Why so snappy?
¡Hola a todos! Gracias por leyendo leer este hilo.
Okay, I know that SpanishDict members all have big hearts, but sometimes I feel like we have to take into consideration that not everybody in a native English or Spanish speaker. I was searching through some recent threads and was shocked to see the comments on some posts (all usernames removed...)
You should worry about your English first. It's atrocious [1 day ago]
The post this was left on was created by someone whose language information was not filled out. Yes, yes, I know, I know...they should have it filled out. However, that's not the point of this thread (that is the point of this thread). We do not know what this person's native language is. We do not know whether or not he is learning English. He could be learning Spanish and English like some of our members on SD.
Even if this person was a native English speaker, there are more polite ways to ask something like this.
Please remember to use proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation in your posts
Welcome to the forum ------, please remember to use proper capitalization and punctuation in all posts.
Please remember that correct spelling and capitalization are mandatory on this site, welcome to the forum
Para futura referencia y teniendo en cuenta que este es un foro de aprendizaje, trata de cuidar puntuación y ortografía lo mejor que puedas
Again, I know that not everybody does this. However, I've seen sarcastic comments like one in blue above more than a few times since I've been an SD member.
This is a Spanish-English learning website. We must take into account that everyone here is learning. It is important to correct someone when they are wrong. It is just as important to do it a respectful way. It would be devastating to the SD community if someone was turned away because of a sarcastic comment like the above in blue.
17 Answers
I totally agree with you and you've made (in my opinion) a good point here. I will say though that I have learned as life goes on that you'll never filter out "the snappys" in any aspect of life unfortunately.
Do also remember though that text carries no voice tone or emotion and sometimes something said with tongue in cheek can look cutting or scathing (forever the peacekeeper)
I'll probably get a snappy comment now for the incorrect usage of paragraphs in this answer but at least I'll get a point or five for answering the question (the sacrifices we make) 
Oh no! I'm so sorry. I admit, it was me who left the above comment on someone's post. I looked for it so I could delete it, but I don't remember which one it was, and couldn't find it.
I'm sorry for the drama. I really was trying to give a playful poke in the ribs. I don't remember exactly, but I think I was talking mostly about punctuation and capitalisation, then got rushed at work, hit the "post" button, and forgot all about it. It didn't even cross my mind that I was being snappy or rude.
So, everyone throw your stones at me. It's my fault and I apologise.
I must admit to the occasional sigh when I see the standard of posts from people who put their level of English as native. However I think many of them are youngsters who spend a lot of time on social media where it is acceptable, to some people, to use poor grammar and ignore correct spellings.
Also, writing and speaking a language are very different. There are many native speakers who do not know how to punctuate correctly, or apply the rules of grammar. I for one was never taught grammar at school, if I get anything right it is because I have always read a lot and have developed a feel for how things should look and sound.
Rudeness when correcting is quite unnecessary, whoever you are speaking to.
Nice post Sonrisa 
l totally agree with you, l still remember when l first joined here, l couldn't write one sentence without making at least one mistake 
however, l often received corrections by very very nice people, and l was even amazed how much l was corrected on the English and how nicely those people took the time to correct me, although they don't know whether l needed those corrections or not, and that was one of the most important reasons why l stayed here.
BUT l did receive some of those annoying comments, saying how bad my English is, and you have no idea how frustrating and disappointing those comments were, l often got really mad at myself because l didn't know a certain rule & received a very embarrassing comment on that rule.
We are all learning here, no matter what language(s) are you learning, it'd always be nice to correct people kindly, without making them feel stupid, or bad about themselves, and even if the one using bad grammar is a native of the language, correcting him once or twice nicely is necessary, not all people know how to use correct grammar, and many are still learning how to spell words 
While I don't condone the straighout "Your English is atrocious" attitude I would like to point out that the person this was written to (I sort of recall the post) was a forer who apparently has nothing better to do than play around on the site. She had been warned a couple of times by me. As rude as it was I was tempted myself and though I don't recall my comment it was not my usual "Please remember to use proper capitalization and punctuation in all posts."
Good points, Sonrisa.
Courtesy goes a long way here. I've noticed some responses appear discourteous, but are written by someone who does not have a good command of the language. It has happened to me. In a chat session today, a native Spanish speaker corrected me with a phrase that would be considered a put-down in English. He did not know that. He was trying to help me, as I was trying to help him.
The comment highlighted above is clearly rude, but I always like to give the benefit of the doubt to members on the forum. Most of us are very responsible, courteous people trying to help each other. Terse comments, in my experience, are more a result of trying to use an unfamiliar language.
I appreciate your post.
And like my mum always said Sonrisa...
If you can't say something nice.......(don't say anything!)
And I would add here, "nice.....or positive"....
Estoy completamente de acuerdo! Sin embargo, te sugiero cambiar "gracias por leer" por "gracias por leyendo." Pero no pasa nada, no me molestó ver ese errorcito, ando cometiendo errores en ambos idiomas diariamente y por eso estamos aquí en el sitio: para ayudarnos uno al otro!
Muy bien dicho todo Sonrisa : )
Good on you ! I agree with you young person , there are quite a few members
here on SD who only speak first class , albeit fluent " Geriatric " therefore a
little understanding here please would be welcome to alleviate the problematic
or was that phlegmatic incidence of a superfluency of the clapboards , and the
overindulgence of insensitive syntax. Thank you for glistening to me , now
leave me alone whilst I conjugate my constitution and chomp on Albran.
agreed, no one want to be a part of a group of jerks. Ive always felt that being rude was a sign of your own insecurities but its never to late to just be nice. 
It's great to get feedback from people willing to correct...I'd especially like to thank gintar, Heidita and IndianaChris for helping me get it right! Thank you!
I belong to this group of people who are here not only to learn Spanish but also are brushing up their forgotten English and learning new vocabulary, mostly advanced and correct use of prepositions. People here have offered very kindly to correct my posts. No one was rude to me, and to be honest, I didn't notice anyone being rude.
Samdie is right, when we learn a foreign language we don't learn informal vocabulary or slang language. Using this kind of expressions, is a possible way for someone to be rude, without even noticing.
Annie said:
If you can't say something nice.......(don't say anything!)
Well, you would be surprised, some people think this sentence is rude
Sonrisa,
Thanks for the post and I do feel that with such a diverse population on this site that we need to be conscious of "how" we say things but in the same respect know that people are from all over the world and have different ways of expressing themselves. I definitely agree that the correction should be a gentle one but what if that was "gentle" for that person? I'm just throwing my $.01 into the pot. Take it with a grain of salt my friend.
