Poor English, spelling and grammar.

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There is no excuse for someone, who has progressed past the 5th grade, even in the worst of our public schools, to use and abuse the written language with the use of the following;

there for their
there or their for they're
are for our
your for you're
were for we're
to for too or two or ...any combination
supposably for supposedly
site for cite or sight or ...again, any combination

Porky, you omitted the worst one of all:

"I would of not gone to that campsite", instead of would've or would have.
 
Hey i just ran across this thread today. Hope no one is keeping track of my spelling, grammar and such. I am old enough to talk how i want and type as well. You can read it or ignore it.
Rest assured i won't judge any of you.

Happy trails!
 
Come on folks...spelling, capitalization, and grammar really count.  It makes a difference with regard to the impression you make on other folks in today's real-time on-line internet world.   

I use a spell checker, just in case, and re-read my posts immediately AFTER they are posted in order to do my best in having each post stated correctly, to check a URL I might have included, and/or to make sure any photos I included are there and are retrievable.

JerryF
 
If someone "judges" me based on my spelling, grammar or capitalization as opposed to the content - what I actually have to say - then I feel sorry for them.
 
People are judged on the language they use, including grammar, when writing as well as speaking.
 
Absolutely. The ability to write and speak clearly is crucial in our relations with others. Minor grammar and punctuation errors are not worth getting upset about but run on sentences without capitalization or breaks are. That indicates carelessness, lack of education or both. I am with JerArdra, I proof read and attempt to clean up errors before I hit Post. Sometimes I miss and need to edit.
 
if the grammar bothers some. maybe they need to start there own forum and leave us ignorant to ourselves . seems most are able to communicate and understand each other just fine.
 
Hey Gals and Guys, the problem is that there is to much marginal or downright incorrect info on the internet plus scams.  This makes the wording of a post along with the spelling, capitalization, and grammar the only thing available to judge the author of the post unless you know that person personally or you have read many posts by this person and his or her posts are always "spot on" and well written, such as are Gary Brink's posts.

On the other hand, with face-to-face discussions, besides the message itself, you also have eye contact, innuendos, voice inflection, body language, stumbling over words, where the person breaks sentences, drifting from the topic in mid-discussion, your own "gut level" intuition about the person delivering the message, and maybe a constant "well this is what I mean" or "you know."  Without these extra face-to-face judgments what else can a reader use to judge the written words and correctness of a message on the internet?

JerryF

 
In my earlier post I mentioned that I re read my post after it is posted but I did not say why.  When working, Ardra and I published numerous books and many papers for professional journals and we found that re reading what you have just written on a computer screen does not work well for proofreading.  You miss or read over the same mistakes.  You need to see your work in a different format.

We found that the absolute best most accurate proofreading is accomplished by printing the document and reading/proofing it that way.  I realize that this is NOT possible timewise for posting messages on the forum but I did find a better way. 

The better way, on the RV Forum, is to spell check it and quickly read it once more and post it.  Then  carefully re read it in it's posted format, new font, and new background colors.  This way it looks a little different than the way it looked in its format as you were writing it.  You will see things that you missed so fix them and re post.

JerryF
 
It is better to not speak and be thought ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

That statement could be applied to those with happy fingers.

I do not expect you to have a PhD in English lit to post here. But I am afraid I have a visual filter that keeps me from taking you seriously if you refuse to even attempt to construct your thoughts with reasonable grammar.

I happily forgive bad spelling, and some poor punctuation, but please at least TRY to form your thoughts before you commit them to the keyboard.

And if you cannot afford a SHIFT key to capitalize, I have a box full.
 
I am reading this post and am thinking that people who may not have education or good writing skills should not be posting on this forum or are at least considering not posting for fear..Wh not? Well, because they will be judged!  I may have missed something but I didn't see it in the rules that people must have exemplary spelling and grammar skills before being able to post.  Just my thoughts..
 
They could possibly use this forum and others as a practice board to improve those skills. I do not believe anyone is attempting to be exclusive or elitist, most are merely encouraging clear, concise messages.
 
Ye folkes who be judging others should take a looke at your owne postings. Ye may be surprised to see a few errors  ;)

I may have missed something but I didn't see it in the rules that people must have exemplary spelling and grammar skills before being able to post.

I must have missed it too. In fact, we've always had an unwritten "don't critique spelling" rule here.

I couldn't type if my life depended on it, and I have a tough time spotting my typos. But typos in other folks' writing jump off the page at me, which used to drive colleagues in the workplace crazy. To Jerry's point, the only way I'm able to critique my own writing is to go away and come back to read it as if it was someone else's work.

Grammar is a different subject. Having taught post graduates and folks who didn't graduate from high school (in the same class), I'm not sure I can correlate good grammar and composition with level of education.

Having worked with countless folks from other countries where English is not their first language, I have nothing but admiration for their mastering of one of the most difficult languages to learn (English). However, for many of these folks, some things in our language don't exist in theirs. A simple example would be the possessive, as in "Tom's chair"; In many other languages, including my mother tongue, the " 's " doesn't exist. It would be translated as "the chair of Tom". So, when these folks attempt to speak it "correctly" in English, it becomes "Tom chair". Folks with little patience or understanding would translate this into a form of illiteracy.

I've tried learning numerous other languages and, quite honestly, I flunked every one of them.
 
While I make mistakes in both languages, I'm sad and ashamed to say that I am better in English than in my mother tongue, French.  That's what happens after working for 20 years in English only.  Still only speak French at home, but I very rarely write in French.
 
Similar story here Marc. All education from grammar school on was in English, and almost 40 years in the corporate world was predominantly English speaking. My few remaining Welsh-speaking relatives are 6,000 miles away, so I don't get to practice very often.
 
Having lived and worked in Thailand for 6 years where broken English was common, Sometimes I find myself going back to those days. Taught High School and Adult Auto Mech and found myself sometimes coming down to their level. Anyhow, my thoughts are not always in perfect grammar or spelling and my fingers are too big for the keyboard besides I am retired and don't care what others think so that's the way you get it. Besides I live now where another language has taken over and they think you should learn their language. Let's get along and ignore the differences.
 
I know in my case some times the speil clunker picks a wrong word and I don't catch it.

I also know several keys, including the space bar, on this keyboard are...Reluctant.

I have plans on replacing the keyboard,, Eventually.  But cost is a factor.

And sometimes... the right hand gets ahead of the left or the other way around.

I also tend to forget/ignore punctuation.
 
'Broken English' in the spoken word never bothered me in all the years I traveled to and through Asia. Maybe I just tuned it out, or maybe I was just glad to not have to converse in their language. I was always impressed with the standard of English among the Thai engineers and managers I dealt with.
 

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