Don't They Teach English In School Anymore?

[MikeyBikey]

The general level of the King's English these days is appalling be it a letter, email or text message. There appears to be little knowledge of how to lay out a letter, grammar or spelling. Some recent hospital ones have been badly written and made harder to understand by inventing abbreviations. A classic with my foot problems is " Podiatry F/Up" seeing how before this weeks' check, clean up and redressing the previous two had been done incorrectly!

This week I have been in an email exchange with one of the utilities. It started when I received an email from them that I felt was quite disrespectful - the more so as when I went with them two years ago they asked about vulnerabilities deciding I had two "being over retirement age" and "severe mobility issues". I wrote an email complaining about about it. When I got a reply it started "Thank you for reaching out" and finished "Have a bright day" (it was around COB and dark outside). The main part was poorly written! I again emailed back and asked for a second time that they used "Dear Mr. X" and not "Hi Michael" Again it finished "Have a bright day" when it was raining!

We really need to get back to basics as the younger generation usually cannot do mental arithmetic, have little knowledge of written English and appalling general knowledge!

Thank you for reading!

 

[nonethewiser]

Times change we have to accept it, personally don't get hung up on grammer & spelling as long as I can understand communication.

 

[Wendal]

Agree nonethewiser.I am constantly reminded that if something Is outside of your direct control like other folks spelling etc then just disregard it as long as it does not affect you directly ( so communication is understood).
However my wife gets really wound up over poor grammar and is constantly harping on about eroding standards.Whenever I try and say times have changed and text speak and no one writes letters/ bury their heads in computer games rather than reading books I just get a lecture on why I should do more to raise standArs.
I reply I am not the Education Secretary and then dodge the cushion as it flys in my direction

 

[Satan’s little helper]

“Have a bright day” as a sign off. Puts me in mind certain fiction where the population of a remote village setting greet each other & strangers like the protagonist. Think “the Wicker man” or “Children of the stones?”

“Happy day.” 😉

 

[Drummer]

I feel that I missed some sort of announcement introducing the term 'watching on' as a replacement for looking on.
It seems to have begun a couple of years ago, but is now heard quite frequently.

 

[Eddy Edson]

On the other hand, youth these days are *much* better at TikToks than I am.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

On the other hand, youth these days are *much* better at TikToks than I am.

Yes some of those clock faces can be quite difficult to interpret. Especially the roman numeral ones.

Wait, what? Tiktok is a what? 😱

 

[Satan’s little helper]

Yes some of those clock faces can be quite difficult to interpret. Especially the roman numeral ones.

Wait, what? Tiktok is a what? 😱

Depends if you were taught Latin. 😉

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Depends if you were taught Latin. 😉

Quad erat demonstrandum.

 

[rebrascora]

Quad erat demonstrandum.

I hate to mention it Mike but I am assuming that was a deliberate spelling mistake, just to keep the thread relevant! 😉

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

And to show I never studied Latin! QED.

 

[rebrascora]

I had to give up Latin to study physics in the 3rd year as the timetable clashed and physics went better with chemistry and biology.

 

[Chris Hobson]

"...don't get hung up on grammer & spelling as long as I can understand communication."

Clear communication often requires correct grammar and spelling. Some communications are so poorly written that it is not possible to discern the meaning. For example stationary and stationery are two entirely different things.

Formal versus informal is a slightly different issue, whether you open with "Dear Mr. Smith" or "Hi John" depends on a number of factors.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Clear communication often requires correct grammar and spelling.

“Let’s eat, Grandma!”
vs
”Lets eat Grandma!”

and

“We invited a pair of cantankerous baboons, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson”
vs
”We invited a pair of cantankerous baboons, Donald Trump, and Boris Johnson”
(were there two or four invitees..?)

 

[Sharron1]

My fav generation thing is uni students who are unable to understand an analogue clock face because they have grown up with digital watches etc. I didn't believe this when I first heard it, but after talking with students, I now believe it. Sigh.

 

[silentsquirrel]

My fav generation thing is uni students who are unable to understand an analogue clock face because they have grown up with digital watches etc. I didn't believe this when I first heard it, but after talking with students, I now believe it. Sigh.

Consultants in neurology and geriatrics will need to change the diagnostic tool of drawing a clock face!

 

[Leadinglights]

Spell checkers don't do people too many favours either in learning how to spell.

 

[rebrascora]

Using web sites which use American spelling doesn't help either! I am frequently caught doubting myself when this site underlines my words in red. I feel like a naughty schoolgirl getting my homework wrong. 🙄 Worse still, I am starting to adopt some American spellings simply because I get corrected so often, I am no longer sure which is correct! Maybe it is possible to change to to British English and I would be obliged if someone can tell me how to do it. In the meantime you will have to excuse me if I throw out the occasional American spelling. I am certainly very conscious that my own English isn't perfect, so I think it is unreasonable to criticize others. "Let those without sin, cast the first stone" as it suggests in the bible. I do however get frustrated when I can't make out what on earth someone is trying to say.

 

[trophywench]

There was me immediately amused by the first spelling error I noticed when someone had said they'd ceased to get wound up about such things - clearly not! thought I - that I entirely missed the very slight mis-spelling of the Latin since I automatically read it the way it really is spelled, which honestly I do know cos it was just one of the many bits of info picked up along the way of early Latin lessons at senior school. One of my failed O levels, which really didn't come as a surprise to me. My own fault for saying I'd rather 'do' languages than 'science' or the only other choice was shorthand, typing and economics which people of MY daughter's intelligence will NEVER EVER need since clearly she'll get a career where minions do those things for her. Hence I didn't opt for that option! Yes mom - and how much have I later regretted not learning to touch type when I was at school ..... I also failed O level German, since German grammar follows no easy rules, but is relatively simple to speak it badly once you learn the pronunciation (and can remember the word you need) by 'swallowing' the differential word endings depending on whether it's the subjective or objective in a sentence. At least it doesn't use the ablative ..... or is it that German does but Latin doesn't. Don't care any more!

 

[freesia]

Spell checkers don't do people too many favours either in learning how to spell.

I was waiting at the reception desk in the doctors last year. There was a trainee on the desk sitting next to one of the receptionists. The trainee asked the receptionist how to spell "tongue"!! When the receptionist told him, he said he always uses spell checker so he doesn't have to think about things like correct spelling.