The Virtual Pub
Come Inside... => Saloon Bar => Topic started by: Snoopy on July 17, 2009, 03:25:06 PM
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As you know I edit and publish the village magazine. Contributions come from all sorts of organisations, the local schools and churches and individuals. I make all contributors the promise that I will not censor their work (within reason) nor will I allow them to make fools of themselves as some have declined to write for us because their English is not good or their spelling is poor. I think it a shame that they are afraid to speak out to fellow residents on matters that they feel strongly about so I am always happy to gently correct the glaring errors and not say anything. By doing this I have encouraged contributions from many who would otherwise have remained silent and I believe this is the right way for me to behave.
However ~ today I received an email contribution from the local school head. He boasts a BSc and MEd.
He starts:
Another highly successful term has come to an end during which the children have been involved in a wide range of activities.
and later says
Our Year 6 have been preparing for their transfer to Prestatyn High School in September. We will miss them next year but wish them every success and happiness for the future.
My quandary is should I edit his opening sentence to read "Another highly successful term, during which the children have been involved in a wide range of activities, has come to an end."
and his later howler to read "Our Year 6 has been preparing for their transfer to Prestatyn High School in September. We will miss them next year but wish them every success and happiness for the future."
OR should I allow his poor grammar to stand and let those few who will spot his glaring errors see how ill fitted he is to teach our children. rubschin:
What would you do?
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Correct it!
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I guess I will have to but at least you can now see why I removed my two boys from his charge. noooo:
His normal style is to start every paragraph with the words "Could I" to which I want to scream "Yes you can but are you going to?" Banghead
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Put his paragraph in unaltered and then yours underneath - then play a spot the difference game whistle:
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Is it a dilemma?
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I would imagine that if you don't correct it, not many people would notice. Sad but true.
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I read it twice redface:
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Correct it.
In the unlikely event that he notices or objects, claim that 'Windows 2009' does those corrections automatically and you are unable to stop it.
I do despair when teachers display these fundamental shortcomings. noooo:
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Is it a dilemma?
No, a Dalai Lama...
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Are they the ones that spit at you?
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Are they the ones that spit at you?
Yes, disgusterous creatures... noooo:
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Is it a dilemma?
No, a Dalai Lama...
No, 1960's Italian TV drama "Dilemma fora Murdera"
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Correct it.
In the unlikely event that he notices or objects, claim that 'Windows 2009' does those corrections automatically and you are unable to stop it.
I do despair when teachers display these fundamental shortcomings. noooo:
What I can't believe is that his spell/grammar checker didn't point it out to him Shrugs:
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Is it a dilemma?
No, a Dalai Lama...
No, 1960's Italian TV drama "Dilemma fora Murdera"
lol: lol: lol:
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Is it a dilemma?
No, a Dalai Lama...
No, 1960's Italian TV drama "Dilemma fora Murdera"
lol: lol: lol:
drumroll: drumroll: drumroll:
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I'd correct the errors.
Being kind maybe his background isn't English but some other subject.
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English is his first language although he can speak Welsh but that is a prerequisite of the job hereabouts.
His subject is Maths (BSc) BUT he is 52 years old so should know better.
I'll correct it and no one but us will know.
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I'd correct the errors.
Being kind maybe his background isn't English but some other subject.
Just so, Mort.
He's probably an MA (Lagos)
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He's probably an MA (Lagos)
eeek:
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I have been talking to my emigrating neighbour. He was having a rant about estate agents. The one who came yesterday (she came to our house first by mistake noooo:) asked him how old the house was. 'About 1720,' he said.
She wrote, 'Victorian' noooo:
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Where is that "Despair" emoticon when you need it. noooo:
Still given history teaching methods these days I suppose we should be grateful she didn't write Roman.
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It's here Snoops, count me in....
(https://www.virtual-pub.com/SMF/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg22.imageshack.us%2Fimg22%2F9541%2F28929641.gif&hash=8e8bb3136dd101d78754b604340ff9f65e6b8583) (http://www.postimage.org/)
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Oh hum! They both seemed ok to me, but I am Welsh and living in Brum
In the great scheme of things does it really matter, did he get his message across?
Do post like this frighten off the guests, those that are afraid their grammar might be questioned?
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Shouldn't that be
Ho Hum
?
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Did it get the message across?
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That you are confused?
Yes! happy088
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I think that is the point GOS ~ Poor use of English in letters from the Headteacher does not inspire confidence.
The problem is that there are many, like me, who cringe at his lax grammar and wonder if this indicates that the school will be content to allow such matters to drift by without correction thus perpetuating the problem for future generations.
For example one of his pupils has been privately coached by Mrs S#2 to enable him to attain a grade 'C' or better in GCSE English. Failure to gain a 'C' at his FOURTH attempt in this very simple examination would have meant that his employers (British Aerospace) would have thrown him off his apprenticeship. Thus far the lad had managed an 'F', an 'E' and another 'E'.
Now his employer's patience had run out and two years into the apprenticeship they were about to throw him overboard ~ to what? Who knows? A labouring job at best or a lifetime on the dole.
The biggest problem we had (yes we both worked with him) was to teach him that there are two sorts of English ~ One you use in conversation and one in which you write. It took months to convince him that whilst he might get away with saying "I wouldn't of" he must write "I would not have". He simply could or would not see the difference. BTW when writing "I wouldn't of" he actually wrote "I wooden of".
