where is a chatroom ?

[boston_ma]

I heard that there is a chatroom here so I can chat with foreigners.
But I cannot find out it and I only have access to the forum.
Please tell me how to chat with those who are master in English so that I can learn more from them.

[Khatores]

I don't think the chat room is active right now...there might be one on the main EV site.

However, there are plenty of native English speakers here in VIEX...and we are trying to learn Vietnamese. :)

[bschuess]

Sorry, no chat room over on the EV side either.

We tried one last year, but there wasn't enough traffic to support it. Maybe we should try again, but on a schedule basis. We have members in at least a dozen time zones so maybe it would help if we knew in advance when to expect each other.

And we could either have one with mixed languages or several each with a specified language.

Any thoughts?

[Khatores]

Sorry, no chat room over on the EV side either.

We tried one last year, but there wasn't enough traffic to support it. Maybe we should try again, but on a schedule basis. We have members in at least a dozen time zones so maybe it would help if we knew in advance when to expect each other.

And we could either have one with mixed languages or several each with a specified language.

Any thoughts?
I'm a big fan of having moderators or groups schedule client-based chats - using group chatroom based on Yahoo or Skype client platforms. It's much more reliable than one based on the forum, and is more accessible to dialup users. It also enables easy use of the voice features which are helpful with language learning situations, and most people are already familiar with the controls, so there's no learning curve.

[bschuess]

I agree concerning use of an outside platform with existing features. Almost everyone I meet here and on other Vietnamese sites uses Yahoo Messenger and a lot are also comfortable with Skype. But Yahoo is definitely more common.

Anyone want to try to set one up sometime? I remember Giang was going to set one up during Tet for members in VN, but I don't know if it ever happened. Would you be language-specific or invite a free-for-all? Our forums usually degenerate in 100% English. It's rough to do simultaneous translation, but it would be more inclusive.

[ChubbyChocobobo]

Come to think of it, I haven't spoken to any VIEX member via voice chat except NKTVN. How about we all recite our free time in a week in detail here, then decide on when to have a conference. Let's me start first.

My available time is: (GMT+7 Vietnam time)
Everyday from 4.30am to 6.30am OR 8.00am to 10.00am OR 6.00pm to 7.00pm OR 10.00pm to 11.30pm.
(I mostly always do something as planned during those periods but I can reschedule to make things fit).

Here's some factors that I think we should taken into account:
1. Messengers: We have 3 options so far. They are Yahoo, Skype and Paltalk. Yahoo is the most common messenger among Vietnamese and it fully supports Unicode but the sound quality is just fairly good. Skype has the best sound quality so far and it supports Unicode as well but it greatest turn off is that the number of people taking part in a conference is limited to 10. Paltalk is a more like a public conference network where everyone can find and join in but, unfortunately, it doesn't support Unicode up till now. (Personally, Skype is our best bet)

2. Time slots: We must decide on when to speak/teach English and when to speak/teach Vietnamese. If we're not clear on it, we will end up speaking sheer English. I think we should switch between the two every 30 minutes. It means, for example, we would exchange English from 4.00 to 4.30 then Vietnamese from 4.30 to 5.00 and so forth.

3. The tutors: Since it's a language exchange program, everyone can be teacher. But we need someone in charge to moderate the room and give out lessons when no one raises any question or topic to discuss.

4. Classification and Specialization: People come from different places with different backgrounds of language. Hence, some individuals may find particular parts of the exchange-language (esp. pronunciation) extremely difficult. I think we should identify everyone's special issues, if any, and pair up the one in need with someone who's capable of solving or are well aware of the issue. Apart from that, we should have multiple conferences with different levels when the gang starts to get big.

Those are what I can think of so far.
Chubby

[nb]

I don't see what's so hard about downloading mirc or something similar and everyone idling on a specific chat server and channel... i'm always doing this on austnet in the brisbane channel and another chan i frequent already. IRC already has systems in place to prevent anarchy so moderating etc is not hard at all.

mirc for me is like msn... it just sits there logged in all day whether i'm on the pc or not.

that covers the chat component. yes mirc only somewhat seems to support unicode but viscii isn't THAT hard to type when needed

[bschuess]

nb

I think it's a matter of critical mass. I think a chat room would be drag if only one or two of us were around at one time without any structure. I don't know if we need to establish a topic in advance because we usually find something to talk about, no matter what the topic seems to be :D

[Khatores]

I don't see what's so hard about downloading mirc or something similar and everyone idling on a specific chat server and channel...
Several things cause a problem with that. For one thing, a lot of these people are going to be new users who may be unfamiliar to IRC; the learning curve is less steep with an IM client that is made for end users (YIM or Skype). Also, I haven't heard much about IRC's support for voice.

[Khatores]

I am available (GMT-4) at basically any time until school starts again, except for 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Monday - Friday. That's when I get to work, and there are still people hanging around. I need to look busy. :lol:

Skype or Yahoo is fine...typically, people will be cross-messaging each other during group chats anyway. I use both at the same time.

2. Time slots: We must decide on when to speak/teach English and when to speak/teach Vietnamese. If we're not clear on it, we will end up speaking sheer English. I think we should switch between the two every 30 minutes. It means, for example, we would exchange English from 4.00 to 4.30 then Vietnamese from 4.30 to 5.00 and so forth.
There's going to be some of each on either. So when speaking Viet, English may be needed to explain something, and vice-versa. So at those times the other language would only be used for teaching and not for conversation (unless you want to try total immersion).

[ChubbyChocobobo]

Yeah, I meant during Vietnamese time, people are encouraged to speak and explain stuff in Vietnamese but it's ok to throw in some English if needed.