Spelling and Grammar

euronorris

Fly_Baby wrote: »

Do you regard "obtuse" as a compliment then?

No. It is neither.

It was merely an observation on your reactions. It was not a 'name'.

If anything, it was an insult. But name calling? Certainly not.

Fly_Baby

euronorris wrote: »

Firstly, not everybody made patronising comments. I only posted my first comment, on this thread, this morning.

I pointed out that the OP did not offer any constructive criticism or solutions, because, in your opinion they should have done. But they didn't.

Therefore, the OP is also at fault.

Starting a thread with 'If teachers are so good and worth their pay, why can nobody spell nowadays and why is English grammar taught so badly?' is very antagonistic to anyone on the forum who is a teacher or a friend/relative of a teacher. Especially, when the person criticising them is, certainly, no better.

I am not saying that OP was right to start a thread in such a tone. But no teacher or a friend/relative of a teacher bothered to prove him/her wrong.

Absinthe_Fairy

Fly_Baby wrote: »

I am not saying that OP was right to start a thread in such a tone. But no teacher or a friend/relative of a teacher bothered to prove him/her wrong.

For what it's worth, my dad's a teacher (or used to be, before he retired).

I read the thread last night, but I'd had a few glasses of wine and didn't trust myself not to have a go at the OP, so didn't post!

euronorris

Fly_Baby wrote: »

I am not saying that OP was right to start a thread in such a tone. But no teacher or a friend/relative of a teacher bothered to prove him/her wrong.

Nor did the OP bother to offer any constructive criticism or solutions.

It is therefore unfair of you to complain about those who responded, without also including the OP in your complaint. Otherwise, you are essentially saying that is OK for the OP to be wrong, but no one else.

Fly_Baby

euronorris wrote: »

No. It is neither.

It was merely an observation on your reactions. It was not a 'name'.

If anything, it was an insult. But name calling? Certainly not.

I do not think that such "observations" are acceptable towards people on public forums. Or is that something that teachers and schools overlooked as well as English spelling and grammar?

Fly_Baby

euronorris wrote: »

Nor did the OP bother to offer any constructive criticism or solutions.

It is therefore unfair of you to complain about those who responded, without also including the OP in your complaint. Otherwise, you are essentially saying that is OK for the OP to be wrong, but no one else.

Jesus! What is there to compain about? All I asked for is for correct version of the original post - since there seem to be so many knowledgeable people here. But everyone responding to my message, apart from Absinthe Fairy, felt that it was OK for them to say that OP's post was incorrect without saying what was incorrect about it.

That I find difficult to understand. If you've spotted a mistake and said so in your post - then reveal the mistake. If you said that there is a mistake but wouldn't say what it is - how much such observation is worth then?

euronorris

Fly_Baby wrote: »

I do not think that such "observations" are acceptable towards people on public forums. Or is that something that teachers and schools overlooked as well as English spelling and grammar?

Firstly, whilst good manners are taught in some schools, it is not compulsory and unfortunately, non existant in some.

However, it is irrelevant. Unless someone is specifically calling you names or purposely trying to upset you, then they should be free to comment how they please. This is, however, another area with divided opinion. If you are that upset by the comment, then perhaps you should ask Rupee to explain exactly what they meant and why they said it. I don't have the answers.

Secondly, English spelling and grammar is taught in schools. However, I believe the success of this teaching depends on a variety of factors. Most of which, the teacher cannot control. The child's natural ability, encouragement at home, interest in the subject matter, the school facilities, the school environment, the area etc.

You could have the best teacher in the world, but if the child is unwilling and/or goes back to a disruptive home at the end of each day, then they are unlikely to excel in this area. Even being around other children who do not express themselves well will have an adverse effect.

Teachers cannot work miracles.

Fly_Baby

euronosis, a brilliant post - it should have been a post #2.

bitemebankers

Wow - six pages off posts about speling and gramer.

Quasar

Fly_Baby wrote: »

Jesus! What is there to compain about? All I asked for is for correct version of the original post - since there seem to be so many knowledgeable people here. But everyone responding to my message, apart from Absinthe Fairy, felt that it was OK for them to say that OP's post was incorrect without saying what was incorrect about it.

That I find difficult to understand. If you've spotted a mistake and said so in your post - then reveal the mistake. If you said that there is a mistake but wouldn't say what it is - how much such observation is worth then?

Actually I can see very little wrong with the OP, but here is the pedantic version, lol.

If teachers are so good and worth their pay, why can nobody spell nowadays and why is English grammar taught so badly? It is a fundamental right as an English person to be taught there own language surely?

And here are the "corrections" I would make:

If teachers are so good and worth their pay, why can nobody spell nowadays and why is English grammar taught so badly? It is a fundamental right, for an English person, to be taught their own language, surely?

Some might debate the necessity of the commas I inserted, but that particular type of sentence construction contains a sub-clause and therefore needs to be enclosed in commas.

As I said that is being very pedantic ihmo, and apart from the spelling of "their", I wouldn't really have commented on the post at all.