Richard-Business Eng
Professional Teacher
Would it really kill you to say thank you?

This is a repeat of the same discussion posted in 2016.

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So many italki members ask for help in the Questions and Answers section, the Discussion section and the Notebook section.

 

Many kind-hearted people try to help.

And writing a response takes time and effort.

I know that saying thank you is not customary in many countries, but in the English speaking countries, it is customary to say thank you when someone helps you.

Developing your English language skills includes following the cultural norms (habits/customs).

 

Please remember that those good people who try to help you deserve to be acknowledged and thanked.

It's just good to know that someone has read and appreciates your effort. 


I offer this advice in the hope that posters will receive all the help they need.

This topic and the question is not directed at anyone in particular.

Please think of this as friendly advice.

Apr 21, 2018 2:11 PM
Comments · 26
12
I don't understand why anybody would need to be reminded to thank someone for helping them. And I don't think it's really a cultural thing, because I've corrected notebook entries written by many people from countries where "thank you" is commonly used, but they still haven't thanked me. Some do, some don't. I think this is an issue of people lacking basic social skills or people who feel that social skills don't apply to the online world.
April 21, 2018
10
Hi Richard, just thought about your thread when I received today a PM with the text “I wrote a notebook entry and I need some corrections “. I think we also could add “please” ! That’s what we teach kids, we call them “the magic words”.
April 22, 2018
10

It’s a lot worse than not saying thank you. I offered to speak English over Skype once with someone from this board, trying to be helpful. There was a 10 hour time difference between us. When I tried to schedule a time covenient for me it was ignored. Suddenly, out of the blue, i got an unannounced Skype call at 1:40am, my time, from the person wanting to talk that woke me up out of bed. This was preceded by a 5 minute „Good Morning“ by the caller per Italki messenger. Needless to say, I declined the call and blocked the user. Not even a paid Italki teacher would put up with this sort of behavior. 

No good dead goes unpunished. 

April 21, 2018
8

Thank you Nada...

May I make a suggestion? 

The noun advice is called an uncountable abstract noun.
It is abstract because it is an idea, a concept, a thought and it is not a concrete, physical noun such as 'house, car, dog, etc'.

So because 'advice' is uncountable, we cannot have one or two or more "advices".

That means that the noun 'advice' is never plural, and so that means we cannot say "a advice" which is equal to "one advice".
We need to use a determiner, such as some advice, a piece of advice, any advice, etc.  (Google determiners to learn more).

April 21, 2018
7
Thank you Richard for reminding us to say 'Thank you'. I think many people here can learn from you not only how to use English but how to behave themselves while communicating with others as well. I don't mean people on this forum but many users of this site.
I usually get the 'Thank you' answer when correcting Polish notebook entries. Sometimes it's written as a comment and sometimes sent via PM (with the question about possible language partnership). You've written about the cultural differences which may occur... Maybe I am happy because most people learning Polish come from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and they have usually no problem with saying 'Thank you'.
So thank you for contributing to this community. 
And thank you @SHL for sharing the story about the 'night English class'. Some people think the teachers in the internet are just bots which don't eat, don't sleep, just serve.
April 21, 2018
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