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September 2012 Moms
blindvictory
member
Facebook makes me want to punch a wall.
blindvictory
member
I will make no secret of the fact that I am a grammar Nazi. (Well, actually, more like a spelling Nazi.) I know everyone makes typos on occasion, and that doesn't upset me. But I think it's a serious problem when masses of kids are graduating high school and entering college without understanding what's wrong with "I went to there house" or what the difference is between "then" and "than".
I made a status talking about this issue, specifically mentioning that a lot of people don't know the difference between "peak" and "peek", and a couple other common errors. I got this comment in return. I am copying and pasting this, so this is her EXACT response.
"Some people has problems with grammer and cant help some of there mistake I for one have grammer problems and get confussed on which one to use!!!"
I think a part of me died a little. (Probably brain cells from trying to read that.) Seriously, guys. Am I wrong to think it's ridiculous for adults to not understand this stuff? This woman has graduated high school, has three children, and still composed that sentence in all seriousness. One of my best friends is Dictionary.com. I use that sucker all the time and have the app on my phone to check any word usage that gives me pause. Is it unrealistic to think people should try a little freaking harder?
I think I need to just leave Facebook before my brain melts.
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Re: Facebook makes me want to punch a wall.
Our Baby Boy is due September 8, 2012
Less jail time than punching a person, though.
It bothers me too. Especially in people still in school. They are still turning in papers to teachers who could actually help them! I have a nephew who has horrible grammar/spelling. Homophones mess with him in a huge way. He is super sensitive about people pointing it out though because he honestly doesn't see it and it frustrates him.
I used to volunteer in his 4th grade classroom when he was younger and I did reading circle. I noticed a lot of his classmates had the same issue. After some investigation/asking his teacher, I learned that their first grade teacher was known for teaching reading skills really oddly and not very well. They all seemed to read only the first couple letters of a word and then guess what the word was. Which is also how they wrote. It's like they didn't have a clue that the last letters of a word meant anything! And if you don't use the last half of a word how on earth would you be able to apply grammar to your sentences? Grading their English papers...AHHHH! Wanted to pull my hair out!
I would suspect that my nephew had a learning disorder of some kind if I hadn't seen that the majority of his classmates were struggling with much the same issue. It made it all too clear to me how important wonderful teachers are. That 1st grade teacher sent out (and may still be sending out) rooms full of kids who are still struggling with basic reading comprehension/spelling/grammar because of the foundation they got in that class. And it doesn't help that these same kids now do half their communicating by text message, which makes them that much more oblivious of proper English. Nobody seems to care that he can't communicate in writing. WHY?
It's a sad situation. One that's made me strongly consider homeschooling through at least grade 2-3. If I do enroll DD in school for those early grades and see that something is just not right, I wont hesitate to withdraw her and do that training at home.
I am kind of a grammar Nazi too, I guess--I have my own pet peeves, even though I know I make mistakes too every now and again. I don't usually take the time to mention it to others, though, except for when my husband makes an egregious error in spoken English. As it's not his first language, he takes the corrections pretty well.
What's funny is that I have one SIL who is an American high school graduate, and her facebook texts are pretty much like the one in the OP. I have another SIL (from my husband's family) who has never left her 3rd world home country but is actually the head of the English department at the college where she teaches, and has authored a few books on the subject of English grammar which are used at her school. Naturally, her grammar is impeccable. And my other SIL speaks English so broken that her own family members say she's "breaking the leg" of the English language by speaking it. Honestly, half the time I can't understand her--she omits too many key words and never speaks outside of present tense.
I can't imagine my parents or grandparents making these spelling and grammatical, even punctuation mistakes--how is it that they have become so frequent in our generation?
My two cents...
If there isn't a learning disability involved, my guess is that laziness is to blame...and perhaps not caring enough to use language properly. I'm being a little lenient here but I would think by the time you hit high school, you should not be making those types of errors.
True story... a former friend of mine (who is now a school teacher) has the worst grammar and spelling I have ever seen. I can't even begin to understand how she passed her classes?! And to think, she'll be educating our young... What kind of teacher doesn't know or understand the difference between "then" and "than", and "there" and "their"???? .: shudders :.
I hear you on the grammar mistakes. I have a dear friend who is absolutely horrible at grammar/typing...her emails take me a few minutes to decipher and I think it's just a lack of editing skills on her part. I was taught in 5th grade to read the paper/sentences as they are written not how they are supposed to read. I still do it to this day. When I compose important emails to teachers/superintendents I write it, edit it, walk away for a second then re-read/re-edit it....and even then I still find mistakes (sometimes) after I have sent it and I want to bang my head against a wall. But thankfully its not all the time.
I think now a days, especially in NY the teachers are teaching to pass test and not teaching everyday skills; grammar, punctuation, etc.
