Talk:Medeo

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[edit] Spelling

I do not know where this 'Medeo' spelling comes from (though I suspect it derives from the approximate Russian pronunciation of sounds which do not exist in Russian), but it looks rather prepostorous and does not correspond in any way either to the Qazaq spelling nor to its sound. I guess it would be right to correct the Roman transcription to Medew, a more suitable one which is also the form used in all (if I may say so — there are few of them, really) the Qazaq language courses available.

The alternate spelling should be mentioned, but as far as I can tell "Medeo" is the most common english version of the name (a direct transliteration from the flawed Russian). Try a google search for 'medeo almaty', then one for 'medew almaty'. Whether or not "Medeo" is accurate to the original Kazakh is another matter. Since WP uses the most common spellings for page titles (see WP:NAME), I think this one should stay at "Medeo". Staecker 17:08, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

You're right, I did not think of this aspect of 'searchability', and I'll revert to the previous versions in each of the concerned languages, as this spelling unfortunately leads to nothing but Dutch medical articles... I'll guess better next time! Anyway, I'll precise the correct spelling and use only this one in the corpus of the text, because the really approximate transliteration comes (as often) from the Russian and has barely something to do with the Qazaq one, in a an area where the Slavs are not a majority (as it is in the Northern part of Qazaqstan). Korenyuk 21:18, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

PS: I've been there four times for documentaries (and leisure, I must admit!), but repeated floods destroyed all pic's (and the house I lived in…) I took over the years in Медеу, Алматы, Жезқазған, Қарағанда, Қостанай, Ақтөбе, Астана and their areas. As I am now totally disabled by a myopathy, I will not be able to take more in the future. Do you have any more captions of these beautiful Алатау valleys and miscellaneous places here and there? Korenyuk 21:30, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Why we say "Medeo" when it's not pronounced that way isn't really all that relevant - the world is full of English names for places that don't match the native pronunciation (e.g. Moscow, Paris, Rome) and the same is true in other languages (e.g. Russians call the capital of Turkey "Stanbul"). "Medeo" appears to be the established spelling in English so that's all that really matters. If there is a problem it's with saying that "Medew" represents an accurate rendering of the pronunciation in English, which it doesn't do at all - it's pronounced "me-DAY-oo", not "me-doo", or "me-dyoo". I think the best solution would be for someone to get rid of "Medew" and add an accurate IPA pronunciation. I lack the phonetic skills to do that, so hopefully someone else can give it a shot. -- Hux 19:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced inf. moved here

I moved the following unsourced inf. here. Until reliable sources are cited this looks as an original research at most:

"A unique property of this outdoor track is that, on rare occasions, there is a backwind along the entire track. This fenomenon is caused by winds falling from the mountain slope, and usually occurs in the evening or night. When the ISU decided that world records can only be broken at official events, the track lost a lot of its appeal. Because of this property, the track is also referred to as the wonder ice of Medeo."

Cmapm 16:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Highest olympic speedskating rink

I've heard that this is the highest Olympic-sized skating rink. Anybody have any sources? Ufwuct 16:58, 5 June 2007 (UTC)