the French simultaneously rename everything in English?

Would be very grateful to hear from anyone who has a wood pellet boiler, particularly advice on the real cost of fitting one - what's the cheapest it can be done for? Are there any other subsidies to be found on top of the ?900 govt sub? The prices for these things look suspiciously high to me and am just wondering whether the ?900 per boiler subsidy is helping more of the public to fit them or is just keeping the manufacturers' profits up? Is it possible to buy cheaper directly from continental Europe? Is there a second hand market in continental Europe - doesn't seem to be one here yet. Any advice from the experienced very welcome. Thanks.

Switzerland. The buses run on time. Really they do.

It would be interesting to hear about: Do you have to get dimmer and slower as you get older, or can you maintain your thinking skills, or even improve them? Can you acquire "spatial intelligence" if you apparently started out with almost none?

Co-op have just hired someone to adapt their stores to local demographics. Maybe suggest they start with East Dulwich. Though do wonder if it might be all those Fair Trade labels in the Co-op that are putting your pillage-and-loot City workers off their tea.

Hello There's just one group, Language Lounge, that meets twice a week - Mons and Weds. If you would an invitation to come along, there's a large thread in the What's On section of this site that has all the info and how to contact us. English and Mandarin are on offer as well as continental European languages. We also do Russian, although I never know whether to describe Russian as a European language. It's not about "using" us though! - it's more something you contribute to and benefit from in exchange - it's a private, by invitation, initiative, we're definitely not a service provider, and we are not funded by anyone. If you're looking for a service provider, a commercial language teacher or public sector course might be more what you're looking for.

The thing is, if you take the "safe routes" it's quite a bit slower. Also I suspect that you might be quite seriously fit, but you won't appreciate it unless at some point you lose it. Unfit is hard to imagine for the fit. I mean trying to cycle up Denmark Hill and literally falling off the bike because it isn't going anywhere. That's unfit. I'm not against cycling, I used to choose to do it, but I think giving people unrealistic expectations just makes them more prone to give up when they find there's actually quite a lot of potholes, detours, punctures and mad motorists to contend with. If you should ever acquire a tandem by the way I would be most happy to take up an offer of a lift.

25 mins by bike is great, for those that can do it, am very glad very you. But huge numbers of people cannot manage that. To cycle that fast down the Old and New Kent roads, and to run the approaches to the bridges, and the roundabouts, while avoiding giant potholes, you need to be able to put sudden and ferocious bursts of speed. Only the perfectly fit and healthy can manage it. I think quite a lot of people who try the cycle commute into town who aren't that speedy get disillusioned very quickly and give up once they've discovered how hair raising it can be. Never managed it to Whitehall myself in less than 40 minutes from Crystal Palace Road, and that was when I was in my 20s.

At the risk of sounding like my grandad recalling the visit of Queen Victoria, when I moved here there was a direct bus, the 184, that went all the way to Whitehall. They renamed it the 484 and stopped it at Camberwell. I'm guessing that unless everyone who posted here works in that little souvenir shop on Whitehall selling little plastic beefeaters, you must all be tip top wheeler-dealer civil servants. Couldn't you get the bus back for us, you know, get it included in an edict to Boris or something? Slip it under a politician's nose while they're sloshed or busy leering at their researcher?

Last night three P12s went down HOP, but only one of them came back....the '20:30' arrived at 21:00. I wonder what the record is for waiting for the P12? (I can offer 47 mins in freezing, driving, sleeting rain.)

It would be a lot safer if they would open the gate on Brenchley Gardens, which is opposite the top of Kelvington Road, so that people could walk through the cemetery (which is a lot more open than One Tree Hill at that point) and then through Honor Oak Rec. There could be a path created across the land that they have just cleared (where criminal waste dumping had been taking place) so that South Nunheaders could walk on the flat all the way to HOP station and take advantage of the East London Line. Even without the mugger/flasher risk of walking through One Tree Hill, it is so steep that it's simply impassable for many people - anyone except the totally fit and unencumbered. Try it with a pushchair or arthritis. It is supposed to be top of the local authority, London Assembly and govt agenda to increase use of public transport and walking for fitness so please, why can't this really simple thing be done, to make the East London Line accessible to a couple of thousand people living in South Nunhead (or are we calling it Nunhead Heights now?). This would of course also make the delights of South Nunhead accessible to the currently deprived residents of SE22/3.

Thank you! So kind, at least I can now look them up. Only passed it regularly for 25 years.