Do
They Still Teach Grammar or Spelling in Schools These Days?
Not
that it would make much of a difference, in all seriousness. The people who sat with me in English
classes from elementary school through high school didn’t pay much attention
when they had the chance. And I’m not talking about text-speak. Everyone gets a pass on misspellings there;
we’re abbreviating, I get that.
I’m
really not a grammar nazi, but I’m embarrassed by my own friends’ misspellings.
Before
I really get rolling, I’ll admit that my own grammar is not perfect. I end sentences with prepositions, misspell
common words, and use too many commas.
I’m not talking perfection, I’m talking about knowing the difference
between “they’re, there, and their.”
Now
that 50% of Americans have Facebook accounts, almost all of us have had a
chance to see how our friends spell. I
don’t know about you, but most of my friends can’t. A few of them are great at it, sadly most of the
ones who are fluent in English are also English teachers.
Here’s
a partial list of the worst things I see, daily:
For
the love of God, there is no D in the word congratulations!
Learn
when to use “me” or “I” in a sentence, and when to use an apostrophe. It’s not that hard.
Know
the differences between ~ they’re, there, and their ~ you’re and your ~ to,
too, and two ~ then and than ~ know and no ~ awe and awww! ~ hear and here ~ buy,
bye, and by ~ break and brake ~ loose
and lose ~ peek and peak ~ You get the idea, I could do this for days.
Does
ANYONE remember: “i before e, except after c” ?
It’s
AWESOME, not AWSOME.
And
while we’re talking about awesome things, let’s talk about the overuse of the
words AWESOME and AMAZING. I hear them
everywhere, describing every imaginable thing in the world. People sure have been awed and amazed at the
most boring of things! Please, people,
find more adjectives. Here’s a word for you:
THESAURUS. Please get one.
These
days, we have to be concerned about potential employers asking for our Facebook
passwords. Everyone’s worried that
they’ll find some old college pictures of us, drunkenly hanging off of our
dreadlock-wearing, unwashed ex-boyfriend, playing beer pong and wearing bad
80’s fashion. Maybe you should be more
concerned about your spelling and grammar in the “About Me” sections. Just a thought.
