Why punctuation and spelling count.
As we are often reminded, proper grammer, spelling and punctuation are requested. Most of us will make mistakes at times, but that's not the issue. The issue is that we all become so accustomed to messages like "see u IRL, got 2 go". I've noticed that many times when people are reminded of the rules they take it personally and perhaps have the impression that the person who reminded them of the rule is being petty or critical for some trivial reason. If you have ever felt that way, please keep reading!
This website is such an invaluable resource. We can all contribute to it's quality by remembering it is a language learning site for people to learn both English and Spanish. If we type "u" instead of "you" the translator can't help them and they can not learn proper spellings and word usage. It's special for this site and it really makes it a great place to learn. If the native Spanish speakers weren't vigilent about this for me, I could not learn from them. I want to thank everyone, Spanish and English speakers alike who follow this rule; it truly does improve the educational value of the site significantly and it is worth the extra work and effort.
And I want to say a huge thank you to the folks who decided on this rule and stick their neck out to inforce it. I don't think it would have occurred to me, but after using the site for a while, I can see how essential it is. You have my gratitude.
10 Answers
Hi Kitty and thank you for this post. I am in complete agreement that it is essential to use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation on this site.
The grammar (or lack thereof) of this current generation worries me. I spent twelve years in Catholic school and my father was an English major. Referring to myself as "i", not capitalizing words like "English" and "Spanish" or completely omitting punctuation was too scary a thought for me. 
However, I am now so grateful that those rules were instilled in me.
I understand the reason why people use shortcuts for texting, etc. The problem is that many people no long differentiate between sending a quick message on their cell phone verses putting a proper thought on paper. I hope the trend reverses somehow. At least here, I am happy that proper English and Spanish is encouraged.
By the way, don't worry about mistakes. Most people can tell the difference between someone who mistyped/misspelled a word and someone who really did not put any effort into what they were posting. 
Thanks a lot for this post, Kitty, I sometimes get critized for imposing this "rule" of proper spelling etc. which I included in the rules of this forum, they did not exist before.
I thought any forum had to reach or impose a certain standard and for a learning site it was essential that spelling and proper punctuation was respected by native speakers in their own language.
Los foreros más habituales me hacen pensar que hago lo correcto
Gracias.
While we shouldn't get carried away with excessive formality, observing and enforcing the proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation rule is a good thing.
True. The forum and most of the posts are informal, right? We use contractions, idioms, we write "tongue-in-cheek" things using smileys etc. But informal doesn't mean incorrect - and that's what we should stick to.
I've thrown this out there before, but it's worth repeating. The book Eats, Shoots and Leaves is an excelent book on punctuation.
Kitty said:
We can all contribute to it's quality by remembering it is a language learning site for people to learn ....English ....
That's exactly why it's so important to use proper English grammar, capitalization, and spelling.
If the native Spanish speakers weren't vigilant about this for me, I could not learn from them.
I think this is especially true for the new learners of Spanish who don't recognize when a native speaker makes a mistake. Also, I'm always disappointed when native speakers don't bother to use accents and tildes.
Spelling and grammar checkers have done to English what calculators did to math.
Kudos to Nicole.
The problem is that many people no long differentiate between sending a quick message on their cell phone verses putting a proper thought on paper.
Putting a proper thought on paper (or forum post in this case) is an essential element of using the forums -- not just for the spelling, grammar, punctuation and the like, but also for the intended content itself. The lack of forethought or effort in making posts is also a common source of the do my homework for me category of posts.
While we shouldn't get carried away with excessive formality, observing and enforcing the proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation rule is a good thing.
Wow you guys! I am so happy at all the thoughtful responses.
(And I want to say how much I agree with the importance of the tildes and accents - I am really trying to learn that correctly and seeing it wrong too often would be poisonous to me right now.)
Nicole said:
Most people can tell the difference between someone who mistyped/misspelled a word and someone who really did not put any effort into what they were posting.
Yes, indeed!
kittybrougha said: (And I want to say how much I agree with the importance of the tildes and accents
What is good about this site is you don't get credit if you spell the word right, but leave off the tilde (because then it's spelled wrong). On rosetta stone the let you spell it wrong. This site is much better.
