Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

wendy_kb8 · Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Shanghai,China

i think there should be sb who will correct our mistakes in our posts,just like a manager or some other people.
coz many foreigners can't use english well,there maybe some mistakes in our sentences ,but other people may not understand what we are talking about ,so i think we need some people who can help us to correct these mistakes.

asterix · Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Posts: 1654

No kidding. OK
Do not write i when you mean I.
The personal pronoun I is always written with a capital letter.
Do not write sb when you mean somebody.
Do not write coz when you mean because.

The last two are not mistakes they are simply laziness.

Bob S. · Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1767 Location: So. Cal

Be careful what you wish for, Wendy, you may get it. Twisted Evil

But seriously, I don't know what Dave's official policy is, and I can't speak for all teachers and helpers here, but I don't like to correct people's English in the discussion forums because I don't want to discourage them from trying and using their English skill, however much or little that may be. Imagine if every time you came on to post your opinion, one of us jumped in to correct all your little verb tense or article usage errors? Many people would become too shy and would stop posting their ideas.
So don't worry about your grammar mistakes here. Freely put your ideas out with whatever English you have. If you are not sure about your English before you post and want some help, please feel free to ask first over in "Learning English".

wendy_kb8 · Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Shanghai,China

wendy_kb8 · Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Shanghai,China

weiyao · Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 105

carlos lofredo · Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 1

stellara · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 583 Location: germany

generally i think you're right but then there's the question if this is a forum to discuss and talk about some interesting issue or to really learn english and correct every mistake. because when we'd do that we can't discuss properly.
i think if someone maybe just corrects the major mistakes like a wrong preposition or a senseless word or sentence it would be good but there's the other side too.

if you don't understand exactly what someone means, you could just ask him. Wink

greets
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Don't cry because it's over - smile because it happened!

MOKEY ROCKS!!!

pugachevV · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2295

I can see both sides of the argument. BUT, if your reason for being on Dave's ESL Cafe is to improve your English, you should try to use correct English, surely?
For instance Wendy continues to use such abominations as u r for you are.
If you are text messaging someone on your mobile phone, no doubt u r will suffice but everywhere else it is sheer laziness and should be avoided.
gd knws wr t my ld.

stellara · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 583 Location: germany

that's maybe possible but it's also not the best solution since computer programmes are usually not really reliable.. Wink

Bob S. · Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1767 Location: So. Cal

stellara · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 583 Location: germany

wow, thank you.. i wouldn't have guessed this Wink

i agree with you but i think another language problem is the usage of the prepositions and phrasal verbs and so on. and i don't think that ms word could correct these mistakes because at least the german version only can notice spelling or flexion mistakes..

greets
_________________
Don't cry because it's over - smile because it happened!

MOKEY ROCKS!!!