To all Native English Speakers: Please correct our students of English;)
I have seen this often: we correct learners of Spanish all the time, but what about the students of English?
I only today saw this, said by our friend bunburry (from Spain) :
¿Me pueden corregir esto y todos mis posts?
We have a lot of Spanish speakers who do not get corrected, our very proficient Carlos , bunburry, mili, there are a lot. I cannot name them all. All of them are asking for corrections, please, if you see any mistakes, correct them.
Two new Spanish speaking natives asking for corrections: Santi and Viajero, please correct their mistakes!
I am not including myself...so as not to tire you
I never ever make mistakes anyway, so...
(I appreciate corrections too
)
41 Answers
Heidita, maybe you can post this as "Heidita's 2 Simple Rules in SD":
Rule # 1. I never make mistakes.
Rule # 2. If you noticed that I made a mistake, please see Rule # 1.
Jejejeje
But seriously, I think it is not that simple a matter to just correct someone else's mistakes unless they do say that they would welcome corrections. Even if we mean well, we may just be seen as presumptuous by others.
It would be fantastic to be able to help as so many people take the time to correct my (Spanish) posts. I have seen errors in the (English) written word but didn't know if it was appropriate that I be the one to point them out....
I seldom get corrected, everybody is afraid of me
It's not that we're afraid as much as it is that, for most of us, when we see your errors we naturally just tend to chalk it up as another example of your "unique" typing style at work - you know, the way in which you like to type only while wearing extremely thick oven mits, and they way that you always like to grease up your keyboard before you get started, and thats not even mentioning your peculiar phobia of the "backspace" and "delete" keys. 
I'm guilty. I think, like many here, that I've been taught that it's rude to correct another person's grammar. And I tend to forget that the Spanish speakers that are here are here to improve their English.
As Nizhoni said, we should feel that it's safe to assume any post on here had the potential to be critiqued as it is a learning site.
She's right. I'm sorry I've not done so well on correcting the Spanish speakers, and promise to do better from now on.
In Heidita's case, though, it won't be any fun unless I can put her in the dunce corner. {evil laugh} 
De hecho me gustaría poder contar con más ejercicios en inglés para poder verificar si mejoro o estoy estancado.
No hace mucho le comentaba a Heidita que me gustaría poder encontrarme con algo parecido a las transcripciones que hago en español, pero a la inversa, es decir en inglés.
¿Porqué no graban textos en inglés para poder saber como está la capacidad de escuchar y entender de los hispano hablantes?
El error es inherente al aprendizaje. Es por eso que también he invitado a todos los que se atrevan a conversar vía skype, sin temor a los errores, ya que ambos los cometeremos y de paso aprenderemos....
Gran idea la de Heidita la de corregirnos mutuamente.....
In any case I am never wrong or make mistakes
I've been corrected more than once and I really appreciate when somebody corrects my English. I will never stop learning it, and the only way to improve it is knowing what I'm doing wrong.
Of course, don't even dare to correct my Spanish or I'll stab you.
;
;
;
Just to avoid misunderstandings. My last statement is a joke. You are also allowed to correct my Spanish.
My two cents.
I participate here with the understanding that this is a learning place, both for Spanish and English. Heck, there have been a number of Portuguese and French questions answered, as well, and I seem to recall seeing something in Danish or some such..?
We regularly get treated to spelling and grammar atrocities that are posted by people who presumably are native speakers of the language in which they're writing, eg: "how you say hello in spinol? reply immediately!!".
So in my view, corrections should be a regular part of the activities that all members perform. I believe that if anyone catches a spelling or grammar mistake, he or she should point it out, regardless of what his or her native language is.
I think there are polite ways of doing that, so no feelings ought to be hurt. Sometimes that could even lead to more learning opportunities. Point in case, some of the comments that have been made when someone writes the past tense of "to spell" as "spelt." Pointing it out as an error is an opportunity for some of us to learn that "spelt" is in fact a correct, if not the preferred, spelling of that form of the verb.
I don't mind being wrong and being corrected. I delight in finding new words, and even discovering that I had been living for years with the wrong definition for a word in my mind. I see learning as an ongoing process with no end in sight!
