Absolute Beginner Forum?

[chrix]

I've noticed that some threads started by absolute beginners of learning Mandarin have evolved into technical or specialised (read off-topic) discussions that have probably more confused rather than enlightened the respective OPs (and I'm guilty of contributing to that myself , see this thread for instance, but there's plenty of other examples, just do a search for "newbie questions"). So I'm proposing to establish an "absolute beginner" subforum, where:

- off-topic discussions would be strictly policed

- the use of technical expressions without explanation would be discouraged

- the posting of Chinese examples would need to be explained and presented in a way accessible to the OP (who would be encouraged to state their background when asking their question, but for instance if they used jiantizi, replies would be expected to use jiantizi as well etc.)

This subforum would also be a place where beginners could post their Mandarin conversations for correction (as the Chinese corner might be too advanced for them), but it mainly would be for questions about characters, pronunciation (pinyin), vocabulary* and grammar.

( *) As far as questions relating to vocabulary are concerned:

"What does word X mean": "Quick Translations forum"

"How do you use the word X": "Absolute Beginner forum"

Would like to hear your thoughts on this. I don't think a general strict on-topic policy would be in the interest of most members (including myself ), but I do think a separate newbie-friendly place would be a good thing to have...