International Organiser seminar

[Stewart Reuben]

Soheil. >I asked what languages must one know?< No you didn't. You asked: Do you recognize Farsi?

Go back to the start of the thread: who speak at least two languages will be entitled to apply for the International Organiser's Title,

If you can't understand that, or can't remember it, you are unlikely to be a suitable candidate for the IO title.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Why?
I speak Farsi and English

[Michael Flatt]

Stewart,
Although I do not aspire to become an IO your FIDE IO Seminar does interest me as does the Colin Crouch Celebration Chess Congress.

What sort of numbers do you require to make the Seminar viable?

The last weekend of the planned Congress clash with another event (St Albans) but otherwise I am available to assist in whatever capacity you might think appropriate.

I do have a second language (French) but rarely use it.

[Stewart Reuben]

Michael >Although I do not aspire to become an IO your FIDE IO Seminar does interest me as does the Colin Crouch Celebration Chess Congress. <

I was hoping to get at least 8 people for the seminar. It doesn't that much matter though, but 6 would be disappointing.

You may not currently aspire to be an IO, but might become enthused. I shall certainly bear in mind the possibility of your helping administratively at the event. Do you aspire to becoming an FA?

I passed O Level French in 1956, but seldom now speak it.

Please send mr your private contact detals via [email protected]

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Mr Reuben,
I understand you want two languages. I want to know if Farsi is acceptable as one of them

[Michael Flatt]

Deleted by author.

[Stewart Reuben]

Soheil >I understand you want two languages. I want to know if Farsi is acceptable as one of them<

It is FIDE who require two languages for the FIDE IO title, not me.
Can I claim a draw by 3-fold occurrence of question?
Farsi is a language. English is a language. You speak both, albeit the second badly. Thus you are eligible for the IO title, if you meet the other requirements. These are: passing an exam; organising 3 FIDE Rated tournaments; securing nomination by your federation; no strong objections by third parties.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Soheil speaks better English than I do German, which I'm hoping to claim as my second language. (A* at GCSE in 1995.)

[Simon Brown]

Would Stewart care to define "speak" as in "speak two languages" on the first post in this thread? I'd be quite surprised if an O level in 1956, or indeed a more recent A* GSCE, entitled one to claim to be able to speak the language, unless it were complemented by more study or hands-on experience. Being able to regurgitate a few paragraphs about your hobbies or your last holiday hardly means you speak the language.

[Stewart Reuben]

Simon Brown >Would Stewart care to define "speak" as in "speak two languages" on the first post in this thread? <

No, I wouldn't. It is for FIDE to decide. They introduced that particular rule, not me. Indeed speaking a language is different from passing a written exam in it. Do they still have an oral exam for foreign languages in GCSE?
FIDE set a very low bar for these qualifications. Basically they want everybody to pass and pay the fees. David Sedgwick and I were unable to get anybody in The Gambia to pass the FA exam.
Anecdotes. At the Lloyds Bank Masters in the 1980s, in the office, a Roumanian WGM was very agitated. She spoke to me in French. I responded. She left, her concerns having been addressed. People in the office turned to me and asked, 'Did you realise you were speaking French?' The answer was no. I just responded automatically. Could I do so today? No, my French has deteriorated due to lack of use.
I was Chief Arbiter in Lausanne. They told me of a regulations which I knew was not according to The Title Regulations. When I pointed this out, they replied, 'Yes, we know, but that is what it says on the French website.' I looked, realised indeed that was what the French actually said and let it go. French is now the only official FIDE language apart from English. Could I still do so today? I expecty so.

[Roger de Coverly]

Indeed speaking a language is different from passing a written exam in it. Do they still have an oral exam for foreign languages in GCSE?

Back in the 1980s there was a FIDE publication which gave "useful" phrases in several languages. A couple of them were "Who is winning the Olympiad" and " The Soviet Union are leading".

From a player's point of view, if not playing with increments you want the phrase, "I wish to claim a draw under 10.2/Appendix G". I very nearly had this problem once after midnight following nearly six hours play. I was playing a German IM (GM elect) in France. I spotted an idea that forced the draw so my language skills were not tested. My opponent would have understood a claim in English. I wasn't so sure about the arbiter.

[Simon Brown]

Simon Brown >Would Stewart care to define "speak" as in "speak two languages" on the first post in this thread? <

No, I wouldn't. It is for FIDE to decide. They introduced that particular rule, not me. Indeed speaking a language is different from passing a written exam in it. Do they still have an oral exam for foreign languages in GCSE?

Thanks Stewart, I mistakenly assumed you were the author of these rules.

They do still have oral exams, hence my remark. My son can talk happily about Ayrton Senna, Sevenoaks, skiing and our holidays in Spain in both French and Russian (and has the A*s to prove it) but he can't "speak" either language sufficiently well to be able to converse on a wide range of topics.

[Brian Towers]

I'd be quite surprised if an O level in 1956, or indeed a more recent A* GSCE, entitled one to claim to be able to speak the language, unless it were complemented by more study or hands-on experience.

Exactly.

Back in 1991 one of the first things I did on going to live and work in Munich in Germany was to head along to the Goethe Institute (a more intelligent German equivalent of the Academie Francaise) to enroll in evening classes in German. The nice man on reception asked me which level I wanted to start on, Grundstuffe eins, zwei, drei, vier, Mittlestuffe, Oberstuffe? With a 1972 vintage O level I didn't think I should start as a complete beginner but beyond that I didn't know. So, he pulled out a test for me to try to give a better idea of my level. Well, I looked at the first few questions, probably stuff like "Wie heisen sie?", "Woher kommen sie?" and thought "I know that. It's not quite there, but it'll come to me in a minute". Unfortunately after 2 or 3 minutes nothing had "come". I tossed the blank test back to him and resignedly said "Sign me up for Grundstuffe eins".

The flip side is that it did start coming back quite quickly once I was sat for 2 hours every evening, 5 nights a week immersed in the stuff and the following summer (after the ski season) when I enrolled in Grunstuffe zwei I was told after the first week that they were transferring me to "drei" as I clearly appeared to already know the stuff.

[Mike Truran]

There's only one 'f' in 'Stufe'.

Reminds me a bit of the old joke:

A woman went into the fishmonger's and asked for a pound of cod. "Sorry." he replied, "But we've run out of cod." "OK. Then I'll take a pound of cod, please." Rather surprised, the fishmonger told his customer again that there was no cod. With that the woman promptly asked for cod again. "Listen, missus," growled the fishmonger, "There's no COFD." "But there's no F in cod." "That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past five minutes...."

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Could you please explain about the daily costs like lugging, food, etc?