Rudeness and idiocy, now, those are things that definitely should be avoided. But the first one isn't what this thread is about, and the second - it seems like it cannot be avoided, to judge from some of the posts that appear on a daily basis. (Mostly from ephemeral contributors, thank goodness!)
I would gladly make corrections as long as I know the other person wouldn't be offended. I think the majority of corrections on this site are done to the daily or regular posts where people are asked to check for their corrections.
Once in awhile there is someone learning both Spanish and English that I have corrected. However, for some reason, in some of the other threads I don't feel comfortable correcting someone's English when my Spanish leaves a lot to be desired. If we make this a habit though, I would be happy to make corrections.
I think some of us love Nila's threads because she is asking for our help with English. At least with her threads I feel like I am able to contribute.
Yes, this is a good idea. One other thing though, if you want it corrected, please say and people are more likely to notice and give help!
Sí, eso es una buena idea. Uno mas cosa aunque, si tu gusta lo corregrid, por favor habla y personas es mas probable a aviso y ayudar.
Please correct my Spanish! (just being a role model, even though I am not a Spanish native learning English! )
As you can see, bun really W A N T S corrections,
I hope everybody does, I do too, I seldom get corrected, everybody is afraid of me
I've had to rein in my tendency to want to correct "obviously" incorrect English (usually improper word usage rather than strictly improper grammar), but I've given a couple of suggested corrections after looking at the poster's profile to see if their proficiency in English is listed. I won't give any suggestions for those who list Fluent, but for Advanced and under I figure it couldn't hurt.
I always felt it was safe to assume any post on here has the potential to be critiqued as it is a learning site. I always wondered why some people make the point to ask for correction, even every day.
I do notice that many corrections I made went unnoted. After a while I stopped with certain people. I do not need a "thanks" just the acknowledgement by the correction or a request for explanation.I focus more on word order than word choice just because that seems a starting point.I can offer other words if that is what someone wants .If the word choice is way off I correct that.
Thanks for the post Heidita.
Nametaken asked
I was wondering if people would like comments that are not really corrections, but how I would say it to make the sentence sound a little more natural?
There are two types of corrections which I believe you may be alluding to: Grammar and rhetoric. Grammar refers to the set of rules by which sentences are made (word order, subject verb agreement, etc). Rhetoric refers to the arrangement of words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs in such a way that the writing engages and sustains the readers attention.
When you tell someone that there is a better way to say something, you are effectively making a comment regarding their use of rhetoric.
You could preface your suggestion with something like: While, grammatically speaking, there is nothing wrong with your sentence, it would sound less forced/more natural were you to say something along the lines of... or Here is something that you might consider to make your sentence sound more natural....
If you do decide to give advice of this nature, you might want to realize that what might sound a bit stiff to you, might sound perfectly natural to an English speaker from another area/region/country (that is to say, it might be an issue of usage and not rhetoric). If you recognize this to be the case it might also be helpful to let the person know what part of the world you are from. For example, "In Texas, it would probably sound more natural to just say something like...."
Me parece una excelente idea.
En mi caso particular, yo no tengo ningún problema de que me corrijan cuando cometa algún gazapo, ya sea en inglés o en español. Es la única manera de aprender. Muchísimas veces cometemos errores al escribir, en cualesquiera de los dos idiomas, que pasan desapercibidos por el lector, ya sea porque escribimos muy rápido y se nos pasa, o porque simplemente lo hemos escrito siempre de tal o cual manera y nos parece apropiado. Sin embargo, siempre habrá unos más perspicaces que otros.
Definitivamente SpanishDict.com es un lugar para aprender, tanto inglés como español y en el foro participan personas con profundos conocimientos de los dos idiomas. Yo soy un apasionado del idioma bien hablado y bien escrito, por tanto, les ruego a las personas que detecten algún error en mis escritos, en cualesquiera de los dos idiomas, que me corrijan. Mil gracias.
Hi Bunbury
As Heidi has intimated that you require corrections, may I offer the following alterations to profile description.
A spaniard , trying to help people who love to learn different languages , like me . A native Spaniard and " Jungleboy advanced" in English . Dont be shy . Ask what you want . It's free today
