Hi, for us English speakers, knowing when to use the tu/vous and du/Sie forms is confusing, not least on the internet! Is there a standard etiquette on iTalki? Does it differ between languages?
As for German, I also prefer the more personal "Du", as is used in class, or in sports.
But it's still useful to switch to "Sie" from time to time, to practice this as well. Only using "Du" would leave out an important part of German grammar.
Here in italki I always use "du", when I write in German and if someone uses "Sie" I encourage this person to use "du", because, as Dagmar already said", it is like a club, where we are friends or fellow students, so "du" is appropiate. But when I use Portuguese I do not use "tu", but "você" because this seems to be the way the Portuguese speakers prefer it.
If I write in German, I would always use the "du" form. The reason for me is, that iTalki is like a club or a kind of "language school", where it is natural to address the other members with "du".
But when I'm writin in Farsi to Iranians, I would always use the formal and polite "shoma" form, because that is common in Iran.
Interesting question, Francis. And yes, it does seem to differ. I've noticed that Italian and Spanish speakers here all automatically use 'tu' without exception, regardless of age. That seems to be the convention and everyone's comfortable with that.
French speakers do seem to be more formal, though, and I've seen the occasional 'vouvoiement' on the French pages. And it is confusing. For example, I was recently answering a question asked by a French guy of about 16 or so, and I just didn't know how to address him. It would have seemed ridiculous to have called him 'vous' and yet I was afraid to 'tutoie' him in case he thought I was talking down to him and expecting a 'vous' in return (given that I'm a teacher and old enough to be his grandma). I was just so uncertain about the etiquette that I chickened out and wrote an answer avoiding pronouns altogether! By the way, if any French speakers see this, I'd be glad of some advice about what I should have done in that situation. Merci d'avance.
It would also be really interesting to hear from speakers of other languages about what the internet conventions are.
