Do you read all the threads?

I was just wondering if the English teachers in this forum have a look at the questions that have already got replies.

I think that if somebody asked a question and they got a reply that was not an answer but just a comment, the chances of them getting an answer from the teachers were low. I could be wrong.

Check this [url]http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic32745.html[/url]

Anyway, my question is “Do you read all the threads or just the ones that have no replies?”

When I go down the threads and look at them, there are various factors by which I decide whether or not to read a thread or answer it.

If it has already been answered, I check to see who answered it. If Alan, Mister Micawber, Amy or some other knowledgeable, reliable person has answered it, I often don’t bother looking at it unless the question particularly interests me.

There are specific sorts of posts I seldom open, or if I open them, I usually don’t answer them:

  1. Posts that say “Please correct my essay” or something similar. These are usually posts where the visitor is abusing our kindness by asking us to spend 20 minutes or half an hour correcting their personal homework.

  2. Posts that request that we answer 10 or 20 multiple choice questions from someone’s TOEFL cram book. Again, posting so many things in one question is an abuse of volunteer teachers’ kindness, in my opinion.

  3. Posts that ask, “What is the difference between [word 1] and [word 1a].” Usually the person could get a perfectly clear answer from looking in a good dictionary, of which many are available online. Often the difference between the two words is miniscule or non-existent, but somebody’s teacher somewhere is insisting they are different.

  4. Posts where the person is clearly trying to get us to do his homework assignment.

  5. Posts where it is impossible for me to understand the English. I try hard to understand people, but there are some posts that are just impossible to make sense of.