Billy Shears

[Peter]

I have only today discovered that dear Joe has passed away. He had been suffering from cancer for quite some time, but only last week he seemed to be facing the future with a good degree of confidence. Joe had been responsible for a lot of the articles in Lezioni Gratuite, writing principally about verbs.

At least we know he is at peace now.

God bless you, Joe. It was a privilege to have known you.

[jade]

hello Peter. I haven't been here for a long while and just saw the terrible news! I don't know what to say, don't think I had ever spoken with Billy Shears, or if I had, very rarely. I only think it is so sad to know someone from here is forever gone. RIP Billy Shears.

It seems nowadays nobody is even here, this is also sad, I truly miss the time when I was new here and everyone tried to help me. Where is everyone and nobody learns Italian anymore?

Sono triste e delusa, ma ancora spero che tu stia bene.

[speak_travel_italian]

Non lo conoscevo, ma questa comunità online è molto bella. Anche io mando un caro saluto a Billy in cielo!

[Peter]

hello Peter. I haven't been here for a long while and just saw the terrible news! I don't know what to say, don't think I had ever spoken with Billy Shears, or if I had, very rarely. I only think it is so sad to know someone from here is forever gone. RIP Billy Shears.

It seems nowadays nobody is even here, this is also sad, I truly miss the time when I was new here and everyone tried to help me. Where is everyone and nobody learns Italian anymore?

Sono triste e delusa, ma ancora spero che tu stia bene.

Ciao Jade,

Yes, it's very sad. Joe (for that was his real name) had only contacted me a few days before to say he was going back into hospital; he sounded pretty upbeat and was looking forward to getting back into working on the Verbs section in Lezionil Gratuite. I guess the cancer was worse than even he thought.

As to what's happening here, it's really no different to many other such forums. The blame lies directly with social media - Facebook, Twitter etc. People these days seems to think they can learn a language via Facebook, which is a pretty bizarre way of thinking in my humble opinion!!

Ma, sì, io e Maggie stiamo bene, grazie, e spero che anche tu e la tua famiglia stanno bene. Stammi bene.

[Peter]

Non lo conoscevo, ma questa comunità online è molto bella. Anche io mando un caro saluto a Billy in cielo!

Cara Giulia, grazie per le parole. Mi manca molto Billy, era sempre molto positivo. Non ne dubito tu sai che Billy Shears è stato un nickname. Joe, il suo vero nome, è stato un grande tifoso dei Beatles, e Billy Shears è stato il leader del immaginario Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Clubs Band.

[jade]

hello Peter. I haven't been here for a long while and just saw the terrible news! I don't know what to say, don't think I had ever spoken with Billy Shears, or if I had, very rarely. I only think it is so sad to know someone from here is forever gone. RIP Billy Shears.

It seems nowadays nobody is even here, this is also sad, I truly miss the time when I was new here and everyone tried to help me. Where is everyone and nobody learns Italian anymore?

Sono triste e delusa, ma ancora spero che tu stia bene.

Ciao Jade,

Yes, it's very sad. Joe (for that was his real name) had only contacted me a few days before to say he was going back into hospital; he sounded pretty upbeat and was looking forward to getting back into working on the Verbs section in Lezionil Gratuite. I guess the cancer was worse than even he thought.

As to what's happening here, it's really no different to many other such forums. The blame lies directly with social media - Facebook, Twitter etc. People these days seems to think they can learn a language via Facebook, which is a pretty bizarre way of thinking in my humble opinion!!

Ma, sì, io e Maggie stiamo bene, grazie, e spero che anche tu e la tua famiglia stanno bene. Stammi bene.

Ciao Peter,

Sorry it took this long for me to respond to you, just it does not seem there are a lot of activities on these forums now so I don't come often. I am glad you and Maggie are doing well and I miss you guys on the forums and our discussions. I am not on Facebook and Twitter, so I guess it is hard to find a forum to learn Italian nowadays. If you have any suggestions on finding people to speak Italian in order to learn the language, please let me know.

A presto e stammi bene!

[ladybird]

It's been so long since I was here, I'm saddened to read this news. I've spoke to Joe here quite a few times, he was another incredibly helpful guy - may be rest peacefully.

I agree about social media overtaking everything, but I honestly believe there will come a point when people return to forums like this. Impariamo was unique, no condescension from anybody, just support to learn.

It will have it's day again!

[ladybird]

It's been so long since I was here, I'm saddened to read this news. I've spoke to Joe here quite a few times, he was another incredibly helpful guy - may be rest peacefully.

I agree about social media overtaking everything, but I honestly believe there will come a point when people return to forums like this. Impariamo was unique, no condescension from anybody, just support to learn.

It will have it's day again!