Now this is something that the school should have sorted out years ago but they had failed the boy all the way. For his entire school career not one teacher had bothered to correct this basic problem. Twelve wasted years then. The upside of my tale is that he did get a 'C' grade and his job was saved.
It is not just Nick, DS or me that minds ~ it is the people who employ them that really care about these things but under "modern" teaching methods "it doesn't matter as long as the child is allowed to express himself". Red ink must not be used to mark or correct written work.
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Wot he said
I was talking to a woman last night who was an A level examiner. She once taught a load of kids (aged 18) about the correct use of apostrophes (possession and contraction). ONe was off to Oxford. After that class the gerl said, 'Why has no one ever explained this to me before?'
Banghead Banghead
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Do post like this frighten off the guests, those that are afraid their grammar might be questioned?
I do hope not. redface:
Certainly I never say anything out of malice and you will note that I usually spare members who might think it was done out of snobbery.
I reserve my comments for those who should, and probably do, know better and probably just made a typographical error or used poor construction which can be used to comic effect.
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Everyone then evil:
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Another of MrsS#2's students was a lovely lass who was struggling in her first year at Uni. The problem was that the tutors were returning her essays with comments such as "This is GCSE standard" and "You are at university now". She came to us during her summer vacation absolutely baffled as to what they wanted from her. "I got A*s in my 'A' levels she wailed but nothing I do seems right.
Basic problem was that although she had done well at school no-one had taken the trouble to teach her how to learn. Schools today teach, they do not expect anyone to learn (I speak generally and there are some notable exceptions). The object is to teach the children how to pass the exams. Mrs S#2 simply had to show the student how to learn and then how to demonstrate that learning in her essays. So NO MORE "I think that". Set out your proposition in the opening paragraph, argue your case for and against in the next paragraphs and conclude by drawing all the arguments together to prove your case. Quote your sources (at least six but preferable eight) for any "facts" right at the end and Robert instantly becomes a close male relative.
The lass went back to uni a happier and wiser scholar and last we heard had gained a creditable 2:1.
The funny bit about it all was that she was studying English Literature (your subject Nick) in Berkshire. It gave me much merriment to meet someone who was "Reading reading at Reading" ~ but the kid never saw the joke. noooo:
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Despair noooo:
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At the end of the day did the reader undertand what the writer intended? I did.
I am always worried that I will make the most terrible grammatical error (yes I know I am) when posting or responding to a post on this forum. It can be a bit scary in here at times epecially when there are so many sharks circling.
Surely language has to evolve?
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At the end of the day did the reader undertand what the writer intended? I did.
I am always worried that I will make the most terrible grammatical error (yes I know I am) when posting or responding to a post on this forum. It can be a bit scary in here at times epecially when there are so many sharks circling.
Surely language has to evolve?
We need a band GOS... whistle:
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ug
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At the end of the day did the reader undertand what the writer intended? I did.
I am always worried that I will make the most terrible grammatical error (yes I know I am) when posting or responding to a post on this forum. It can be a bit scary in here at times epecially when there are so many sharks circling.
Surely language has to evolve?
You have nothing to fear ~ the discussion was about standards in schools.
We here are a bunch of people with a loose common bond. I like to think of us as friends or at least regulars in a village pub who can take the mickey, joke, have a laugh ~ all with no animosity. I do not feel that way about those who set themselves up as teachers, earn somewhere in excess of £45k per annum and get it so patently wrong. (Yes Wenchy ~ I know Mr Wench does not earn that much but he is not a headteacher.)
Those here joke and laugh about their schooling (and lack of it) with no hard feelings. We ALL make typing errors and in the heat of the moment, when a thought strikes and we want to communicate it, we make mistakes in our grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling et al AND IT DOESN'T MATTER because that is how it would be in the pub.
What we have here is conversation and that is a far cry from the formal communication that I was speaking about. Frankly the p*ss taking and venom here is much less than on most sites I have seen. Why else do others refer to us as "The Knitting Circle"?
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Quite so Snoops. Quandary sharing is best done between friends. cloud9:
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See also: dilemmas
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See also: dilemmas
Shouldn't the plural be Dilesemma?
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8151641.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8151641.stm)
7/7 angel1
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I too got 7/7 and I didn't do latin I was put off the subject by a rather overbearing girl who went by the name of Clittoriss or some such, she was really scary. scared2:
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I too got 7/7 and I didn't do latin I was put off the subject by a rather overbearing girl who went by the name of Clittoriss or some such, she was really scary. scared2:
eeek:
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She was Roman I expect. They have odd names noooo:
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I was living pretty close to Hadrian's wall at the time, I went to the Duchess of Northumberland Grammar School, don't you know....
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Did she ply you with salt?
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Now you're just showing off ::)
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Hoo?
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Yooooo
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I am sure you could also get 7
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Did she ply you with salt?
Who the Duchess or Clittoriss? Neither as I seem to recall although there is a rather nasty practice of salt packing in some Islamic societies I believe. scared2:
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Wot is this shit!
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Wot is this shit!
I lost the plot ages agao... something about salt and a clitoris I think... Shrugs:
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Wot is this shit!
I lost the plot ages agao... something about salt and a clitoris I think... Shrugs:
I expect you often regret you didn't pay attention in History classes. noooo:
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Wot is this shit!
I lost the plot ages agao... something about salt and a clitoris I think... Shrugs:
I expect you often regret you didn't pay attention in History classes. noooo:
And Geography... especially geography... redface: