How to correct correctly?

I like this site… actually – I love it.

One of the activities I enjoy the most is making corrections. It allows me to do one of the most favourite things I have done in my life; play with the English language. It seems this has been with me since a very early age, although it has also gone through long periods of latency as my life changed and turned in different directions and into different circumstances. When I was in school many years ago I remember a guy coming up to me with a scribbled love letter that he wanted to give to a girl he admired. He thought it was written very badly so he showed it to me seeking an opinion. I re-wrote it for him – something that seemed very natural for me – and he walked away feeling amazed and very happy. I’m not sure how things went with him and the girl but I do remember the experience vividly; I can even now still see his messy handwriting and spelling mistakes as a distant image in my mind.

So it’s no surprise to me that many years later I have become so absorbed in doing a similar thing here at italki.

However, I am not a qualified teacher: I’m just someone who loves language. I also understand that to teach effectively there are certain techniques and principles which I should follow, and I’m hoping that I will learn some of these while I am here. I also wonder though if in some way I am already applying some of the techniques and principles in an unconscious way, but I can’t really know this because I’ve never been trained to teach. And so I am lead back to my original title and question.

Can someone be a good teacher without being trained to teach?

I welcome anyone, teachers and student alike, who are interested in this question to offer their thoughts ideas, and in particular I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism. You are also welcome to browse any of the corrections I have made and tell me if you think they are effective or not. I want to be able to share knowledge, and I will do this better when people share their knowledge with me.