How come Americans are so bad at spelling and grammar?

I think we should beat up on them Dutchmen for a while . . .

The Awful German Language, by Samuel Clemens.

(Calling Germans Dutchmen--that should really set her ott!)

OK, so don't care. Maybe I should just give up. It's sad to see how the society keeps lowering its standards and deteriorating, though.

Yes, I can and I will.

The American education system is very good at developing creativity and innovation in addition to the skills that we need to produce technology and culture. Robots on Mars, cell phones, smart phones, the internet were all developed by products of the American education system.

You seem to have a very critical view of Americans in general. I am very happy to have my American kids going to school here.

By the way, my American kids are bilingual and my youngest goes to a bilingual public school.

Just because those words are pronounced the same way, doesn't mean there is an excuse for not being able to distinguish them. Do you even know what each of those words means? If you do, you will use it properly in a sentence.

I believe you are deeply wrong in this opinion. If we are "lowering" our standards then what are we lowering it from? Would you like to name a time in history where we had a better literacy rate or rate of educational attainment?

We cannot talk about European education against American education.
There are so many different countreis within Europe and all of them have a different educational system.
I do not know if you know Pisa, but here is a link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment

It is rather clear that Finland is the country where the students have the best results.

Deteriorating? This is why i say you are snotty and xenophobic--that was some pretty harsh, judgmental crap there.

Maybe we should send you down to the Carolina Outer Banks, see if you can understand people who are speaking a 400 year old Elizabethan dialect:



Or maybe take her up to Maine . . . wicked pissah!

Actually, there, their, and they're are homophone words. It is my opinion that the brain and your fingers type or hand write those words faster than you are actively thinking about them. Mostly you don't actively think about them. I have known how to use the words for decades but still goof up since when I type fast it sounds correct to my mental ears as I am rushing off to type the rest of a paragraph.

I have caught myself on ridiculous grammar mistakes sometime later and I make those for a similar reason, that probably back in childhood I had mixups on some grammar matters and and some early but incorrect form is showing up in fast typing. It's mildly embarrassing but I don't really care.

I agree with others that communication is what matters. If you are writing a science paper for publication, of course you want it letter perfect, aside from wanting the science to be well worked in the first place.

I've studied five languages, never - except for english - to the level of speaking them very well. I've always enjoy the grammar of those languages, despite not being a swifty at remembering all of it when I speak, or attempt to speak. I've greatly enjoyed whatever literature I've read using what I've learned. Never mind literature, I've enjoyed trying to read newspapers.

Saab, I think, knows several languages fairly well.

So, Finland is very good at taking standardized tests. Where has that gotten them?\

Really? I've not noticed.

While I'm arguing with you about reprimanding saab, I'm agreeing with you on this post.

I have no time to read all of that right now, but we don't speak German in The Netherlands, we speak Dutch.

Good for you. I know American education is good when it comes to technology and science, but when it comes to history, geography, language, literature, culture, arts etc., it fails miserably compared to the European.

Ah, that's it, isn't it? You are amused at the careless, stupid, arrogant Americans.

Yes, I can see how it can happen when you're typing fast, but using the wrong word consistently, and even in handwritten texts, just means you don't know the difference.

I knew you wouldn't get the reference to Dutchmen. So, in Holland, do they teach you about the prominence of the Dutch in the slave in the 17th and 18th centuries? So they teach you how the Dutch took over the islands now known as Indonesia? The Swedes had an empire oncet't . . . but it was mostly in Germany. Of course, they had a colony in North America, but the Dutch stole it from them.

What does this even mean?

In an American public school, I read literature, learned history, was exposed to language and culture and arts. My history education in high school was especially good because it focused on critical thinking and analysis rather than on dates and events. My kids had a similar experience. I can't compare it to anything in Europe because I have no experience with Europe. But public schools in America (at least those in affluent communities) have very good programs in these areas.

The American education system has a very big problem dealing with poverty. We don't give a good education to students in poorer communities. But this is a different topic than your wholesale assault on American education.

I think you are simply wrong.

I don't think I ever used the word "stupid". Why are you all being so defensive about this?

So? We were a powerful country back then. It was a turbulent time. What does that have to do with my topic?

In other nations of the world, students who don't meet a certain standard don't even qualify for college-preparatory high schools. Standard testing of high school students often pits the entire spectrum of American students against the elite of other countries. Jeeze, i wonder why they keep coming here looking for a career?