European Audiogon?

As a brit in the US, still struggling to learn 'real' English, I think it would be better to keep all activity under one roof, but offer translation facilities to non-English speaking people(like myself).
I don't know if this is technically possible, but one way to do it might be through the 'My Page' section. When someone creates an account, they can specify there native language as preference over English. Then, they can browse the forums just like anyone, viewing texts in English when not logged-in. However, if they login to their accounts, the same texts are translated into their native tongue. When they post, they can post in their language and it is translated and becomes part of the forum in English.
Although this sounds technically difficult (I'm sure it is), the technology does exist. There are sites like www.babel.altavista.com that provide instant translation facilities in many languages. If this technology could be incorporated into Audiogon it would make for a truly international website.
The downside of splitting up audiogon into different websites is that the audio community isn't that large, and it would be diluting the knowledge base and robbing us of valuable input from around the globe.

Rooze

Hi Raquel, I don't disagree entirely, though I don't think your analogy with 18 Century medicine is applicable.
I've done a couple of web design projects, one for a Spanish speaking client and one for French. In both cases altavista's translation service got me about 90% of the way there, and saved a lot of time and money also, though it did need final input from a linguist to reach the required level of accuracy for the clients involved.
I think most people who are not fluent in English would be receptive to having a basic translation into their own tongue and would use it in preference to trying to struggle with the English version. I think they would need to have the source and mechanism of the translation explained to them thoroughly, and so would understand that it wouldn't be entirely acurate.
The problem would arise where vernaculars are used by us 'Americans', that would not translate into any foreign language very well. But in those cases, the same problem would be present if a non-English person was reading the vernacular in English.
It's not perfect, but I believe it is better than nothing. Also, it is projects like this that take the whole technology forward, so that in maybe a couple of years the translation tools can be refined to the point of excellence.....like 18 Century Medicine.
Rooze

When I was buying audio equipment in the UK, anything American was usually way too expensive. The exchange rate back then (in the mid 90's was about 1.45 usd to the gbp and with VAT at 17.5% it made buying anything from the US an expensive proposition. I bought a Audio Alchemy DDS Pro Transport and paid 1700 GBP with the Tax ($2600 USD, and the same unit sold in the states for about $1600. The first thing I bought when I moved to the states was a Krell 300i, and paid $1750 USD, where it would have cost me twice that in the UK.
There is simply no arguing - US gear is expensive in the UK.