How to learn a language

Question

What made this site unique was the chatting! Yes, the chatting. That's how people learn - they interact, form friendship groups, laugh, cry,fall out etc etc. But at the end of it all, learn sooooooooo much.

As I have said before, I am on Spanishdict to learn - period. I have learnt soooooooo much from the chatting and fun that is associated with that.

Ok, I will be honest, sometimes the social side of this site has gone a little too far perhaps - there are many social sites out there that are better for that sort of thing. However, to ban chatting on a learning site, to me is very naive.

I hope this message is not construed as 'chatting' by the way - it is a genuine response to the new forum rules.

• what new forum rules? - bookreader Feb 13, 2012
• yep - no chatting :) - ian-hill Feb 13, 2012
• What do they call chatting? - sanlee Feb 13, 2012
• not defined Sandy - like a lot of other things here. - ian-hill Feb 13, 2012
• Did Chris' reply satisfy you, billygoat? - pesta Feb 13, 2012

Answer 1

My only question is: will the 'General discussions' Category go away then?

• Good question! - RaulSpaniard Feb 13, 2012

Answer 2

Chatting is a way of learning - text or talk.

All forums chat.

Answer 3

Hi Billygoat,

We fully support practicing the language in the forum and of course you do that through talking with other people. The idea behind the "no chatting" was to address the social posts, or post unrelated to language learning, that from time-to-time come on the site.

I've updated the rules to take into account your suggestion, and clarified that the posts should focus on language practice and learning, rather than social chatting.

Also, just for a bit of background on the rules, we contacted every moderator to review them with us, and talked with most of them--a few were no longer active so didn't respond to our request. So these rules have the input from people with a lot of experience.

Thanks!

Chris

• thank you for the reply Chris - billygoat Feb 13, 2012

Answer 4

Did Chris' reply satisfy you, billygoat? - pesta

Pesta, I have cut/paste your comment to here so I can give it a proper reply.

Yes and no, is the answer to your question.

Yes, in respect that chatting and communication are essential to learning. Also I think some of the more 'off topic' posts, for example, religion and international terrorism etc were sometimes way off the mark and caused much disruption within the forum. At those times I would simply try to ignore the posts and concentrate on learning, but it was difficult not to reply sometimes!

No, in respect that, this site truly was unique. I don't have a Facebook account, Twitter account or any other stuff like that, so I am genuinely not on the internet for my social pleasure. However, there was something so different about this place. You felt really and genuinely valued and welcome by people from all over the world. I gave a great deal about myself away on here - I used to laugh at people for doing that, but I just couldn't help myself. I built up some friendships on here that I hope will last for life. Ok, now what has this got to do with learning. Everything!!!!!! I felt motivated and encouraged to continue. I felt empowered to ask questions, then question the questions etc etc. I really felt an ownership with my learning. Other websites could not come anywhere near to giving me what Spanishdict gave me.

Why was all this possible? Because of a handful of people - they know who they are - who made Spanishdict so special.

I want to learn Spanish, and I will stick with the people who enable me to do that.

Answer 5

I know that the loss of people from the site is very sad, and many feel that it was justified. However, just like when someone leaves a place of employment, this site can continue on without the others. Hurt feelings will not be as sharp after a while. Let's remember that this is a learning site. So, no matter what, let's continue to learn and continue to make this site a place where people can learn either Spanish or English. As Christopher said, spanishdict personnel will be running the site at least for a while, and I am sure that they can help us. We need to reach out to other native speakers that each of us know, and convince them to become a part of the forum as well!

• Well said, Kd. Let's look toward the future and the opportunities it brings. - --Mariana-- Feb 13, 2012

Answer 6

We had two or three threads for the longest time focusing on "chatting," in a sense, the island of support, and the international cafe, and maybe one or a another.

Sometimes, in situations of great significance, we had things completely unrelated, if people were going to be gone for some reason, or if something of import happened in the global news, but other than that there wasn't much chatting.

But I hope we can at least keep things like the international cafe running, without that we'll not have the pull we had on so many people who don't need this forum at all. They come for the atmosphere, and contribute to helping because they are here. If they merely felt like freaking pack mules who get a verbal treat from the people they help they might not have any reason to stay. And then where will we be? 20 questions from newbies about "why is it el agua" without any answers.