How come Americans are so bad at spelling and grammar?

@Gabrielle72,

Gab I feel much the same way. Examples proliferate in today's paper, even in AP stories where "both victims were laying in the driveway, "literally" is used to mean "figuratively," "a historic" sounds funny, "thankfully" replaces "fortunately," and we read of "undo delay," ad infinitum

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@Miller,

Miller wrote:

Recent studies in childhood education have now indicated that children who grow up in homes, where the parents are educated and use a fairly extensive vocabulary, will have significantly higher IQ values than children who do not have this exposure to a rich and extenisve vocabulary.

Quite possibly, educated parents have higher IQs themselves. There may be a genetic component to a child's IQ.

Thus the correlation is between IQ and vocabulary.

Thus, the correlation is between IQ and genetics?

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@dalehileman,

Quote:

Examples proliferate in today's paper, even in AP stories where "both victims were laying in the driveway, "literally" is used to mean "figuratively," "a historic" sounds funny, "thankfully" replaces "fortunately," and we read of "undo delay,"

All examples, Dale, that long ago were shown to be bogus. But that's how these language "problems" go on and on. One linguist has called them 'zombie rules' because no matter how many times they are killed, they rise again.

Americans are so bad at grammar because they have been so long subjected to these zombie rules. And very little else in the way of sensible rules.

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It's the American spirit of independence. "Screw grammar!"

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@Logicus,

Quote:

It's the American spirit of independence. "Screw grammar!"

We got rid of the Queen and the Queen's English.

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@maxdancona,

And in it's stead, we have instituted the fine dialect of this glorious English language with the carefully crafted tones of American English. "Yo, dawg! Wassup? Me got some issues at mah place, so I gotta bunk wath you, toonight."

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@Logicus,

How do you think your English would sound to Americans (or Brits) from 100 years ago? Language belongs to the people who use it, and we can change it however we like.

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@Logicus,

Quote:

It's the American spirit of independence. "Screw grammar!"

It's not quite like that, L.

Americans' performance in English is as grammatical as any other English speakers on the planet.

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@JTT,

Quote:

And knowing the rules of grammar would make no difference to their language abilities just as knowing the physiology of breathing would make no difference to one's ability to breathe.

I don't think these can actually be compared. Breathing is a natural process; no one has to teach you how to breathe. Language, however, is not. If you understand the rules, if you know the word roots, prefixes, suffixes, etymology of the words etc., you will be much less likely to make mistakes. I know a person who can't spell "business"; if only she understood it comes from "busy", the problem would be solved.

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@Gabrielle72,

Gabrielle72 wrote:

I know a person who can't spell "business"; if only she understood it comes from "busy", the problem would be solved.

... and if you speak a foreign language like Dutch or German, you would know that it has the same root as bezoek respectively Besuch Wink

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@Walter Hinteler,

Precisely

Hehe

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@Walter Hinteler,

...and besök (swedish) besög (Danish)

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@JTT,

Quote:

Americans are so bad at grammar because they have been so long subjected to these zombie rules.

I presume JTT that you make reference to rules my examples show to be broken; but come on now JTT, you surely don't approve "literally" assuming the same me meaning as "figuratively" or "undo" for "undue"

Quote:

And very little else in the way of sensible rules.

Out of plain curiosity I wonder you might divulge a few such

Or do I plain misunderstand, and you agree that my examples are actually pretty flagrant

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@Gabrielle72,

Quote:

Breathing is a natural process; no one has to teach you how to breathe. Language, however, is not.

There is a notion that adults teach children how to speak, that adults teach children grammar but it's simply not true, Gabrielle. When you look at how exceedingly complicated the rules of grammar are, and how terribly incompetent the vast majority of adults, [even professors of English], are at grammar, it's silly to think that these people are teaching their kids the grammar of English.

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@JTT,

Well, at least they teach them to some extent. Maybe no one can learn all of the complicated rules, but some things certainly help. Another good example: I've noticed that too many people misspell "definitely" as "definately". You will never make that mistake if you know that the root of that word is "finite".

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@Gabrielle72,

Quote:

Well, at least they teach them to some extent.

They do do that. Learning the artificial aspects of language - writing and reading - is not something that comes easily to everyone.

Quote:

Maybe no one can learn all of the complicated rules,

But that's just the point. Everyone does learn all the complicated rules, the myriad nuances of grammar. And the surprising thing, no, the shocking thing, is that by age five children have learned virtually all the grammar structure of their language.

Not everyone learns to read and write but everyone learns to speak.

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@JTT,

True, everyone learns to speak. (Well not everyone; people with hearing and/or speech impairment don't.) The point is, people learn to speak the way they hear the language spoken by other people around them. That's not necessarily correct. Only by learning grammar they learn to speak and write correctly. I understand that native and non-native speakers learn the language in different ways, but some mistakes could easily be avoided.

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@Gabrielle72,

Gabrielle, I believe the answer to your question is the very issue that troubles most of the USA today. The educational system here is slipping quickly, from subjects such as language and arts to those of science and technology. There are quite a few reasons for this. 1. America (when I say America I am referring to the USA) puts too much monetary emphasis on higher education, and not enough on elementary education. This creates a negative situation in which students are not prepared for the grueling work of college. 2. Teachers here are not as valued as they should be. They receive low pay, and thus the only incentive they have is to inspire children. Which wouldn't be so bad, except for when it conflicts with reason 3. 3. Teachers are not given enough power to inspire children to learn. Instead they must follow strict, and more often than not illogical, nationwide standards. These standards do not test student motivation or interest, but rather only test their intellect. 4. Education is increasingly becoming a commodity that fewer and fewer students can afford. 5. Due to America's Go! Go! Go! attitude, parents have fewer opportunities to teach their children at home.
Those are just a few of the reasons, in my opinion. I know you aren't trying to sound condescending. It is a genuinely depressing issue happening in America, my country, and it needs to be stopped.

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@IvoryLatte,

Can't argue with that

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@Gabrielle72,

Gabrielle72 wrote:

True, everyone learns to speak. (Well not everyone; people with hearing and/or speech impairment don't.) The point is, people learn to speak the way they hear the language spoken by other people around them. That's not necessarily correct. Only by learning grammar they learn to speak and write correctly. I understand that native and non-native speakers learn the language in different ways, but some mistakes could easily be avoided.

Ooh! I predict that you're about to get a blistering lecture about that from JTT. Descriptive vs. prescriptive grammar and all that, don't y'know.

1 Reply

How come Americans are so bad at spelling and grammar?

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