Punctuation

margaretclare

The_Poet wrote: »

Notisis, congratulations on being perfect!

There is a word that has always flummoxed me and that is "sanctimonious", can you please confirm that I have spelt it correctly?

Yes, you have.

margaretclare

As an aside I do know an English teacher (primary school) who cannot spell and is hopeless with grammar - I'm still wondering how she qualified.

I would wonder that too!

For many years it has been a requirement for a teacher in any subject to have a GCSE pass in English and Maths. I remember this very well, because in 1982 when I applied to do the PGCE (Adults) course, 200 of us candidates were told that we needed this - even prospective teachers in technical and vocational subjects. A man stood at the front and told us that 'if we hadn't these certificates we should have to take a further exam'. Shock horror from some of the candidates around me. He added with what seemed like glee 'that is, of course, unless you have a degree which includes statistics'. He obviously thought the probability of this was so small as to be dismissable. Out of those 200 candidates I had a degree which included statistics, although I hadn't achieved GCSE Maths (in fact I achieved it in very recent years).

Filey

Lots of interest in punctuation. I was pleased to see how so many people can get quite passionate about it.

Back to my granddaughter. Can anyone suggest any on line places for punctuation practice worksheets or games please.

Hermia

Filey wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their input on my granddaughter's punctuation and related replies. She did learn it at primary school and they seemed more concerned about it then than now in year 7 at secondary school.

I am in my early 30s and the exact same thing happened to me. Punctuation was not mentioned at all in English lessons at secondary school. The teacher told us it was because letting the child express themselves is more important. Even at the age of 11 I thought this didn't make any sense as surely it's easier to express yourself if you can write in a way that everyone understands!

Oldernotwiser

margaretclare wrote: »

I would wonder that too!

For many years it has been a requirement for a teacher in any subject to have a GCSE pass in English and Maths. .

This is still a requirement but the standard of GCSE is so appallingly low these days that even having a decent grade is no guarantee of a decent standard of literacy (or numeracy for that matter!).

Newly_retired

I have just recently bought my granddaughter a book to help her with her punctuation. She is five and loves to write. I agree that it is more important, at that age, to encourage fluency in writing, but her teacher is, quite rightly, also starting to teach punctuation.
The book came from Morrisons ( sic ). Actually, it is two books in one, as one cover says "Where do you use capital letters?" and the other "Can you write silly stories?" You can start from either end.
She is loving it.

Spirit_2

My DD has just completed a languages degree. Her peers who have taken science and maths degrees have asked her to proof read and correct their grammar for their masters/phd applications!

Newly_retired

Learning French and Latin certainly made me think more about English grammar. But we were well taught at school. I loved English grammar lessons! However, French and Latin are easy in comparison as they follow the rules. English has so many exceptions.

Oldernotwiser

I thought of this thread when reading on the Student Board. If anyone doubts how low standards have sunk (apart from the dreaded textspeak!), I give you this example.

"Me and my bf got first class honours degrees and he took a year and a half to find graduate work (he starts a graduate scheme this September ). The feedback was always that the jobs had gone to more experienced candidates (like what oldernotwiser is saying) so the classification doesn't count for everything."

DVardysShadow

The spelling is perfect. There is only 1 comma missing for minimally correct punctuation. And I can understand it - it is quite clearly written.

Plus it drive a coach and horses through correct grammar. Way to write!!!!