Which topics should be redirected to other SE sites?

Question

This post is about deciding which topics should be asked in Chinese Language SE. There are several colliding topics with other SE sites.

These correspond to the following tags in the Chinese Language SE:

1. resources,books, dictionaries, movies, websites and database: Some posts are possibly colliding with Language Learning SE. There, it is on-topic:

   • Questions regarding specific language learning techniques or resources, and their effectiveness in comparison to others.
   • Requests seeking books, studies, web sites, or other resources supporting the scientific basis for any aspect of language study.
   • Questions seeking hard-to-find learning resources for a specific language. Be as specific as possible.

   But also, there is the Linguistics SE, which can overlap with the more technical resources for the study of the Chinese Language.

   Thus, if we are to respect these boundaries, should we move all resources about learning and studying Chinese Language at any level to these sites? This would apply for example to:

   • the popular post Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese
   • Chinese/English/Pinyin Books For Young Adult Readers
   • What resources do you actively use to study Chinese, and why?.

   On the other hand, we still have other posts asking for resources that are not specifically about learning Chinese, such as:

   • Asking about 'technical' language / terminology: Is there a list of medicinal plants and their translations in Mandarin?
   • Asking how to find some Chinese books: Where can I find a digital copy of 黄继忠's translation of 论语? and Where would one find a library of Chinese classics that have never been translated into English?

   In case we consider here only these kind of resources on-topic, we could specify it in the details of the tag.

2. learning, language-learning and practice: We again have colliding topics with Language Learning SE. There, it is on-topic:

   • Questions about learning or teaching techniques.
   • Questions regarding definite obstacles faced by anyone learning a language.
   • Questions regarding specific language learning techniques or resources, and their effectiveness in comparison to others.
   • Questions regarding the use of language-learning or teaching software or technology (i.e. Duolingo, Anki, etc.) in conjunction with the learning/teaching process.

   A lot of the tagged posts overlap with these ideas. Should we declare them off-topic and redirect them to the Language Learning SE site?

3. linguistics: Logically, again this might collide with Linguistics SE. What should we answer here and what should we redirect to Linguistics SE? Maybe the answer could be asking questions about particular points should be answered here, such as:

   • What is an “exoactive” Chinese character?

   but other general questions or questions comparing several languages should be answered in Linguistics SE, such as:

   • What's the difference between classifiers and measure words?

4. input-methods: Here we have overlapping topics with SuperUser SE for computer questions, such as:

   • How to write character components on a keyboard?
   • What is the fastest method to type Chinese using a computer?
   • Why is my Microsoft Pinyin IME suddenly making traditional characters instead of simplified?
   • Typing Chinese radicals?

   And with Android SE for android input-method questions. See for example:

   • How to type the Chinese ellipsis ⋯⋯ using Google Pinyin IME?.

   I consider these questions not really about Chinese language. Should we consider them off-topic here and move them to the corresponding SE sites?

5. technology The questions that don't relate to technological terminology might also overlap with other SE sites (such as the ones mentioned in input-methods point). For example:

   • Chinese Character Reading: What browser-based chat sites are available from inside China?
   • Apple Tablet Dictionary that Supports Drawing Input

   Also, "Questions regarding the use of language-learning or teaching software or technology (i.e. Duolingo, Anki, etc.)" are on-topic in Language Learning SE (but currently in this tag there are no questions regarding this point).

6. history: Questions that are not about the Chinese Language History, might collide with History SE. For example:

   • What exactly is an ancient Tang dynasty 壺?
   • Why did people sometimes call Liu Bei "明将军"?
   • What title did the merchants who dealt with Canton's 13 Factories have?

   But also linguistic historical questions might collide with Linguistics SE. For example, maybe this question:

   • How did three characters for _de_ emerge?

7. academic: Some questions might collide with Academia SE. See for example:

   • What is the correct style/format when including Chinese translations in academic articles?

8. culture: I believe right now, the official guides on Chinese Language SE say questions of Chinese culture are off-topic (see FAQ list). If that is the case, we should specify in the tag that it refers only to asking about cultural aspects related to Chinese Language. Currently, there are a few questions about Chinese culture, see for example:

   • Does (western) humor exist in Chinese culture? How do you use the language to make friends with Chinese?
   • Why Is The Color Red Considered Lucky In Chinese Language and Culture?

   On the other hand, I looked on other SE sites and I could not find any about culture and traditions. If this is correct and while there is no change on the topic, maybe we could grow on that direction accepting questions about Chinese culture? Moving from "Chinese Language" to "Chinese Language and Culture"?

9. style, constructs: General considerations for style should be moved to Writing SE? Although I am not sure there has been any post here about this.

Answer 1

We can/should only consider migration when:

1. the question is off-topic or received poorly here, AND
2. the question would be welcome at another site, AND
3. the question is not older than 60 days (otherwise migration is impossible).

While a question may be simultaneously on-topic at multiple sites (e.g. Marvel movies at both Movies.SE and SciFi.SE), there are some "study techniques" and "study resources" questions that do not receive a warm welcome here but would be welcomed at Language Learning. These questions are somewhat "meta", in that we don't (directly) learn about the Chinese language. I feel it would be reasonable to migrate them to Language Learning.

As for migrating to sites other than Language Learning, there are too few questions to make it worthwhile considering in detail. Questions about e.g. linguistics and input-methods in particular don't seem unwelcome here; very few are closed and/or downvoted. Commenting "the question might be better received at [blah]" gives the OP the option to re-post (or they can flag their own post for migration).

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A recent migration example is How many words/characters do I need to understand Chinese sitcoms? which was closed here, but it was welcomed at Language Learning after migration: How many words/characters do I need to understand Chinese sitcoms?

Other examples which I feel would have been better to ask at Language Learning:

• [+2/-1] Is it common to learn individual characters before two-characters words?
• [+1/-1] Recommended authentic texts and media for achieving HSK 6? and, in fact, the author re-posted at Language Learning: [+0/-0] Reading and Listening Resources for HSK 6 (C2)?
• [+1/-0] Does reading books with pronunciation written above the characters develop one's skills?
• [+1/-0] What if you learn all the stroke orders in the wrong order?
• [+0/-1] How do you improve Chinese writing beyond HSK4 or HSK5?

There's a general rule with migration: don't migrate rubbish. So we need to be sure it's on-topic at Language Learning before migrating there:

Questions on the following topics are welcome here:

• Questions about learning or teaching techniques regarding any human language, including dead, unspoken and constructed languages.
• Questions regarding definite obstacles faced by anyone learning a language.
• Questions regarding specific language learning techniques or resources, and their effectiveness in comparison to others.
• Requests seeking books, studies, web sites, or other resources supporting the scientific basis for any aspect of language study.
• Questions seeking hard-to-find learning resources for a specific language. Be as specific as possible.
• Questions regarding the use of language-learning or teaching software or technology (i.e. Duolingo, Anki, etc.) in conjunction with the learning/teaching process.

While some questions about resources at on-topic at Language Learning, recommendations are not on topic; however questions like Does Resource X exist? is suitable. So a question like HSK5 level novel to help prepare might not be appropriate to migrate.

Currently, migration (except to Chinese.SE Meta) can only happen via a diamond moderator. Adding a new migration path, so we can vote to migrate, can only be done by Stack Exchange staff.

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Extending from the "Chinese Language" to "Chinese Language and Culture" would be a major change to the scope of the site; it's another matter entirely. But we don't need to find a home for every question.