Saying "Thank you" , how much does it take?
I was just wondering last night..
We have three daily threads on this site, and tons of people who help out on other threads. I have been watching those threads, especially considering that I am one of the correctors at the moment, and I am wondering how much it seems to take some people to say thank you.
These members just correct their posts and that is it. Why not add a little thank you comment to the post? One should think this is common courtesy, well, wishful thinking. It takes a lot of time and effort to correct a thread, Vicente does both , post the thread and correct it, Dean does on Marshi's thread and I have counted yesterday's comments.
Picture of the day, Corrector and thread master: Vicente.
19 answers
15 posts corrected (so far)
5 thanks 
Word of the day, poster Chris, corrector Heidita
19 answers
18 posts corrected
7 thanks
English word of the day, poster Marshal, corrector Dean
18 answers
18 posts corrected
10 thanks
So who is surprised we are losing so many correctors? 
I just got this message from a former corrector:
that was what peed me off most
not people using the translator
but people not bothering to say thanks
and not even bothering to CORRECT the sentence it's quite nice you are worried about people not saying thank you
I thought I was being petty
but it REALLY got on my nerves I was always somewhat shocked that people corrected and then didnt' have 2 seconds to say thanks
This member got so fed up, she/he left the thread altogether.
So what I am really wondering is why do people need to have their noses pushed in it? Why do I have to open a thread to remind people to be polite to those who help them? 
I guess it is just a matter of common sense:
You receive a gift, you say thank you, that is common courtesy and common sense.
Of course, this other close friend said:
Heidita said:
I would have thought it was common courtesy, you get a gift, you say thanks, only takes a second
Friend said.
yep it is but when were people commonly courteous?
41 Answers
l'm really disappointed to see that Heidi had to open a thread to remind us
Saying ''thanks'' is never bad, never hard and doesn't take much of your precious time!
Whenever someone helps you in the real life, the least you can do is to say ''Thank you''.
It's not easy to correct posts, and it takes much time (more than it takes to post the thread itself, and of course much longer than the time you'd take to say ''thank you'').
Even very young people, who still know nothing about life skills and attitude say ''Thanks'' because it's a must!!
l'm surprised that we are dealing with adults who don't even show appreciation, it can't be acceptable from a young person (l being very young know how much it's important to say thanks or at least appreciate the one who helped me get so far with my Spanish) , but from an adult who knows how much effort this needs, it's absolutely impossible!
We have so many kind people who are willing to help here, Vicente for example, he's being so nice doing both, posting and correcting the thread, and what he gets, a simple example for none appreciation after all what he's doing for us, he posted the thread and corrected the posts, and what he gets? 5 votes!!!
Such a shame, people are even lazy to click on a button!
We already have many posts about voting and the fact that it's an easy way to show appreciation.
Without even wasting 2 seconds to say thanks!
At least vote!
Thanka a sqillion to all the correctors and correctesses. if I have
ever forgotten please forgive my transgression .
Forgive them their sins for they know not what they do !
It's not people who forget occasionally, it's those folks who don't even bother. - --Mariana-
I could mention names here, but there are people who NEVER say thanks. We are not talking about the occasional "despiste" here.
It is a shame. I think everyone at some point is guilty of it, sometimes you don't have time to get back to the post to do your corrections. The numbers Heidita has laid out in her post however go way beyond that. This is ridiculous and clearly discourteous. ¡Qué pena!
Saying "Thank you" , how much does it take?
A word, a smile, a photo, a Personal Message.
you say thanks, only takes a second
Sometimes I think that it's just a matter of a faulty personality type- they don't have common courtesy built into their system.
I have a relative that doesn't even call my Mom to say thank you for all of the birthday, Christmas, etc., gifts that she gives to her daughter. It's only when my Mom says, "Did she like the gift?" that the mother says, "Oh, yeah, thanks."
I have had to cut back on my posting on those threads lately, partially because I can't predict if I will be able to return to the thread to correct the post and thank the moderator. I would rather not post at all than post and not correct. Not only is that rude, it doesn't help me if I don't realize what I did wrong.
A "thank you" goes a long way. I appreciate Heidita, Deanski, and Vicente for their efforts. I hope I've thanked them for each post, along with Tom, Cogumela, Bill, and the other contributors who have given their time moderating past threads.
I believe we should also remember Marshall, Indiana, and the other members who create these threads. They are a great benefit to all of us who are trying to learn the language, and I have often recalled these corrections while attempting to form sentences during conversation.
As I've said before, it is very difficult to get help learning the language. It is particularly difficult to get the scholarly help that is available for free on this site.
I think that members need to realize that the creators and those who correct these threads are real people with real lives. Committing to a regular thread is not as easy as one might think. They can't just pop in and out when they feel like it.
I don't think many members realize this at all. This is a serious commitment and so far, the threads are working.
