More Schooling Needed

Hi Doug thats probably fair enough but to be honest if I had to take care to get all spelling and grammer right I'd only reply to half the posts I do.

Maybe when I retire I'll have more time to check 'em out better.

Robin Miller

G'day Doug,

I totally agree with you. However, this matter has been raised before and a lot of people will probably come back with comments like: "what does it really matter, as long as the message gets across?"

To me, it's a bit like the detioration in the use of common manners that most of us older people (and I'm only 52) had drummed into us both at home and at school.

A couple of other clangers that I've seen on here are the following:

here/hear
there/their/they're
wood/would

As for use of spell checker, a lot of the time it would make no difference because the person has probably used a _real_ word and spelt it properly; it's just not the correct word for the situation. EG: in your example of "duel" instead of "dual"......both are real words and the spell-checker would not have identified it as a problem.

Hey Doug,we just have to learn to live with it.I know too that it is a pain to try & read some of the posts/replies & so on,but you get it all walks of life, like driving,road rules,& other laws of society, you know what i mean!!! As some would say all rules were made to be broken.:0))
Cheers Bob.

I think that it's just a reflection of our society today. Just have a look at what the kids are doing with MSN and text messages. None of them can actually manage to type an entire word these days. Everything either is, or has an abbreviation.

Computers have made our life somewhat more interesting and given us easy access to loads of information, but the basic and simple things in life seem to have gone missing.

I remember at school the daily spelling rounds we used to have in the classroom. It seems that now kids are not taught to spell properly. As long as it looks ok phonetically it's ok.

Personally I dont agree with it at all. Spelling and grammer has gone so far down hill since I was at school. Then again just look at society and the world overall, it seems that many, many things have changed and advanced, although I cant say that too many of these advances have been a good thing.

We need to get back to a more simple time and make sure that our kids get the basics down.

Arrrr yer showing yer age....LOL

"Yus, I brought a Landcrusier with duel batteries for me Mom"

The decline of standards eventually may bring the downfall of our society as we know it. Lack of education and useable knowledge breeds contempt amongst the hoi polloi and its all downhill from there...LOL

Cheers

Well lets make the grammar or spelling a bit easier :) ............ I mean who ever made up the words had to (hmm or is it this too or this two) much time on their hands. Why make two or more words to say the same thing.

So from now on

Two - to - too = To
Their - there - there're = There
Duel - dual = Dual
Surprize - surprise = what the hell you pick one LOL
Centre - Center = Center (just because it sounds right).
Cheque - check = Roachie you can pick this one :)

Now how much easier will this be no more problems which or is it witch one we use. Just think how much easier it would be for kids (big kids to) and teachers in correcting spelling. Win Win really.

Said TIC

Brian

" ... or if your unsure".......

Schools obviously failed to get you to understand that you should have spelled 'your' - 'you're'. A fairly basic error for someone who is setting himself up as a social commentator.

Nats.

LOL more than enough grammar and spelling mistakes in this thread to illustrate Doug's point. Nice to see you joined in as well Doug hahahaha

I'd just say that if a spelling and grammar 'police unit' was set up to vet all posts before they appear on line, which deleted those that are not perfect, it would be a pretty slim and boring forum.

Would I rather a slim boring forum with correct spelling and grammar, with access restricted to those who 'pass the test'. Or would I prefer a (sometimes) lively, interesting and inclusivel one with a few spelling and grammar mistakes. I think the answer is obvious.

I think it is fair enough to criticize our education system and community attitudes that got us to our current state, but to criticize (in some cases) the victims of that situation and suggest that if they can't spell, then don't bother posting is a bit rich.

I sometimes proof read my posts before pressing the go button, but sometimes I don't bother, forget or don't have the time.
I generally take at least a little pride in getting my spelling and grammar into reasonably good shape. But I'm not anal about it.

After all, a forum is a 'conversation'. It is not a CV or a business letter.

