When is it time to leave SpanishDict?
When I first joined this site it was my intention to help the new learners, the “principiantes”—not to engage in verbal fisticuffs with a bunch of self-proclaimed “catedráticos” cuya sóla intención es bucarle tres pies al gato. You would not want to engage in a physical battle with me. I’m not the “innocent” young thing that you see in the picture. I am 5’10” tall weigh 167 pounds—all muscle; I can bench press 250 lbs., and have won my brown belt in Kempo Karate. I didn’t put this in my profile because I didn’t want to scare any body off. When one lives in East Los Angeles, where crime and gang activity prevail, a girl can’t take chances.
However, as soon as I began to post my answers, some of you began to pounce on me like a bunch of tiburones after “chum.” And it seems that now I can’t even give a word for word translation of a simple sentence without causing a riot. I am no longer comfortable here. I cannot post with my usual light-hearted humorous style (or any other style for that matter) without the picky-picky tiburones pouncing on me. Well, I guess that’s what tiburones do. No le hace.
To the few friends that I have here, “los quiero mucho -me harán mucha falta, especially rac1 who has defended me many times and Jubilado.” To others, whose names I haven’t mentioned “amor y besos”
To those who have attacked me for whatever reasons, Les digo con toda sinceridad” “Phhttttttttttttttt!” lo que no necesita traducción!
I will hang around a day or two to see the answers.
You know who. PS I am somewhat more muscular than the WW foto, but you get the idea
15 Answers
To answer your question Daniela, I think the time to leave is NEVER! Although there might be ups and downs, SpanishDict has always weathered the (sometimes harsh and terrible) storms.
You haven't been here that long, so could it be possible that some inconsiderate people still think of you as a clueless newbie? Many apologies if I was ever one of those idiots! 
Just in case other users haven't already made this point clear enough, bilingual users are worth their weight in gold as long as they stick around here! Please stay a little while longer, and don't make any hasty judgments!
Annierats put it very well - Wolfie is always part of the story 
He is a dog - in case you did not know.
Stay a while amiga.
Here I go again:
•
• Me falta dinero, no need for article. - annierats 3 hrs ago flag
• Apart from that minor point effing good answer! - annierats 3 hrs ago flag
• And donLt go, this website is like this, minor quarrels all the time, please stay. - annierats 3 hrs ago flag
I consider annie una buena amiga but when even your buenos amigos/as chip away at you it causes great frustration. When I said “ Me falta el dinero.” This refers to a specific amount of money."I don’t have money"." No tengo dinero." "I don’t have the money." "No tengo el dinero." I know the difference. My problem is: what are the beginners going to think regarding what the proper Spanish is? I have studied, studied, long and hard •to get my degree. Before I give an answer I “check the book” I thoroughly research everything. Sometimes when I am writing quickly, especially on the SD site, typos happen. I’m doing this in Word now and I’ll paste it into the SD site.
So many are quick to write whatever is in your head. I do that at times, but when one of these precious beginners sees all these peleas between native speakers, whom are they to believe? I can back up every one of my serious answers (apart from my goofy humor) with “chapter and verse” from the book. I even emailed xtsustaboy a page from my textbook with the material on perterite and imperfect. I don’t want to have to copy “chapter and verse” from my textbooks every time I give an answer. Are there any other teachers out there who teach a class full of both Latinos and Anglos at the same time?. Let me tell you, after failing a few tests, my Latino students start reading the book and listening to me. It is only then that they start getting better grades than the Anglos.
Bueno, voy a dejar de cotorrear ahora. I hope that you can sympathize with me and understand why I am so sad and now afraid to post any answers to beginners' questions.
DanielaIn meters and kilograms please: short and heavy with muscle? Wolfie will take to you on ! Don't go!
This happens all the time on this website...Sad but true.
The good people get upset and go and the only ones who stay are the boring old farts like myself.
Stay on and fight your corner! Most of your answers are very good. Like mine.. I mean, I try to help but some of my answers turn out to be rubbish, I realize later.. But basically, we try our best to help and you're way ahead of most here, keep going.
Well, I know I haven't been around as much as I used to be. Things have been pretty busy. But please don't take it as any sort of lack of interest. I try to pop in when I can, at least to read the posts.
