Do they actually correct spelling and grammatical errors, or do they just monitor foul language and delete those posts?

I ask this because if a grammar host's job is to correct spelling and grammatical errors, well, you need to hire some more.

This is a topic that gets me nuts. I realize I can become a bit obsessed with this issue(friends and family have pointed this out to me) However I've been reading the forum for an hour today, and the gramatical mistakes are so blatant and so numerous, that I find it difficult to even finish reading certain posts. When a sentence or paragraph isn't written well, it's distracting to read because it doesn't flow well and takes loger to read.

OK, I'm done nit-picking now. It's just that I've seen some really bad errors today.

Respectfully,

Danno

Yes, Danno.

Grammar Hosts actually correct spelling and grammatical errors where necessary for readability. We also monitor for foul Language, etc.

We also send a lot of Private Messages asking various members to try a little harder to follow the Cafe Rules and etiquette.

And you are probably right; we could use a few more of us out here - sweeping up.

But we can also use more cooperation from Cafe Members in taking the time, to capitalize, spell, and use proper Grammar.

English is not the first language of many of our Members, but strangely enough - with a few exceptions - they do a much better job than many North Americans, and others for whom English is a First (and probably the only) language.

Part of the problem comes from people who haven’t read the Cafe Rules, and think this forum is like the others. It is NOT like the others. And as a result, has become the favorite place of a lot of people. And for those who don’t read, or follow the rules, we try to make them aware of the rules, and make corrections as we go.

I appreciate your post, because if this place was like so many of the other places on the web, nobody would notice the bad grammar and spelling errors, they would just accept it. You saw what is bad, and you object to it. And we also object to it.

We are working to find better ways to educate new members so that they start out well. And we constantly remind older members, whenever they get lazy or just fall into bad habits. And we are adding qualified Staff as time goes on.

I hope that you just got a particularly bad thread. And that in time, you will find that most Café messages are reasonably structured and correctly spelled. It probably will never be perfect, because we are all only human.

Thanks for raising an issue of concern to all of us here at The Magic Cafe. We are working on it! But we aren’t done yet


BroDavid
Grammar Host

Keep in mind also, that we have four Grammar hosts and one Grammar Hostess(!) to go through and correct 85,365 posts in their spare time (what's that?), and on a volunteer basis. It's an incredibly large job for so few people.

Your incorrect spelling of the word "blatant" was "blantant".
I didnt bother to read the rest.

Randy Stewart

As has already been pointed out, with over 3000 members and some 85,000 posts as of this writing, it is an enormous task keeping the Cafe nice and clean as it were.

What you are obviously not aware of is the fact that The Magic Cafe is to the best of my knowlege the only discussion board in or out of magic circles that has a group of dedicated people correcting grammar.

Indeed, go to any other magic forum and spend any amount of time, and I believe you will be able to appreciate the benefits the Cafe has to offer. We do our very best to make sure our members have a fun, helpful, and clean place to discuss the art of magic.