Norm C

I'm sure it is not an error, remember "Duelling Banjoes", just insert Batteries in the appropriate spot. It is probably due to the lack of a battery charge controller. I'm sure that is what they all mean. What about "burgandy" I'm sure that is ablout a bloke eating a hamburger.
Doug

I'm sure it is not an error, remember "Duelling Banjoes", just insert Batteries in the appropriate spot. It is probably due to the lack of a battery charge controller. I'm sure that is what they all mean. What about "burgandy" I'm sure that is ablout a bloke eating a hamburger.
Doug

Ah! 'Friday-itis' strikes again.


Cure: Get in the 4WD, don't tell anyone where you are going, and get over it, because it is here to stay and will continue to evolve after all of us here today are maggot infested lumps in the ground tomorrow.

yerv orl obviosly got two much toim on yer hans n' shood gett bak two werk...

Frankly I quite enjoy reading posts with spelling and grammar errors. Gives me a hint as to who the posters are. Sick of dealing with academic and office types all my life and happy to listen to the views of those who place more emphasis on getting their information across than, worrying about whether the spelling etc. is ok. Would hate to discourage anyone from posting because they had spent more time doing things than worrying about dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

I probably do not notice the spelling errors, however I do find some grammar errors mildly irritating, but if the meaning is clear then it not so important. Thank heavens for spell checker.
The problem occurs when the meaning of the sentence is hard to decipher such as when No is used when Know should be used, or when Break / Brake and I’m not sure if he broke it or is referring to the brakes.
Diesel is one of the common words misspelt in the motor industry
A search for deisel disel diesil found 839 matching threads in this forum.

I prefer someone answering a forum question with knowledge regardless of spelling than someone answering who hasn’t got a clue of what he is talking about. One example was a bloke answering a elec question and he did not know enough to connect the batteries in parallel and not in series when talking about 12 v.

Cheers
Peter B

ohhh, i forgot its Friday ! lol

If we kept spelling and speaking the same, old english would still be the go. Change is always happening and always will, spelling/grammer/manners they all change.

Look at me I came down from my tree. Some crawled and learnt to walk and some still crawl, I see it every day

Doug,
As a teacher who completed her degree as a mature age student (47) by the time i finished my degree. I would like to comment that before you pass judgement on other people it might be an idea to walk a mile in another person's shoes. Most people who find spelling difficult are only too aware of their situation and are very self conscious about writing anything down for other people to scrutinize. So if we are to benefit from their knowledge regarding subjects we might need to observe our own failings as we are all not experts on ever subject. As my father who was a very intelligent man who could work out the super feet in a tree just by looking at it and the best bush mechanic around would say " the more you learn the more you realise you have left to learn"

I just hope none of your family or anyone you know have to suffer the frustration of finding spelling difficult as it has such an impact on their self esteem.
Barb
If there are any mistakes in this post sorry if it offends but I see the anguish on the students' faces when they are ridiculed for poor spelling when it is beyond their control

Having travelled a small part of our wonderful country, and meeting other travellers, it has been my experience that they are not all over 40 years of age, white, well educated, born and bred Aussies.
I am pretty sure much a fair amount of the poor spelling and punctuation is from people where English is not their first language, and instead of criticising their efforts, maybe you should be congratulating them on their efforts to at least be understood.
The rest is from people who may just have different priorities to you, and don't really give a rats butt if you like their typing skills.
Imagine if you were broken down on a remote section of dirt, and the mechanic who came to you had a typo on his signwriting. Would you tell him to pizzorf and get educated, or swallow your pride and accept his help?
The difference in speaking a language , and being able to write it in the correct context is not easy, especially in English, which has so many words sounding alike, with differing meanings, and lets face it, Spell checker ain't foolproof.
If a badly spelt word is the worst thing I encounter in my life, I would be happy.
Cheers
Ian

We've all got pet hates Doug. Honestly but, at the end of the day, they're all pretty bloody petty.

I agree, that in some circumstances, poor spelling is inexcusable. ie a job application etc. But on a web forum, who really gives a toss? Why don't you find something more worthwhile to waste your energy on?

It's obviously not as important to some as it is to you. Build a bridge - and get over it!