As for this site, after learning the basics through Pimsleur, this site helped e more than I ever would have guessed. The diversity of experience here is phenomenal, and that has helped to understand various nuances of this beautiful language called Spanish. All of you have helped me to be a much better Spanish speaker.
I must say, though, that you, Dani, have helped me more than anyone. You have a great way of breaking things down so anyone can understand them. You're a great teacher, and your students are very lucky, so thank you.
Also, it has been great meeting all of you. The interactions are wonderful, and that as well helps the learning. Jeez, I even have a fellow New Orleanian on the site. (You're the best, Rac!!). Bosque, Annie, Ray, Ian-I've enjoyed our conversations so much, and of course there are so many more than i can remember, so i apologize for those i havent mentioned.
In short, Dani, I'm glad you stayed. ??
Added Nov 6: I almost forgot to mention, Dani. You even found me a great avatar.
Wow! Was I ever surprised to see this come around again. All I can say is I'm soooo glad that I didn't leave.
Muchísimas gracias a todos mis amigos, los moderadores y los muchos que me seguían apoyando y ayudando. I really appreciate The one who metaphorically speaking has taken me under his wing, and has closely mentored me and made me a much better contributor than I was at first. Of course I'm speaking of my dear Ramón (El Amado Brujo de OZ)
Thanks to all of you, I have been able to achieve a goal set several years ago--that of reaching 100,000 rep points by my anniversary date of November 4th, which I did squeaking by with a total of 100,001, on that date.
Besos y Abrazos a todos mis compañeros y colaboradores en SD
I love your style, period. I come and go, don't contribute much anymore, got tired of most of the driveling stuff. I can tell you though, you are needed (and I know you know why :D )
Daniela, I'll put in my two cents, if I may. I am very much a beginner at Spanish, but I'm doing my best to learn. The interaction with native and fluent Spanish speakers on this site is great for people like me. You are one of those people I look to to give accurate and useful information, and you're fun. I could tell that when I looked at your profile.
I certainly understand the frustration when you receive negative online messages, but that's the disadvantage of internet (anonymous) conversation as opposed to speaking face-to-face. I hope you stay around. If you do, as hard as it may be, try not to take any of the comments personally.
Remember, in the grand scheme of things, "this ain't nuttin' but a thang."
It's like Annie said. You remind me of her a lot. Strong, independent and outspoken and always helping someone who needs it. Please don't allow anyone to cause you to leave. We appreciate you and the help you have given.
Stay with us, amiga. 
Whats up Daniela. Were friends, no?
Amen. so be it.
Amén. así sea.
Well, since Ray bumped up this thread, I'll take the opportunity to say how glad I am that you stuck around, Daniela.
(Just kidding about the ropes. Zip ties work better. Lol.)
It is so interesting to read all of these posts after 12 months , I wonder how
many of you still hold these viewpoints today?
Oh, My Gosh! I thought this was the Hotel California. Don't leave, Daniela. Yes, there are cretins out there, but in my mind they are few. Most of us are here to learn and to help. Critiques of language, dialect, and style do not require the preciseness of a "real" science. If I say that a kilogram is 2.204 pounds, there will be some that will nitpick and add more decimal places.
Do not leave us, Daniela.
I am a native American English speaker. I learned Castilian Spanish in the USA, but spent most of my time in Mexico. My Latino friends are all over the board: Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian. As a result, my speaking/writing is an amalgamation of those countries, and I do get "corrected". Sometimes, "they" can be blunt. I take it with a grain of salt. I've been here for more than five years and, in my opinion, it is the best place to be. I also use the DRAE extensively (for definitions). When in doubt I tend toward the latter unless I know my reader/listener's dialect. That's for definitions. For help, there is nothing better than spanishdict.com.
I would like to say, that I too am glad you stayed Daniela. But this thread also reminds me of how many other people that I have enjoyed interacting with have disappeared. Some occasionally come back, others seem gone for good.
From this thread alone
HCA student seems long gone
Annierats I suspect is not coming back
And I haven't seen Winkfish for quite a while
And many others that were quite active for a while have gone missing (I have to admit I miss the energizer bunny like enthusiasm of Falda escocesa). At least Jubilado has told us why.
