"Ranks"

[Dora]

I like "fountain of knowledge," since they not only answer your specific questions, they also tend to spout other useful bits of information that you weren't expecting to learn. A fountain will give you the water you ask for, and usually splash you with a little extra.

[KSerra]

'Fountain of Knowledge' rang bells with me too.

Though Dora put it much more poetically:

A fountain will give you the water you ask for, and usually splash you with a little extra.

[Bieneke]

Until I read Dora's interpretation, "friendly Dutch uncle/aunt" was my favourite.

[EetSmakelijk]

Wow how did I miss this topic? I love that fountain of knowledge too!
Hoe zeg je dat in het Nederlands/how do you say it in Dutch?
Groetjes,
ES who wishes she were a fountain of knowledge, even about English.

[duchess]

I also like 'Fountain of knowledge'! 'Friendly Dutch uncle/aunt' sound good too. :)

[schermen]

Maar de bijnaam "Dutch Uncle" (ook de zin "Dutch courage") is uit de tweede Britse/Hollandse oorlog van de 17de eeuw gekomen.
*But the nickname 'Dutch Uncle (and also the phrase 'Dutch Courage') comes from the 2nd English/Dutch war in the 17th Century.*

Een Dutch Uncle is een strenge en eisende persoon maar onze vraagbaken zijn amicaal en zacht!
*A Dutch Uncle is a strict and demanding person, but our vraagbaaks are friendly and gentle!*

Schermen

Ik weet niet hoe maar vandaag kan ik niet 'BBcode' of 'smilies' gebruik :(

[Quetzal]

Maar de bijnaam "Dutch Uncle" (ook de zin "Dutch courage") is uit de tweede Britse/Hollandse oorlog van de 17de eeuw gekomen.
*But the nickname 'Dutch Uncle (and also the phrase 'Dutch Courage') comes from the 2nd English/Dutch war in the 17th Century.*

Een Dutch Uncle is een strenge en veeleisende persoon maar onze vraagbaken zijn amicaal en zacht!
*A Dutch Uncle is a strict and demanding person, but our vraagbaaks are friendly and gentle!*

Schermen

Ik weet niet hoe maar vandaag kan ik niet geen 'BBcode' of 'smilies' gebruiken

Deze thread is wel goed voor ons zelfvertrouwen...

[Bieneke]

Having received feedback from several forum members, I have decided to abolish the title of 'vraagbaak'; all members with Dutch as their native language now have the rank of 'native speaker' (perhaps a redundant title as the mother tongue is now compulsory field in the profile). The problem with the title of 'vraagbaak' is that 1. it is hard to make a distinction between native speakers who would be good vraagbaken (some people may not be perfect at writing, but could be great at explaining idiomatic expressions, for example), 2. it requires careful monitoring of the activities of native speakers to make sure they get the title of vraagbaak when they should (when they don't receive that title, it may look as a sign that their Dutch skills are not sufficient) and 3. there are also very helpful people, de facto vraagbaken, who do not have Dutch as their native language. The title of 'deskundige' has also been abolished as there is no way we can determine who is (formally) an expert and who is not (it is not as if members have to send in their résumés ). Expertise will show in someone's posts, and besides, there are people who have a lot of expertise without any formal training or professional experience.

You may have noticed that along with the ranks, the colours have disappeared, also for the moderators. As someone correctly pointed out to me, colours create 'teams', and that is not what was originally intended (it reminded me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_group_paradigm). Because there is a 'team' link above the forum, anyone who wishes to contact the moderators knows where to find them. The idea is that we are first of all forum members, and our roles as moderators, learners, native speakers, and helpers are secondary.

If you think we should abolish or add any other ranks, just shoot!