Hi.

This idea was originally posted a couple of years ago in another sub-forum but, considering we’re celebrating WR Forums' anniversary today, I thought some of you might feel nostalgic about the good old days, or just curious about how your style or even your command of other languages has evolved over the years. So here's my gift to all of you: your very first post to a WR forum.

Just follow these steps and tell us which is your very first post on WR.

> Go to the Advanced Search page.
> Put your username in the appropriate field and make sure you check ‘Exact name’.
> Find posts ‘A year ago’ ‘and Older’
> Sort results by ‘Last Posting Date’ ‘in Ascending Order’
> Show results as ‘Posts’
> Be amazed!

And if you wish, you may also answer a few questions... Is it a contribution? A desperate call for help ? A silly question ? Did senior folks welcome you? Did you introduce yourself?

So, here’s mine.

No, it was not a silly question nor a desperate call for help. It was a contribution to Hiro’s thread—is ‘chancho’ used everywhere, from Ecuador to Argentina? I introduced myself but no one welcomed me , but that’s OK—I have made several good friends and I have even met some of them here in Costa Rica and in France.

 

Hello swift

That's a great idea! Well, my very first post had to be deleted. Forum rule 2. But then I received a very friendly and welcoming PM from sokol, a moderator in the German forum then, and I was very careful to phrase my next post appropriately. And this is the result:

Very concise, I'd say. You can see that it is a reply to a question. I often find the questions asked by others so interesting and inspiring that I rarely ask my own questions.

 

Oh dear! My first post in April 2011 (with a little spelling mistake ) : Français de coeur

The one that has marked me most, though, is this one -
sprightly puffs of clouds > "une envolée de petits nuages", what a wonderful suggestion by Jasmine tea!

 

Apparently my first post was:

Profound indeed.

 

I'm too lazy to search my first post right now, but I was exactly what it was about: I explained the difference between "endlich" and "am Ende" in German to a French member, comparing them to "enfin" and "à la fin" in French. Few minutes later I received the first welcome greeting by Sowka. That's how my presence here started.

 

I think I originally signed up as something else, forgot my password, got fed up of trying to log back, on and re-registered. Otherwise it was indeed a rather 'veteran-like' first post.

 

I won't bother to repost it, but it was a question in French. I only knew how to type à é î ô ù the hard way, then, and I apologized for the lack of accents because it was after 22h. But new posts were still being added to it 5 years later, so I clearly wasn't the only person who wanted to know that particular answer. I find that aspect of the forums very satisfying.

 

Good idea, swift. I've just taken a trip down memory lane.

My first post, in Feb 2005, was in the French-English Vocab forum, where I started a thread by asking about the nuances of the word valoriser. I was very impressed by the range of helpful responses. The first reply was from a native Spanish speaker, with follow-up from English-, French-, Québécois- and Belgian French-speakers. The thread eventually ran to 28 posts, with several 'revivals' over 3 years.

I obviously felt at ease in the forum very quickly: after only three posts I felt comfortable about slagging off Harrap's (politely, though).

So my WRF baptism was successful, eye-opening and helpful.

My first contribution in English Only (a few days later) was a reply to an Argentinian member, warning about the difference (in BrE) between "pissed off" and "pissed"! But I did move on later to more refined subject matter.

Ws

 

Who would have thought it...?
It looks like mine was in Fr/En...

Outbound Segment of Journey
Outbound - l'aller
Inbound - le retour

 

Hello, my first post in this forum was this one, I regret that it wasn't also the last one

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1744264&p=8731132#post8731132

 

Thanks for sharing your memories. Keep them coming!

Wordsmyth, my own trip down memory lane made me realise that I used to post using huge orange fonts.

 

Ah, so you're not a Netherlands supporter any more?!

Ws

 

My very first post was in 2007 and I've been a steady and regular user ever since.

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=353269&p=2097334#post2097334

I needed help deciphering a handwritten letter (in Italian) and I was amazed and deeply grateful for the immediate response and warm welcome. (from another English speaker!)

I've used the Spanish/French/German forums from time to time, but Italian/English is where I'm usually found. My second home!
Thanks to all who make this possible.

 

Talk about self-affirmation! And yes, boldface and flashy posts reveal our assertiveness!

 

Boldface and bright colors yes, but I'm afraid the smilies I'm (we're?) guilty of overusing indicate a lack of confidence in my ability to convey tone with words alone.

 

I use them because they're cute. Do you remember the awful new smileys we had for a while after one of the forum's software big updates?

My favourite smileys are and

 

, but nonetheless .

A picture paints a thousand words. Smilies paint a thousand feelings.

I wouldn't say we overuse them, Kelly. After all, Mike (or vBulletin) keeps us in check with the max limit of 8 per post, so I can't add any more here!

I once added two smiley smilies after my abbreviated sign-off name, and another member immediately came back, calling me 'Mr Two-Smiles'. So I adopted them as a permanent thing: it became W+two smilies. Then someone called me Dubya (aarghh!), and also, shortly afterwards, an upgrade made the smilies bigger, so I changed to what I use now.

Long live smilies, I say.

Ws

 

Mine is Arabic Sesame Street 4 years ago.

 

This was my first post. It was an answer to a question (in the Spanish-English grammar forum).

 

My first post was a thread I started, because of my job:

 

My first post on wordfreference was on July 30, 2007 to ask a question in the Catalan forum about the verb "aprendre", and to answer some other posts in the same forum. Chics and Tige both welcomed me!

 

My first un Spanish-English vocabulary, novembre 15th 2004. I'm feeling so old.

I said:

La expresión sería "rebobinar la película". También lo usamos en sentido figurado, cuando alguien te explica una cosa muy rápido o no lo entiendes, se le dice "rebobina, vuelve a empezar, por favor".

 

My first post, in the Catalan forum, almost six years ago. Time flies, really.

 

Here's my first post, seven years ago!

 

Well first and foremost, happy 10th birthday to the WR Forum, what a wonderful site has developped here over the decade!

My first post was an attempt to help "nunzilla", 21 August 2008 :

I don't believe anybody welcomed me, but that didn't stop me coming back over the years, often just to browse and improve my understanding of both my native English-from-Ireland (& all the cultural varieties to be found worldwide), and to improve my understanding of my adopted language, French.

 

¿Empezaste preguntando? Fíjate tú, con lo mucho que has contestado después.

 

Salut Bill,

I'm quite disappointed you even didn't mention the damn clowns (page #2)! (see, love the smilies too!)

As for my first post, I don't have to search for it: it was on March 2006 (at night) after a Glouglou search about my motto. My English teacher was trying to understand it! So I could do nothing but jump in the conversation to clarify its meaning.
Since then I've met some wonderful people from all around the world (and some not only on the internet), especially those for whom learning with a smile is learning twice.

Bisettes.

 

Ya ves tú.
Bueno, solo había dos opciones, o preguntar o responder.
Pero ahora veo que ni siquiera saludé con propiedad, ni me presenté. Bueno..., leyendo entre líneas, sí me presenté.