Cheers,
Scoey.

The day is nearly done....here in the East, it's amazing to see how how serious some of you get about such trivial little issues, just take a look at all the replies over basicly 1 little duel ...or is it Jewel, All in the fun of the day, thanks all.

Doug

I never cease to be amazed at how 'schools these days' are responsible for all of the poor grammar in the world.

How many posters here left school within the last, say ten years??

Twenty??

It's also amazing how 'those young people' who use S.M.S. and M.S.N. are responsible for the downfall of our great, yet bastardised, language. Again, how many of 'those young people' are regular posters on this fine forum??

I'm a school teacher, my class has daily spelling and grammar activities, I have students who go to remedial groups for spelling. Should I call their attempts a failure, or should I encourage their relative success??

To suggest that 'schools nowadays' don't teach spelling or value grammar only confirms that you have no idea what is going on in the classroom!

Being able to communicate your ideas is the key, pleasing a spelling cop is considerably less important.

>


(and no, I have not quoted, hence my use of ' rather than " )

Pretty much since the internet became international (late 80s iirc) it has been a respected convention that one does not criticise the spelling or grammar of others.

A significant reason for this is that one often has no idea whether English is the first language of the person posting.

Another good reason is that it’s damn rude.

Not everyone had the benefit of a comprehensive education, not everyone is intelligent enough or has the type of memory/brain which enables them to retain the nuances of a language as complex as English – simply because a person is a poor speller or their understanding of the grammatical structure of English is less than perfect does not make them any less valuable, sensitive, helpful, kind or worthwhile as an individual than anyone else and to highlight areas which may embarrass them on a medium where they have no choice but to use the written word is crass, to say the least.

Mike Harding

mike_harding@fastmail.fm

It's one of my pet hates. Biggest is the morons who leave the 'h' off of verandah. It's got a bloody h on the end of it just like the good Indian's spelt it. Not some slack yankism that drops the h so we get veranda. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I think that a forum like this is much more conversationalist and I am a supporter of the view that getting the message across is more important than proper spelling, punctuation and grammar.

I spend my working days writing business reports and emails where I have to display a highly professional level of competency with the English language and it is nice to come home and use the forum in a slightly more relaxed manner.

While it is a step above the instant messaging and SMS where just about anything goes, I for one don't look that critically at what is posted on here.

What I expect to see on here is similar to what I would expect around a campfire (maybe slightly cleaner!). Honest chat about issues related to 4WDs and associated equipment, travelling around Australia, and where the hell that Pesky Flag got to this week!

Cheers
Muddy

I agree with Norm C & Muddy. Forums are a conversation not a university English examination, so can be colloquial, typed quickly and contain errors of grammar and spelling. I prefer to talk to you on the forum than think "that was a well written essay". This opinion from me, who used to send the newsletters back to the school with yellow highlighter through the errors. Keep talking forumates; i won't judge you on your typing, spelling or grammar skills.

Now don't be too hard on people Doug & Dusty. I will reveal that I have been a teacher for 40 years though work more with computers now than actually teaching. In the seventies the Education Dept in Qld at least had the brilliant idea no doubt imported from the U.S. that kids would learn to spell by some sort of osmosis. Actual spelling rules would not need to be taught. You know, "i before e except ... etc". This was about the same time teaching phonics in reading went out the window.
Of course older teachers became closet spelling and phonics teachers so all was not lost.
Consequently we had a generation of kids who never really learnt to spell, and some of them ended up being teachers, so what would they know about teaching spelling?
Thankfully sanity has returned to a large part.
As for dual and duel, phased and fazed etc, I can handle it in the forum where I have no knowledge of the educational opportunities of my fellows, but to see these kinds of errors by professional writers in newspapers really grates.
One last point is that it is far more difficult to pick up typos on a computer screen than if you printed out the page and read it.

I'll get off my bike now, it's time for my pill.
Cheers

28 replies and 38 responses...now 29 replies - very good!

"... as to what country your from..."
maybe
"... as to which country you're from..."

Nonetheless, I agree!