Literacy

[SideLabel]

I've been a member on this forum since around September of last year (plus or minus a month or two), and sadly enough, I really do not like this forum. It is not that I don't like the topics of discussion, well, most of them anyway. What puts me off is the level of illiteracy here. Nothing disinterests me more than seeing "wat do u think of this?" in the topic title line. It looks like something a two year old would write. I can go on and give hundreds of examples, but that is not the point. The point is, what do you think about this illiteracy going around?

Personally, I think it is a sad business. Students in Europe write better English than students at the same age in America. How the hell does this happen? I can not fathom how a person who has grown up with the language cannot manage to spell simple words like "trailer", "you", "without", "cancer", etc.

So, what is your opinions?

[itachi_]

I agree, but I don't bitch about that, let them writhe however they want too, as long as it's readable.

[Mut]

well, i have no problem with it. nowadays, people just don't care about grammar or spelling because of the spell check feature (even though we don't have one here). people are just either lazy or stupid. maybe both. but you shouldn't let that get to you. just brush it off =D

[JusDaMan]

im jus lazy cuz i dun feel lyke wryting alot. itz alot EZier 2 rite lyke dis cuz der isnt as much to rite.

In anycase i dont give a dam as long as its readable Lol. I am 1 of them who write like that. well not really but similar. almost all important doctors in america write like chicken scratch. Cause i heard a roomer that the more chicken scratch the doctor writes the better he is. Just look at it! ah well.

back to the subject. as long as people can read this it dont matter Lol.

[SK]

LOL, this is truely ridiculous in my opinion. For one why would how someone writes on the internet upset you so much? Then, you bring up that European students can write better English than students in America? Where do you get off on saying that? Do you know every student in America and every student in Europe and can actually say, "Yes every 10 year old in Europe writes better English than every 10 year old in America." To me that sounds like you are very nitpicky about online lingo. If I'm talking to my friends online I'll say wat instead of what, or prolly instead of probably. It's shorter and easier, and if you can understand them, then I don't see a problem.

[Assertn]

being able to communicate instantaneously with lots of people by means of typing is to blame. I write differently when im chatting on AIM or on message boards than say, when im writing a term paper or anything that requires a more formal level of conversation. In the forums though, i just speak whats on my mind, and alot of times my train of thought shifts even as i type, so sometimes my grammer gets a little sketchy in some places because of it. But stuff like "wtf" and "lol" for example is just shorthand recreated by a new generation for a new method of communication

[Lego]

Im on the internet a lot. Since i live in south florida, it lets me connect to the world. Through out my life on the internet, ive learned l33t sp34k and other things.

When i used to be in highschool i caught myself going U instead of you and various other things.

Im no sticklar for online grammer, hell i don't even put a period after everything i type. The people i can't stand are the ones that seem to have nothing better to do then correct your grammar in chat rooms and such:

Bob:Man there going to the ball game
Stu[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]MFG IT R THEIR YOU DOBJAJ!

Stuff like that bothers me.

Ive yet to meet someone who talks like that in real life. Well aside from the owned and stuff. Ive said owned after stuff so have friends.

Hell, i love to read, not most books mind you.

What people don't realize, in chatrooms,on website for games and stuff, you probably read a books worth each day.

[hiddenpookie]

Stop whining. No one is going write perfect for you. and for your comfort. so get used to it. SO what about europe and there kids write better?

[Swallow Your Soul]

As long as it is readable I don't see a problem...if it is confusing to read then it might be annoying but that is quite rare.

Personally I think something I do a lot would be much more annoying (the way I constantly do this '...') [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Lego]

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[r3n]

i use shorthand terms like "u" etc cos im lazy. some ppl are jst bad at spelling cos english may not be their first language. im jst glad the forum isnt in swedish [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

and with regards to ppl who's second language is english speaking it betr than some of those who have grown up with it - my best friend is from austria and moved to scotland 2 years ago, he arrived with no english and within 2 years managed to get a better grade in his finals in english than 3/4 of the rest of scotland sitting the same exam [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. then again scottish ppl are naturally retarded at english [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

[Swallow Your Soul]

I think it probably works from people getting lazier with their writing (also things like AIM don't help [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img])...I know that whenever I did German at school I never made any spelling mistakes as they were taught much more formally...wheras sometimes I now find I misspell the occasional word...sometimes because I see so many different spellings on the web (ie when other people misspell a word), and also situations where American spelling is different from English spelling and I eventually get confused as to which is which [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]. Over time, my spelling has degraded slightly, and I imagine it is the same for a lot of other people...

[complich8]

I know a lot of people IRL, and I've found that the base level at which you do most of your communication tends to be the level on which people classify you.

In other words, if your speech (in your native language) is riddled with flaws and general bad formulations of the language, you're probably an idiot.

My roommate is observing this phenomenon in mmorpg's and fps games as well, and has noticed the same trend. People who tend not to know the difference between their and they're and there, or people who speak in constant abbreviations and with massive misspellings everywhere... they tend to require more instruction to get to the same level. Generally the people who can write clearly can also read and understand instructions, and have better grasps of game strategy and mechanics as a result, where people who can't tend to do stupid things like rolling off cliffs or bumrushing dragons without armor, and they're just generally not as fun to play with because of their failure to grasp nuances of the game.

My roommate's theory is that he can give anyone with terrible grammar and spelling a 3 month headstart playing any game (be it fps or rpg) and he'll be a better player of that game within a month. So far this has held completely true.

I think there's too much acceptance of people not knowing their own language. Language is the framework for human thought and understanding, and if the frame of your house is weak, your house will be weak.

