I loved this forum......Good bye to all:)

Question

I have been on this site for over four years. In my opinion this site would not be the same without all the work I have done.

I was the one to write the rules, I was the one to implement correct spelling and insist, despite many complaints, on this matter to make this site a learning site. I opened dozens of learning threads, for both languages.

I have done so many things, that if I wished to name them all, I don't think it would all fit in here.

I have made tons of friends, I have also made some enemies, it seems, which is said, but I suppose this is what life is all about.

I never expected such an uproar on the site when first the rumour, now the certainty, of my leaving the site was mentioned. I appreciate every word that was said , I feel highly emotional about all the love shown.

I have been disrespected by one of the staff members of this site, and I am leaving because of that issue. No apologies were offered.

I made this clear to Christopher . He has just informed me that the forum will be, from now on, moderated by staff members and that all mod functions by members will be deleted. Howrver, we also know that the position of moderator on this site was offered to Lovely only a couple of days ago (Gary and I know) , so I don't really know...

This is what I was told. I informed Christopher that unless I am a moderator, I won't be here, and it seems, the staff members are taking over.

So, farewell my friends, this is sad for me, but I am leaving.

I wish you all good luck in your learning experience, this is a good site, and I am sure you will learn a lot.

I also think that the administration is making a mistake, but I guess that is their privilege.

( I was also asked why my two threads were deleted: Drop one, take one, and the Café. I deleted those threads myself and he assured me that they would stay deleted. My good friend Ray will reopen a new Drop one thread...he has been the member who posted there every single day and has kept it alive with many others, I loved that thread , too. My Café was unique...I don't think that can be imitated )

For everybody a big hug and a kiss

• Ye Gods - I have been away for a couple of days and have come back to this news. Your post told it how it was Heidi, I will be sorry to see you go. - caza Feb 13, 2012
• Gracias por todo lo que hiciste. No sabes cuanto me ayudaste. Espero que sigas andando por el buen camino. - pescador1 Feb 13, 2012
• it's true, l don't know how, but l can see the staff members are so confused about the mod thing! if the person who offered me the position knew about the forum she'd not have done that but it'sobviously a lack of knowledgement about the forum members ... - lovely_lovel Feb 13, 2012
• Gracias por todo y te deseo todo bueno - porcupine7 Feb 13, 2012
• Heidita, you will be flagged with such pictures! - annierats Feb 13, 2012
View 4 more commments >>

Answer 1

Without proper moderation this site will become as unruly and as useless and maddening as a badly run kindergarten. Welcome to facebook 2

• Indeed... Since the new site was opened, that has already been happening and it will only get worse. - Jadey7 Feb 13, 2012
• Stop sharing my nightmares Ian! jaja - DJ_Huero Feb 13, 2012
• Is it any coincidence that the new site format looks more like Facebook now than before the format changes of a few weeks ago? - xocoyote Feb 13, 2012
• Sadly, I think that is what will happen... :'( - NikkiRivera Feb 13, 2012
• No, adelante, we make a new one ourselves! - annierats Feb 13, 2012
View 2 more commments >>

Answer 2

This is a very sad day for SD I do not think that we are all aware of how invaluable

heidi has been for us all , I wish her well in whatever she does in life , and pray that

I can carry on without her guiding light and steady hand . She taught us all how to

apply ourselves in a respectful well mannered way , please do not let her down .

• Good on you mate. I don't know what else to say right now.... - ajaks Feb 13, 2012
• Es verdad Ray ! Rotten day - jennyo45 Feb 13, 2012

Answer 3

This forum is done, l wish you could see me crying from here, you taught me Spanish and English on this forum, so without you here the forum is nothing.

• you know where lots of us are Lovely xx :) - ian-hill Feb 13, 2012

Answer 4

Thank for everything, Heidi. See you on Skype! Besos!

• kiss - yuniel28 Apr 28, 2012

Answer 5

Heidita, you, along with several more mature members, understand that management has no real experience or training.

I hope they come to their senses and communicate with their base, understanding that the base can, and usually does, eventually communicate with their advertisers.

And it is mute whether they delete my words -- or anyone else's. The internet is a very democatic, not autocratic medium.

Answer 6

Goodness I go away camping for a couple of weeks and when I get back the whole place is in disarray- what is going on?

Ok I have to admit that when I first joined SD and ran into Heidi I thought 'on my goodness, that woman has attitude' and even from time to time 'hmmm a little more tact might be a good thing' But it didn't take long for me to appreciate all the hard work and effort that Heidi, seemingly tirelessly, has put into this forum and how valuable that effort has been. Just like everyone else here trying to learn or improve their Spanish I have benefitted many times from Heidi's explanations and help.

I'm sure Heidi herself would agree that it's impossible to please everyone all the time or to never make any errors in judgement, after all no one is perfect, but having someone so dedicated to the site who does their best to keep order and generously shares their knowledge of language is of great value, not only to the participants but also to the site and ultimately the managers themselves.

It doesn't take a genius to see that more than the site itself it's the people and the interaction that keeps everyone coming back. We have been very blessed I feel to have a lovely mix of people who all add something a little special to this site whether it's their willingness and ability to impart knowledge, their sense of humour, their keeness to learn or their aid in maintaining order.

Many people could be mentioned here but as this thread is about Heidi, suffice to say, that I also feel her departure would be of great disservice to the site and hope that the management can resolve the issues so that things can return to normal!

