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Both of my kids were taught to spell using the "creative" method for K-1st grade. The real theory of invented spelling is to correct mistakes starting in 2nd grade. At that time, they had weekly spelling lists thorough 6th grade. One of my daughters is a great speller, the other is terrible. The bad speller is left-handed and a bit dyslexic, but so is her father and he is a good speller. I won the weekly spelling bees at school. Go figure.
As far as the grammar/spelling police, I can't download the CD spell-checker on my computer, for some reason. So I make the occasional typo and an occasional spelling error. When I'm tired, and wearing my contacts, it's worse. I think it's good to bear with the other posters, they may be having similar problems.
I have a great spell checker - I use mozilla firefox browser instead of internet explorer. It points out every single misspelled word and gives you the correct spelling. For frequently spelled words that it detects as misspelled, like names, you can add them to your personal dictionary so they won't continue to come up as misspelled. Firefox web browser | Faster, more secure, & customizable
Hum, a professional letter from my office will be proofed several times. Correspondence from myself to personal friends well be gleaned for grammar.............An anonymous posting to a web blog...........I dont so much as give a hoot............skeeter...............
I play spelling/grammar police occasionally. I do it usually to put someone in his place. Someone, for example, who posts extremely judgmental comments but doesn't even spell his words correctly. By calling such a person out, I sort of say, "Hey, clean up your own backyard before you judge other people."
I personally don't think your friend's gross lack of command of the English language is anything to take lightly. Not only will she be judged for it but she's also missing out on the fulfillment that an artful grasp of language can bring. Instead of defending your friend for resting on her laurels and trying to convince us that language isn't important, you should encourage her to use her clearly capable intellect to improve her language skills and thus, her life. I wouldn't be proud of my daughter if she couldn't form a coherent sentence, no matter how much money she made.
A self made millionaire has better things to do and think about besides grammar and spelling.
And a self-made millionaire can also be pretty stupid and not very well-read, as the email shows. The reason spelling matters is that it's easy to tell apart people who read from people who don't. People who read a lot know how basic words like "except" are spelled. People who don't like to look at books without pictures generally spell based on the way words sound, and end up making the same kind of mistakes as in the email. Maybe the OP's friend does have a pHd, but she writes at a grade-school level. If I received an email from her with those kind of misspellings, I wouldn't care what diploma mill gave her a phd - I'd know I was dealing with a fairly unintelligent, poorly read person and I'd move on.
Fanny Flagg, the author of Fried Green Tomatoes, can't spell either. But that shouldn't, nor does it, subtract from her true genius. And, I agree with several of the other posters in regards to the grammar police, and the intent behind their policing.
There just so happens to be a fellow on CD (a self-professed novelist) who loves to belittle anyone who dares to cross him. And he does this by picking apart their grammar, and their sentence structure. The ironic thing about it is that by his having done so, (and also relating stories that he is a great guy) he really just gave proof positve of the truly insensitive, phoney bologna philanthropist, pseudo-Christian, belittling bastard he really was and is.
Gag me with a golden pen!
Last edited by Truly Heartless; 01-09-2009 at 01:06 PM..
I agree it can be rude for people to correct others, regardless of whether it's about grammar, spelling, or something else. And I'd agree that picking apart someone's grammar isn't a very effective method of attacking the substance of someone's argument.
Flagg can't spell because she is dyslexic, not because she can't be bothered to learn how to spell words correctly.
I agree it can be rude for people to correct others, regardless of whether it's about grammar, spelling, or something else. And I'd agree that picking apart someone's grammar isn't a very effective method of attacking the substance of someone's argument.
Flagg can't spell because she is dyslexic, not because she can't be bothered to learn how to spell words correctly.
That would explain the OP's pal. Many people aren't diagnosed until later in life (Cher, etc.).
There's also a differency between spelling a word wrong (writing definately instead of definitely, for example), or making a typographical error (teh instead of the) and using the wrong word (their instead of there, except instead of accept, etc). An occasional lapse is not a huge deal, but when it's a regular thing, and coupled with a lack of punctuation, the non-use of capital letters, and blatant grammatical errors, it does tend to scream "uneducated!"
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) who loves to belittle anyone who dares to cross him. And he does this by picking apart their grammar, and their sentence structure. The ironic thing about it is that by his having done so, (and also relating stories that he is a great guy) he really just gave proof positve of the truly insensitive, phoney bologna philanthropist, pseudo-Christian, belittling bastard he really was and is.
