Q:

Policy: Is it OK to have dedicated foreign-language chat rooms?

Meta-heads will have noticed a recent kurfuffle with a backdrop of people communicating in 'foreign languages' in chat.
If we set aside the "it's rude to talk a language other people don't understand" (by having a dedicated room), and we presume that the house rules will be obeyed, what is current 'policy' on this question? (and is there a policy, for starters?)
I'm guessing it's probably related to the question of foreign-language proposals/sites (I certainly see the same potential problem: how to ensure 'continuity of SE culture' across language barriers)

A:

Where there's enough activity to justify it, I don't see why we should block people from setting up rooms that support their native language specifically.  Auto pruning removes unused rooms, so the system already handles inactive rooms.
Further, chat is much, much more informal, and allowing, or even encouraging people, to discuss topics in their native language would be very appropriate.  Forcing someone to talk in English to another person that knows their language is a little like forcing people to wear ties to work when they never interact with clients.
I would encourage people to generally stick to english in the main rooms, and start a new room for their language, rather than having a variety of languages in one room.  Unfortunately us unilingual (ie, American) speakers, culturally, have a tendency to be slightly offended when others speak a language we don't know in our presence - as though they have a secret.  We probably ought to avoid triggering that feeling, even though it's our own fault.

