Observation on Awarding "Reputation."
There have been many new members and posters lately. I enjoy reading their tender and tentative attempts to learn as they pose their first questions.
I have empathy, because I was there not so long ago. That's why I find myself motivated to award a "reputation," simply as a way to encourage them.
And when I see a "zero" in their reputation box, I read their profile. And when I discover they just joined, I welcome them.
This positive reinforcement is beyond just being courteous; it's an excellent teaching method. It's one that we used with our children when they began mastering language. And when they made those attempts, we greeted them with joy and delight.
There are, however, a few posters here whose responses to first questions from "newbies" seem far too curt, impatient, and even somewhat dismissive.
Their responses make me uncomfortable, to tell the truth. I'm sure they also make the new learners feel diminished and even stupid. (Yes, I've been "stung" by some responses to my questions: I know whereof I write!)
Different theories of teaching/learning at work here, perhaps?
Just an observation...
10 Answers
I have another observation to make. When a person is searching the internet for a translation of a word into Spanish, they probably will end up here. When they type the word in for translation, another box appears asking them if they would like to ask a question. At this point, they have no idea about "rules for posting" etc etc, or the fact that they are about to participate in a forum. So, for them, this is a machine and posting a dumb question doesn't matter that much if it is a machine. They then get a surprise when they are answered by a human being.
I have to post this funny story even though it is not really relevant to the original question.
Many years ago, before the Euro existed, there was a money changing machine in the wall at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. You could feed in banknotes from any of about 20 different countries. You then selected which other currency you wanted and within a few seconds, your money appeared. I was fascinated by the sophistication of this.
I watched an American change some dollars, but something obviously went wrong. This American started to bang the machine and was using terrible language.
Suddenly, the front of the "machine" swung open and behind the panel a very small man appeared whose job was to make all the transactions. It was really funny!
In other words, like SpanishDict's translator, never assume that something is a machine - there might just be a human being involved.
There is a problem with this 'reputation' that I have also observed elsewhere. Low-reputation users might not only see high reputation users and be discouraged but ALSO be ignored and/or looked down upon by others because they are new to the site. This also could cause people to look at high reputation yet completely ignore somebody just because they are new.
Never mind, I misread the system. I got this clarified!
I believe this "reputation" thing is way off. Legitimate posts and answers asked/given by anyone of any level, should be rewarded. All too often, a specific question/comment is directed to amass views and/or votes that have little to do with Spanish or language. Real questions that really need to be answered, that would help everyone, have far more relevance and deserve reputation points, are nearly void of any response. In my opinion, questions like these are what we should consider "legendary", due to the apparent difficulty in answering them. Learning points are really what's important and should be celebrated.
I never considered the possibility that someone entering a question might think it is an automated system, like "Ask Jeeves". That really explains a lot of the questions that get posted, where someone just enters a sentence as if they want it translated. Fascinating.
He have worked on making things easier for newbies, just recently, and are always striving to improve things in that regard.
The thing is, when someone comes into the forum with 0-0-0 on their profile, that means they haven't taken one lesson haven't fully filled out their profile, and haven't contributed to the site in any meaningful way. And now they want someone to do their homework for them? That happens daily, and it's hard to not be a little bit snippy.
The reputation points shows someone's contributions to the forum here. It's a useful tool to let you know whether you're dealing with a regular on the site or some guy that just signed on yesterday. It doesn't necessarily mean the person is smart, as my reputation proves. 
But Volponecito, I hope you'll read the link I posted above, because you will see that your observations are pretty close to the way most of us feel, and your warm greetings as you describe above are very much on track with what we have said we want to do.
Thank you for helping make this a better site.
I agree with volponecito. Although a person may be technically correct in saying "you should have searched first" for their question or answer ... that's not exactly welcoming and certainly not in the spirit of community and learning. I'm sure that after a short time, they would realize they could and should search all by themselves.
If you must say these things, please try to say them a little kinder, a little gentler.
I think some of the best answers (and solutions) regarding abruptness can be found here. But, I agree in encouraging others, because starting a new language is discouraging in itself, not to mention the re-programming you have to do in your brain, and the countless hours it consumes.
Please read this on recent suggestions to keep this forum friendly, please welcome newbies
There are, however, a few posters here whose responses to first questions from "newbies" seem far too curt, impatient, and even somewhat dismissive.
Please contact the admins if you see unfriendly behaviour on this site.
And don't forget the "oldbies" either They're human beings too
