Finally, a return to grammatical sanity
October 17th 2008 04:59
The continuing torture of the English language by school students is about to end.
The Fed Govt (Oz division) has decided to reinstate grammar, punctuation and spelling as a school subject. Thank the lords of letters!!!!!
Anyone born after 1973 in Australia is unable to string a sentence together - including me. This was when learnin to writ proper waz striked out of the klassrum, replaicd boi a more emotshunal methud of learn-n. Apparently, if wasn't good for the mind to have to limit oneself to following pesky rules - like sensical sentence structure - when pouring one's heart out on paper in a creative reflection of the human spirit. No, that just wouldn't do to those hippies in education academia land.
The result was that the entire Generation X and now most of Y can't become newspaper subeditors (without intensive retraining and strict adherence to a style guide). Nay, most Baby Boomer subs lament the shocking standards of young journo's work - and for very good reason. If it wasn't for the ubiquitous red and green wobbly lines under misspelt words thanks to Bill Gates, newspapers would be littered with literals, spoiled with misspells and downright impossible to read.
That’s the whole point of grammar and spelling and punctuation – to aid understanding by providing a stable, common platform on which formal communication can be built. It’s why I can email someone who lives in London and be understood; how I can converse freely with a Thai man who learned English via correspondence; why my mother understands me perfectly when I make a snide, sarcastic remark about a family friend with bad breath and wandering hands.
A lack of language rules is the reason why there are so many dialects in other language sets. Italian – someone from Naples has trouble understanding a Veronese. China has thousands of dialects, and dialects within dialects.
English has hard and fast rules which have thus far prevented dialect seepage. That’s why, with a little help of a time machine, I could warn Captain Cook about the Great Barrier Reef and the perils of sharp coral and he would understand me.
So, roll on the lords of language. Create future generation of elegant English entanglers. Let them teach we poor souls trapped by our lacklustre largesse with lingo how to talk proper and writ well.
Amen
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Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
That is definitely the root of the problem.
It was only recently I realised why I can't get a job as a journalist. I'm overqualified.
Comment by Damo
It is tragic that the last few decade have steered students away from the importance of clear and concise writing to something resembles a sales pitch.
f7 on Word can fix most mistakes in spelling and grammar but they cannot hide messy thinking.
So I agree, I hope that they do tighten up the grammar in schools. Also the ability to read and comprehend.
This is not just for those who want to be journalists. Everyone needs these basic skills.
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
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boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
Comment by sandeye
Bird Story
San Francisco Music News
Yoga Tap
Comment by Mister Smith
MRS SMITH
READ THIS
SISTERS IN CRIME
Judging by the number of spelling/punctuation errors that appear in major newspapers, a sloppy approach to grammar has become acceptable.
Comment by Wynona Lavota
Generation Y Life
I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to be sitting in my university Spanish class, reading the textbook's explanation of a Spnaish phrase being 'present progressive' or using a 'genitive' and thinking wtf?
Comment by Wynona Lavota
Generation Y Life
Comment by bumpkin
Surviving Rural Life
Living Rural
Comment by The Compassionate Cynic
You are hilarious and often astute. Would you like to trade links? Check out my site and if you deem it a-literate work let me know.
Really Long Link
Cheers, and thanks for the good blogging.
Comment by Amanda 3
I had to be entirely retrained in grammar et al when I began my meteoric rise in newspapers (cough cough). I still can't spell. I haven't got a clue where to start, because I was never taught the mechanics of working it out... It's a way of thinking, rather than winning spelling bees! I so agree with Damo - get the thinking right and the rest will follow.
And Mister Smith - absolutely it is acceptable to most people. But recently I printed the wrong spelling in a major headline (yes, it was my fault - I am a churnalist after all, it seems) and man did I cop it from elderly women verbally bashing me over the phone. Ow, that hurt - a lot. But how the hell am I supposed to know it is wrong when I can't even grasp the concept of correct spelling and so there cannot tell that it is a mistake. It's like using the dictionary - how do you look something up if you can't spell it?
Comment by Amanda 3
I'd love to trade links ... if I knew what that meant?
Comment by The Compassionate Cynic
trade links, like... I link to your site you link to mine kind of thing
i notice you don't have a blogroll thingummy; this can be used to link to your favourite blogs and is great for increasing traffic - well, according to Jon it is
Really Long Link
I'm about to set one of these up myself.