My brilliant PHD in Microbiology son simply can’t spell. He would never have made it through college without a Franklin Spellchecker. His problem is that he tries to spell as if English were regular and logical. For example, “most” should be spelled “moast” like roast and toast. Not “most” like lost and cost. I taught English as a second language for sixteen years. I’ve seen students reduced to tears by “ough” which can be pronounced five different ways: tough, cough, plough, through, and dough.
My real life excuse for my atrocious spelling is that I have an engineering degree, we engineers tend to be extremely poor spellers. The only reason I have relatively few misspellings online is that most forums come with spell check.
Part of the reason behind so many different ways of pronouncing certain spellings, is because not all of these words originated from the same language. The “English” language is a melting pot of words gathered from multiple languages, and very often the rules of grammar, spelling, & pronunciation came along with them.
Some of the most prominent bad English spelling I see tends to come from certain people who vigorously proclaim their pride for being American, and in often threatening terms demand that certain other people (such as immigrants or foreigners in general) speak/write English, orelse! That said, English is my second language, and I see the same tendency in Norwegian as well, though they of course demand that people speak/write Norwegian, or else, not English. Thus apparently an individual’s amount of pride in being of a certain nationality and speaking the corresponding language, is inversely proportional to that same individual’s ability to speak or write that same language properly. Funny old world.
Does anyone know of a site where i can read daily comics in German or French? Or is the wealth of comics we have here just a North American phenomenon?
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member about 7 years ago
I predict that she will have very little trouble with her male students.
Kristiaan about 7 years ago
And if it’s not your first or only language, there’s no excuse for incorrect spelling either.
Doctor Toon about 7 years ago
I spend some time cruising the webcomic sites and see a lot of work by people from other countries
In their profiles, many of them explain that English is not their native language and beg forgiveness for errors
For the most part, the American teenagers on those sites don’t bother apologizing for their atrocious spelling and grammar
1MadHat Premium Member about 7 years ago
It was in memory of a teacher who looked like that that I got an unabridged dictionary.
sbwertz about 7 years ago
My brilliant PHD in Microbiology son simply can’t spell. He would never have made it through college without a Franklin Spellchecker. His problem is that he tries to spell as if English were regular and logical. For example, “most” should be spelled “moast” like roast and toast. Not “most” like lost and cost. I taught English as a second language for sixteen years. I’ve seen students reduced to tears by “ough” which can be pronounced five different ways: tough, cough, plough, through, and dough.
Darwinskeeper about 7 years ago
My real life excuse for my atrocious spelling is that I have an engineering degree, we engineers tend to be extremely poor spellers. The only reason I have relatively few misspellings online is that most forums come with spell check.
AtypicalReader about 7 years ago
Part of the reason behind so many different ways of pronouncing certain spellings, is because not all of these words originated from the same language. The “English” language is a melting pot of words gathered from multiple languages, and very often the rules of grammar, spelling, & pronunciation came along with them.
mggreen about 7 years ago
I foresee a flood of young male hormones . . .
Number Three about 7 years ago
It amazes me how many adults are unable to spell. No, I’m not Miss Perfect before anyone says.
But I haev alawys bean grate at speling!
Haha.
xxx
ottod Premium Member about 7 years ago
If your proud that English is you’re only language, you should try to avoid some of the most obvious grammar errors.
inshadowz about 7 years ago
Some of the most prominent bad English spelling I see tends to come from certain people who vigorously proclaim their pride for being American, and in often threatening terms demand that certain other people (such as immigrants or foreigners in general) speak/write English, or else! That said, English is my second language, and I see the same tendency in Norwegian as well, though they of course demand that people speak/write Norwegian, or else, not English. Thus apparently an individual’s amount of pride in being of a certain nationality and speaking the corresponding language, is inversely proportional to that same individual’s ability to speak or write that same language properly. Funny old world.
ValancyCarmody Premium Member about 7 years ago
Teacher should be fired: should be “proud of its being”.
Bill Löhr Premium Member almost 7 years ago
Does anyone know of a site where i can read daily comics in German or French? Or is the wealth of comics we have here just a North American phenomenon?