However, the thread opener I am working with, Indiana, is writing countless letters to people to correct their posts, not to use the translator, to use the conjugator...I mean, do we have so much time on our hands? I cannot see people appreciate this at all.
I have had to cut back on my posting on those threads lately, partially because I can't predict if I will be able to return to the thread to correct the post and thank the moderator. I would rather not post at all than post and not correct. Not only is that rude, it doesn't help me if I don't realize what I did wrong.
I am with Dogwood on this. I have been extremely busy lately and will be going away soon. When I see these threads I am tempted to participate but I'm afraid, like Dog said, that I will offend someone if I forget to correct or thank.
However, I think that members need to realize that the creators and those who correct these threads are real people with real lives. Committing to a regular thread is not as easy as one might think. They can't just pop in and out when they feel like it. Can you imagine if the "Picture of the Day" and other threads only appeared two or three times a week...if that? There would be anarchy for sure! 
I don't know about you, but I can type thank you in about one second and gracias in about half a second. Give it a try...you'll make someone's day!! 
I always feel grateful, but I admit, sometimes I forget to say it. Sometimes I don't know how to say it, but these two simple words can always be enough: "Thank you". I guess now is also a good time... Thank you everyone for all of your help!!!
SpanishDict is full of selfless people helping others with their English and Spanish. The least we can do is say thank you.
Sometimes, all that needs to be said is "thank you"
Free website, free access to all the materials, great and kind people to help us learn and correct our mistakes and we don't even take a moment to say 'thank you'. Shame on us!
Many things to our admins, moderators and correctors.
This is something that bugs be about these threads. I spend time with them daily, reading all the comments, voting everyone up (that follows the rules), making sure people correct the posts as requested, sending reminders, etc. and I spend quite a bit of time with the thread. And I don't even correct them. (I'm not complaining, I enjoy doing it, but it does take time.)
To think that we have gracious people that are either native Spanish speakers or are advanced that are willing to take their time to correct the posts, and more than half the people don't even have the common courtesy to say thank you to them is just unbelievable to me.
It really makes me angry when people don't even correct them. What that tells me is that the corrector is just wasting their time on these people, that is why I am so persistent to send reminders when I see uncorrected posts, reminding people to correct them. (to me, this is the greatest thing about these threads, the ability to learn from your mistakes.)
It is also very unfortunate that we are losing correctors for these threads, and for this reason. We almost lost the Picture of the Day thread, but Vicente graciously stepped up to start posting it AND correcting it, and most people don't even thank him, and he ends up with 5 or 6 votes - just unbelievable.
Well, I try to say it everyday, but a huge thanks to all of our correctors!!
I probably have forgotten a thank you here and there, but I always try to remember to do that. I think some people seem to forget at times that these are real people with real lives who are volunteering their time to help us learn. As a result, I always try to indicate in some way that I understand the correction and have learned from it as well- because I think the best reward for a teacher is the satisfaction of knowing that the pupil is actually learning and benefiting from their efforts.
I would like to really say how much I appreciate Deanski, he has gone back and forth with me in the comments making sure I get the grammar points, he has pointed out when something that I said might be technically correct, but better expressed a different way, and he has even corrected the Spanish in my comments!
And of course Heidita knows how much I appreciate her, but as everyone knows, the daily corrections are only a small part of the everything she does for this site, and has done for me.
I do not do the picture of the day posts, because my mind just does not work that way (hence my rather banal posts on the other threads). But I still appreciate the work that Vicente does there, and as I have said before, I do not only look at my own attempts- but I try to learn from other people's mistakes as well.
I think it somewhat unfair that we don't get to vote for the corrector on these threads- not that Heidita needs votes (she probably reaches the 200 maximum in the first 5 minutes of the day), but Deanski has only 11k- and so I try to vote for him whenever he posts something I can vote for. I know I have said points don't get you anything- but that is not really true, I think they let you know that your work is appreciated, and I think we all like to feel that our efforts are appreciated.
So thank you Heidita, Deanski, Vicente, and everyone else who takes the time to look critically and comment on anything I do anywhere at this site in Spanish. This is such a wonderful place.
I am certain that I have missed more than one thank you to all of you that have helped me along this long path of learning.
I hope I will be forgiven for this inconsiderate oversight.
I hope that everyone will accept a belated and sincere Thank you! and a promise to be more diligent.
Thank you to everyone who has offered corrections, and my apologies if I have forgotten to say, "thanks."
I have been going through a difficult time in my personal life, grieving a loss. In my efforts to feel more joy in my life, I did a little research on some strategies for how to do this.
Do you know what I learned? The road to joy is paved with gratitude.
It was suggested that I keep a gratitude journal and to write down three things I am grateful for each day. Here's my list for the day:
SpanishDict.com The people who manage the daily threads The people who post corrections
And, one for good luck: everyone else here who is so nice and helpful!