This is maybe not the safest thread to admit this, but I really, really can't spell. I graduated college on the Dean's list every semester with a degree in biochemistry but set a spelling test in front of me and I'll be sweating. My brain can hold numerous facts but spelling, not so much. In college, on hand written essay exams I was so embarrassed by it, that I would end up rewriting a whole paragraph to avoid a word I suddenly realized I couldn't spell confidently. With that said, most internet browsers come with spell check. I have a love/hate relationship with that squiggly red line. I'm glad it catches my mistakes but I groan a little every time I realize I thought I knew a word I don't actually know.
So, I guess my point is that people who can't spell don't necessarily have learning disabilities but posting something, despite being warned of your poor spelling, is a bit lazy. (Come on! the correct spelling is just a right click away!)
Tarta--that whole story terrifies me and makes me want to home school, too! I consider myself pretty sh!t at spelling, though it's probably because I have high standards for myself. I look things up all the time if I'm not sure. But I am a bit of a grammar freak. I had some excellent teachers who drilled it into us and I am so grateful for it.
I definitely intend to make sure my kids are learning these things correctly. I will read up on the learning-to-read method the school is using so I can help them practice or supplement if I feel it's crappy.
Ugh, these are the kinds of concerns that make me really apprehensive about being a mom sometimes!
I completely agree with you. Sometimes I catch myself with those simple mistakes and it is embarrassing. I think the issue is laziness and people just don't care enough to make it matter which is almost worse then not knowing how to do it. We should care.
Your post may wake some people up.. like me. So thanks for the post.
I'm also a grammar/spelling Nazi.
A co-worker of mine is an educational advocate for children with learning disabilities and she was telling me that one of the reasons why she thinks people are flourishing in school when they can't differentiate between their/they're/there (and so forth) is because our state does standardized testing and educators put more emphasis on teaching their kids "how to choose the best answers on the SOLs" versus assigning vocab assignments and spelling tests like we used to do when we were kids.
Whether this is true, I don't know, but it kind of makes sense.
Edited to add: I wanted to clarify in case my comments look as though I'm blaming teachers. I'm not. I know that teachers are advised what to do based on the curriculum in their district/county, and I didn't want anyone here who is a teacher to take my comment as offensive. If it does offend you, I am sorry! It's not meant to be an attack on teachers, simply a reflection on how the educational system has changed thanks to the integration of standardized testing.
partial molar pregnancy : bfp 6.28.10, d/c 8.17.10, 7 rounds methotrexate, cleared 7.1.11
alexander patrick : bfp 1.16.12, born 9.20.12 @ 39w1d, 7 lbs./11 oz./22 in.
scarlett irene elizabeth : bfp 5.24.13, born 2.3.14 @ 41w2d, 7 lbs./13 oz./19 in.
I agree that spelling and/or grammar mistakes make me crazy too. That said, I have a brother and a sister who have learning disabilities and both struggle with spelling words correctly. They don't think about checking them online or in word, but I don't think it's laziness. I truly think that they believe they are spelling correctly.
It used to really bother me, but I accept that they aren't great spellers. They excel in other areas of their lives such as: my sister in an EMT training to be a paramedic. She saves peoples' lives every single day. My brother holds a black belt in karate and is putting himself through college even while he struggles with a learning disability.
[MC 11.20.11] [DS born 9.24.12] [DD born 10.15.14]
[MC 11.20.11] [DS born 9.24.12] [DD born 10.15.14]
Should we give her a gold star for using which instead of witch?
Thank you guys for backing me up. The thread is still going on Facebook and if you're FB friends with me, you should check it out. It's getting kind of freaking hilarious, in a pathetic way.
Let me also add that I ABSOLUTELY do not have the same standards for people with learning disabilities. Obviously, if someone struggles with dyslexia, they have a legitimate excuse for not having the greatest spelling or grammar. That doesn't bother me. LAZINESS bothers me.
Sadly, no, it wasn't a joke. She continued on in other comments, spelling everything wrong and it wasn't in jest. She said it hit home when I said those things, which was exactly my point. She refuses to even try (e.g., spelling it "grammer" even though she has seen us all spelling it "grammar" over and over).
Chase Matthew born at 35 weeks on July 31st
OMG that drives me insane too! This is what a FB friend put on the other day and it was so hard not to comment!
"Tyler had his parent teacher confrence this morning. Looks like we're taking him too chuckie cheese on Saturday, too celebrate! Way too go buddy!!!!"
Exactly what I was thinking. Also, FWIW, I learned to pay attention to grammar because its importance was stressed at home. Overworked teachers who are forced to follow mandated curriculums shouldn't shoulder all the blame.
BFP #2 1/22/2012 ~ DS2 & DD ~ BIRTHday 9/13/2012 ~ unplanned C-section @ 38w1d