Grammar / Spelling / Punctuation Discussion and Appreciation (questions welcome!)

[Goose]

I'm amazed at the very basic spelling errors people seem to constantly make, and not just from people who have English as a second language, but from those who have it as a first language. In my first year at University (I'm graduating next week!), we spent quite a lot of time being taught how to write academic essays, and one of the points they had to go over and over again and again was basic spelling, like "it's" and "its", or "their" and "there". These a supposed to be the bright young minds of our feature at a top-ranking University, and they can't even spell properly? And that's only at University, don't even get me started on fanfics!

[mathpiglet]

My husband is currently training a university grad and is having trouble convincing him that one really should use capitals when sending emails to customers. One should also not use texting shortforms or smileys either.

[SF_and_Coffee]

My husband is currently training a university grad and is having trouble convincing him that one really should use capitals when sending emails to customers. One should also not use texting shortforms or smileys either.

Head. Desk. AAAaaaaauuuuugggghhhh!

(One wonders what university this individual allegedly graduated from.)

[fems]

It makes you wonder how such people manage to have successfully written a thesis at some point in their education.

I have to say that I was a bit baffled too when I started reading fanfics and came across so many spelling/grammar errors only to see on the "author's" that they're native speakers. Same for some of my reviewers. In the beginning I had a hard time understanding what some were actually saying because for non-native speakers such spelling/grammar errors make much less sense. Or at least, that's how I feel about it, since you subconsciously translate and then it just doesn't make any sense.

[Goose]

THe standards of some students writing is just horrible, really.

[Skydiver]

it is really bad. We have a whole generation that has no idea what spelling or grammar is. and they get mighty huffy when you dare to mention it to them. how DARE we question them.

yeah, well I dare. Because I spent years learning this language.

I do slack on the forum with capitols. And if i'm typing a post on my Touch, commas are a witch to put in. but when I'm typing an e-mail at work - unless it's a quick note between friends - it's formatted and reread and spell checked and tweaked...not only to make sure it's good, but also....anything you send via e-mail is forever. You don't want to misspeak or mistype and have that come back to bite you in the bum.

[Goose]

It's not just English, either. One of the things that really bugs me in Swedish (my mother language) is the influx of English words into everyday use. For example, in shops everywhere, sales aren't advertised as sales in Swedish ("rea"), but in English! You'd be hard pressed to find a shop in Stockholm that advertises a sale in Swedish. Or the phenomenon of using English words where there's a Swedish word in place. The worse one, I actually saw in a newspaper the other day, where the capital of Austria was called "Vienna" instead of the Swedish (and, for that matter, German) spelling of "Wien". In a national newspaper!!!

[fems]

Yeah, same here. Although it's mostly teenagers who think they're very good at English that use English words instead of their own language. And some of the international students have often remarked how we "steal" their words by conjugating the English stem (e.g. email, stress, relax).

In general it doesn't bother me, as long as people can speak/write their native language correct as well. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case with some of today's kids (not that their English is good either).

[SF_and_Coffee]

I'm one of those last holdouts who still finds herself driven to type in grammatically correct English, capitalized and properly punctuated, when sending emails and even text messages! I sometimes find myself breaking down and using text shorthand in a text because I'm in a hurry or up against a character limit, but I find myself gritting my teeth when I do it.

Half of my friends think it's horrendously funny, while the other half completely understand.

[Goose]

Textspeak makes it harder, not easier, to read a message.

[Skydiver]

it actually takes me longer to text using the text speak than it does to just type it out

the only ones i'll commonly use are see u later or things like that.
i would never type c u l8tr.....looks like my 4 year old niece got her hands on my phone

[SF_and_Coffee]

I've always thought that studying a language other than one's native tongue should improve one's command of that native tongue. At the very least, it made me more aware of the mechanics of language when I studied French (my native language being English, as I'm American).

Sadly, I don't know whether this is the case for others, especially these days.

[Whytewytch]

I do some text speak, but in general I try to keep my writing grammatically correct, no matter the context. I'm also one of those weirdos who loves the mechanics of language. I used to love diagramming sentences in middle school & that made it easier, I think, when I studied German in college. Where I live, you hear a lot of "Spanglish"--Spanish with English interjected or vice versa. It can be jarring.

Please pardon any errors--we've been driving all day, I got to drive during the torrential downpour section & now I'm inhaling shoe polilsh as the boys prepare for their first inspection tomorrow.

P.S. Finally, a new theme I can get behind! I'm Michigan J Frog's agent!

[fems]

I don't get the concept of text speak, it looks ridiculous and it takes more effort to understand (let alone write) what people are trying to say. So it might cost you one extra text, boohoo. These days most of my contacts have a chatting/messaging app or unlimited texts anyway.

I always try to write correctly, whether that's formal or informal, letters, emails, chatting or text messaging. I always spell check too. Simply because I think anything other than correct use of language makes you look like an idiot. Thankfully, most of my friends and family members feel the same way.

[fems]

Argh, just came across another error that I see far too often: compliment/complement.