• Really right on the mark, Kiwi. - pesta Feb 13, 2012
• Gracias señor :) - Kiwi_Girl Feb 13, 2012
• ¡Estoy de acuerdo! ac - Amor_y_paz Feb 14, 2012
• Perfectly put, Kiwi. - territurtle Feb 15, 2012
• gracias :) - Kiwi_Girl Feb 15, 2012

Answer 7

We have a community hall, it was an empty building we rented. We made it our own, we put up flowers and made a little library and had dances and study groups and games and invited everybody and welcomed everybody we could. We made great friends and built a great atmosphere and learned a lot and helped a lot of people.We asked the landlords for electricity and running water and they did not feel this was important, as we were just renting a warehouse.

Now they've seen what we've done, they think it has value and they want to take over and profit from our work but they don't want to deal with us because they don't like how we did it. Now our best people have been evicted. Why is anyone even thinking about staying? It's just a building, it was just an empty warehouse when we came, we can do it all again somewhere else.

Why should our activities be moderated by people who have never been here and have no idea what they're doing, just because they own the building. They can have it, it's not ours anymore, let's just go. There are loads of social networking sites and forums on the internet, it was the people that made this place great.

• Well said. - MaryMcc Feb 14, 2012
• Exceedingly well said! Thank you my very dear Rabbit. - territurtle Feb 15, 2012
• Excelente rabbit. - Jraider Feb 15, 2012
• Hello= I Hope you are in good health? Dear,i wish we could be friendly in good lovely relationship , if you could be nice and lovely, well i do cherish your profile age and distance no problem, send me a reply to my rebecadesmond /@/ ymail.com - babu4uuu Feb 21, 2012

Answer 8

I am truly impressed at all posts on this thread, and I appreciate all that was said and done.

Please come to skype, we will stay in touch Send your nick to gary or me.

I would just like to add, that without self-respect we are nobody. Mods have been treated as dirt, and self respect must prevail.

I can see some don't think this is important....but that is their privilege.

Nobody is going to miss this forum more than me, but unless a miracle happens, as it should, this is what it is gonna be, a forum without mods who actually KNOW the forum inside out

Thank you everybody for your kindness

• I want to cry ! - 00fb46c8 Feb 14, 2012
• why do you like to cry? it's a crying shame - Dominican-gu Mar 2, 2012

Answer 9

I'm so confused. How can this site be run by Christopher who is a beginner in Spanish and who has 3K reputation points and 63 badges while all the fluent Spanish speakers have fled? And now they are asking for less qualified volunteers than those they chased out!

This makes no sense to me.

Answer 10

It is too bad that it has come to this; I hope to see you on Skype. I will check in on this site every once in a while to see if they relent.

• I msut still answer all those letters, jeeeez, sorry I haven't done that yet. - Heidita Feb 13, 2012

Answer 11

I feel like SpanishDict is going dark as the lights blink out one by one. There was so much light and energy on this site when I first stumbled upon it. I don't know how this living, breathing magic was transmitted through a machine, but somehow it was. Now there is a pall over everything. I honestly don't know if this site can be resuscitated. Maybe.... Hopefully.... I know it will never be the same without the guidance and energy of Heidita, Cogumela, Lazarus, and the many stalwart and loyal members who are following them out the door. I would like to remain - there are many wonderful folks still here and they need and deserve all the support they can get. If we pool all our energy and talent, will it be enough to attain critical mass, re-energize the forum, and overcome this loss? This is a very sad day. Best of everything to you all, wherever life takes you. I hope we meet again soon.

Jackie (ajaks)

• very sensational words Jackie !!! - shish75 May 1, 2012

Answer 12

Thanks, Heidita, for all your help and work. I will reload Skype on my computer. Hope to see you soon!

• please do :) - Heidita Feb 13, 2012
• you have mine right? - DJ_Huero Feb 13, 2012

Answer 13

No, Heidi, no! :( I can't imagine SD without you!

You are the person who is needed here as much as we need internet to access SD!

You know how much we all apreciate you! We all need you and SD needs you.

This site won't be the same without "Heidita"!
You made so much for us!

I wish you as much happiness in your life as you gave us!

Thank you for everything!

Friends never say "goodbye".

Answer 14

Una pregunta, ¿los personales son capaz de hablar en español? Sólo pregunto porqué nunca he visto Chris hablar en español. No sé de Martha porqué ella parece nuevo, pero creo que eso sea vital a la supervivencia de esta foro.

Te quiero amiga, siempre me diste apoyo y me enseñaste mucho.

Nos vemos por el Skype

• True - Ashis Feb 13, 2012
• pues cogumela y yo nos vamos, y lazarus no va a estar si cogu no está, me supongo...no lo sé...nativos no quedamos ni uno:( - Heidita Feb 13, 2012
• Ayy, ¡qué terrible! Pues, buenas suerte al Span¡shD!ct... =\ - DJ_Huero Feb 13, 2012
• de acuerdo... - mathslover Feb 13, 2012
• Si si, ¡me acuerdo tambien! - carol-daniel Feb 13, 2012
View 1 more commments >>

Answer 15

This is what I was told. I informed Christopher that unless I am a moderator, I won't be here, and it seems, the staff members are taking over.

Not possible - moderating takes more than the occasional "let's have a look at what the inmates are up to today"

• My word, Ian, but you have a wicked sharp pen!! ;) - territurtle Feb 13, 2012
• Yes it does!! Take the guards out of the prison and the wardens are in trouble. You need constant monitoring to make people feel that they are in a learning community, rather than just a dump of auto threads. - carol-daniel Feb 13, 2012