Behind Every Post There Is A Human Being

English as a Second Language What do you want to talk about?
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Lately I find myself growing impatient with learners who don’t even observe the basic rules of English, or asking questions that have been asked and answered several times already.

After my neck injury, with lots of time at my hands, I started thinking more about them. I came to realize that they are not just an anonymous entity with no feelings; no, they are human beings just like me. They have feelings, they have a heart, and instead of sarcasm from me or others, they need encouragement.

I realized how easy it is to sit behind a keyboard, showing off how good I am, and belittle those who are not as good. Going back, looking at earlier posts of mine, I found that this was a habit that grew over time.

So I want to apologize to all those I offended.

And I want to ask others to think before they post. As mentioned before, it is easy to sit anonymously behind a keyboard, letting your sarcasm get the better of you, and therefore offend the one who doesn’t know better because he/she is just learning. And there is also the fact to consider that there is always someone who knows things better than we do. We might not like it, but these are the people we learn from, so let’s bite the bullet and be polite, whether we like them or not.

We also have to realize that our posts are a mirror of ourselves; that everyone who happens to look at these forums from outside judges them by our posts, and some of them might be repelled by hateful or sarcastic posts, and therefore do not join in. This is a pity, there are so many out there who want to learn, and we put them off with thoughtless posts.

At the end of the day, we are all here pursuing the same goal; to learn proper English, and to have fun while we are doing it. We are all human, so let’s treat each other with respect.

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I bow before people who have the courage to face themselves. Respect.

Edit: When I still used to play this on-line game, there was a message similar to yours on the loading screen: ‘Remember, behind every character there’s a real person.’ This was due to the growing hatred amongst people in the server. This hate resulted in on-going and never ceasing flames, insults, cusses, etc.

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I so admire the non-native speakers who do arrive here, and having done so, set about the task of devoting their time and energies to really learning the work that Torsten and Alan send to them.

Whilst appreciating, and mirroring your sentiments, I still get a little miffed at the people
who post for one time only and expect us to edit, or almost rewrite their essays. They never return to make any comment, or at least appear not to, then out of the blue, they post another, expecting the “same service.”

Humanity is indeed a wonderfully complex entity, but unfortunately we do not all think along the same lines. Indeed, it would be folly to think that we ever could. This is surely the thing that makes it all the more interesting, and all the more important that we here attempt to bridge the differences. To note how others from the Eastern countries almost always bring religious blessings into their texts, and add blessings to the end of their posts. How the Chinese are taught, from a very early age, to hold their elders in high esteem. All these points illustrate how different there upbringing is from Western upbringing, in lots of instances.

We are human as you rightly say. Respect toward others is paramount in our behaviour, and reflects our upbringing.

I’m happy to think that we here are helping to bridge this gap, yet I am still dismayed by the venom spouted on the " Religious thread." I feel that this should have been moderated at an early stage. There really should be no place here for religious argument.

Kitos.

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Hello Everyone,

I am not sure I am good enough to be here among such a skilful people in writing and composing text on a specific subject.

Shyone, at first I would like to say that “may you recover soon”. I agree with what you have written from the beginning to the end.

I also agree with Bill about his say in “religious and upbringing matter”. The point of bridging the gap between different cultures and religious starts with understanding each other and respect one another.

However this is a place of learning or improving English, this forum serves a mission of eliminating the hatred arising from misunderstanding or even being unfamiliar with other cultures or religious.

Best regards.

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Does that give us the right to be downright rude, or to deliberately insult them?

No, I doesn’t.

We don’t know what drove them to take this step. Was it desperation perhaps?

Were they being asked to do something they just couldn’t do, and their grades depended on it?

What ever it is, we should encourage them to start their work as good as they possibly can, showing some effort, not belittle or insult them. As I said, we don’t know what was going on for them, and they are human too.

What would you think if it was you?

Edit: Bill, you talk about the hatred in the religion thread, and how much you despise it.

Do you think the hateful things you say about and to the Americans here on the site are any different?

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:lol: :lol: :lol: I thought you said you were going to be nice?

I never said I hated Americans, only the ones who are brash, arrogant, loud and vain.
This usually becomes most evident when they are visiting other countries, with their " all-new, bought especially for the trip" clothing, and suitcases.

" Does that give us the right to be downright rude, or to deliberately insult them? "

I never do this to any who ask me for help, so just what are you driving at? If I have ever criticized anyone, then you might wonder just why they keep coming back for more, or is it that I am the only one who is prepared to help them? You tell me.

Andrea, your first post was penned from your supposed feelings of guilt regarding your intolerance of others. I have no such feelings, as I always do my best for others, as I’m sure many here will agree.

Bill.