[Rek]

wow... that's pretty funny... and if he goes thru psychology... he has a thesis statement...

[shadowmantis]

Originally posted by: SideLabel

So, what is your opinions?

*are

i have no beef with punctuation, but using 'shortcuts' can tick me off. i use some, myself, though. like 'omg', 'wtf' and 'lol'. but i try to moderate it. i absolutely hate it when people mix up 'your' with 'you are'. a lot of stuff pisses me off on irc and forums. but it's not worth it, because.. well.. it doesn't really matter.

[SK]

It's strange to me that other ppl's (or people's) grammar will piss you off, especially if you can understand what theyre saying. If I'm talking in a game such as an MMORPG or on AIM I always use lingo, it's just easier and faster. I know a lot of people, including myself, who have the worst grammar in chat rooms, and on AIM, or on online games but in real life never really talk or write like that. If you heard me talk you would never think I take AP English, but to me it doesn't matter how you talk or how your grammar is online, because most people aren't dumb enough to write that on a paper.

[complich8]

at the same time, if you let yourself live mainly in a lower level, the higher one becomes rusty, difficult and awkward to use. Keep your knife sharp and clean, and you'll have a sharp clean knife. Let your knife rust and dull and you'll have a scrap of metal.

I don't really have a problem with people using abbreviations or shortcuts or jargon terms (when my roommate said "let's go run crates" to his brother who was visiting for the weekend, I know he's suggesting "Let's go and try to kill as many crate dragons as possible for loot and to kill the time" -- but there's a big difference between using community specific language and not having the general language skills to correctly use jargon to begin with.

I think the thing that irritates me personally more than anything is when people are too lazy to bother reading what people have written before. A quick scan of #animeone's recent chat will clearly demonstrate that every 20 minutes someone asks something along the lines of "no naruto 78 this week?" and "did naruto 78 air" -- and when you look in the naruto section you'll see the epitome of this. TWO threads, both locked. One was started one hour after the other was locked. WHY did the original poster of the second thread not look for the first thread before he posted? SHEER IDIOCY. that's why. The thread would have been in the top 4 or 5 active topics, even though it was locked.

It's not actually "Illiteracy" (the inability to read) but "aliteracy" (lack of willingness to read or to learn). If you can read along with the subs fast enough to keep up, you're not illiterate, but aliterate is probably worse. People believe the old saying "ignorance is bliss" and so choose to live their lives clueless, not trying to learn or grasp situations. This fundamendal desire not to think is a problem, and is the biggest enemy of modern science -- why think, why learn when you can get someone else to do it for you, or just muddle through halfassed without getting anything from what you do.

[Mut]

Originally posted by: complich8
at the same time, if you let yourself live mainly in a lower level, the higher one becomes rusty, difficult and awkward to use. Keep your knife sharp and clean, and you'll have a sharp clean knife. Let your knife rust and dull and you'll have a scrap of metal.

I don't really have a problem with people using abbreviations or shortcuts or jargon terms (when my roommate said "let's go run crates" to his brother who was visiting for the weekend, I know he's suggesting "Let's go and try to kill as many crate dragons as possible for loot and to kill the time" -- but there's a big difference between using community specific language and not having the general language skills to correctly use jargon to begin with.

I think the thing that irritates me personally more than anything is when people are too lazy to bother reading what people have written before. A quick scan of #animeone's recent chat will clearly demonstrate that every 20 minutes someone asks something along the lines of "no naruto 78 this week?" and "did naruto 78 air" -- and when you look in the naruto section you'll see the epitome of this. TWO threads, both locked. One was started one hour after the other was locked. WHY did the original poster of the second thread not look for the first thread before he posted? SHEER IDIOCY. that's why. The thread would have been in the top 4 or 5 active topics, even though it was locked.

It's not actually "Illiteracy" (the inability to read) but "aliteracy" (lack of willingness to read or to learn). If you can read along with the subs fast enough to keep up, you're not illiterate, but aliterate is probably worse. People believe the old saying "ignorance is bliss" and so choose to live their lives clueless, not trying to learn or grasp situations. This fundamendal desire not to think is a problem, and is the biggest enemy of modern science -- why think, why learn when you can get someone else to do it for you, or just muddle through halfassed without getting anything from what you do.

WORD.

[bitwar]

I for one have problems typing in online shorthand (or whatever the hell you want to call it). It takes more time to think to type "OMG" than it does to just put "oh my God." It doesn't bother me so much that people will do things like this in an online forum, but when I see this lazy approach to written communication leak into their English papers (in college no less) I get more than a little upset. I had to do a joint paper with a partner who, I discovered, didn't quite have the college level grasp of grammar I expected. She typed the paper based on our rough draft because she typed faster than I, and I didn't check the paper because I got severely ill. When we got the paper back I found that our grade was marked down because she used "by" in place of "buy." I've learned not to trust people to have a good grasp of English, except for my girlfriend (English major) who is constantly correcting me.

What really annoys me on forums is when people posts something that takes me more time to read than it should because I have to figure out where their sentences are supposed to end and what all the abbreviations are supposed to represent. Being casual in forums like this is one thing, but being stupid is another. I don't go back through and check my spelling or otherwise treat each post as an English paper. I do make sure that what I said makes some kind of sense and that my grammar is solid enough for people to understand me.

Oh and about not reading what's already been posted, I believe I saw a third episode 78 thread. Baka.

[Uzumaki Naruto]

we type like that bc its takes to long to type in the whole thing, so we shorten it by typing as some ppls would say Ghetto, u shuold give it a try u might like it, plus alot of us here chat on aim and if u chat on aim then u would do the same thing we are doing