How come Americans are so bad at spelling and grammar?

Terrific, Gabrielle, that's your entitlement; where I find fault with you is your criticism directly aimed at Americans. But hey, there are many tiresome nitpicker among us, and life would be exceedingly boring as without them.

This concludes my exchange with you. Have a happy Sunday.

What does this "virtual" person tell you, the" virtual" responder, about her "virtual" self in this "virtual" world?

How does one rid onself of this so-called ( by you the "virtual" responder)
"virtual" sensitivity?

Much ado about nothing "virtual" "Moment-in-time"...

When you say "unable to grasp them", you are implying lack of intelligence., perhaps another reason you are getting such a emotional response. The reality is that they are unwilling to grasp them because some people do not feel they add value. I'm more in your camp in that I feel that grammar does add value by allowing the reader or listener to quickly digest what is being communicated but not everyone sees that value and some of the small issues you mention do not hinder communication at all. We all only have so much emotional energy to spend. Are you sure this is where you want to spend yours?

Just a warning about Internet chat boards: You are going to get flamed - frequently. A2K is better than most in my opinion, but if getting called a jerk is going to hurt your feelings you aren't going to be happy on an Internet discussion board. I've been called much worse for far sillier reasons. That said, I hope you look around A2K and find topics of interest. As someone interested in language you might like helping the numerous ESL students who stop by looking for assistance.

It was aimed at Americans because that's where I live and what I'm exposed to. Thank you very much, you have a nice day too.

Unable or unwilling, same thing. Well, it's your language, do with it whatever you want.

not at all

Well, not literally. Actually, I think not caring is worse than not being able to understand.

Agreed - and very different concepts.

Why?

Can you explain the infield fly rule?

No, I can't. I don't know much about baseball. It's perfectly OK to not care about that if you're not interested in it, but it's not OK to not care about using your own language properly.

It is obvious from all you've said, starting with the thread title.

I'd have to agree, but as someone who learned English as a second language, the rules of spelling and grammar were totally unfathomable to a ten year old.

Just as in England , there was a time in the US when speech and education(spelling and grammar) defined socioeconomic classes but this is no longer true.

What is true, and where you struck a nerve, is that American education is slipping in world-wide rankings and this poses a real problem for our society in the future

Whereas in Holland , more resources are expended in low-income schools, in the US the opposite is true. Since public education funding is primarily a function of property taxes we see a growing disparity in the quality of general education that mirrors a growing economic disparity in our society.

We're in an era of austerity so this inequality will only grow worse.

One final point. The internet is a place where you can insult people without remorse. Don't take it personal. You've brought up a good discussion here.

I disagree, and I think it is a bit presumptuous for you to tell other people what they should care about. If someone can live a full, productive and happy life without giving a crap about grammar, then what does it matter?

There are people who are inventing technology, curing diseases, starting companies, raising children who don't care about the difference between there and their.

Panzade,

I agree with you completely that the disparity in schools in economic lines is a real problem in the US. This has long been a problem, and over time has actually been getting better. Look at the data on school attendance rates and literacy rates over the past 100 years if you doubt that.

I disagree completely that US has been slipping in any way.

First of all, what we are measuring is the ability to take standardized tests. This is not actually a very valuable skill in a working world that offers very few standardized tests.

Secondly, even assuming the the tests have any validity to what it means to live a fulfilling and productive life, the scores are slanted by the way the tests are sampled.

But the real point is that people, like you, have been frantically warning about the failing state of the American education system since at least the 1960's.

Yet since that time, products of the American education system have been to the moon, sent robots to mars, invented the internet, taken over world culture with music and movies.

For all the hand-wringing and belly-aching, the American education system has performed remarkably well over the past 50 years.

Thank you, I appreciate your support

What you mean we Kemosabe?
I certainly haven't been warning the general public, but I was paraphrasing recent studies about America's standing in the world's education rankings, in which we disagree. The OECD based in Paris conducts numeracy, literacy and science tests in 47 countries and I believe their rankings reflect the general worsening in American education

Many of our accomplishments in science and technology are due to foreign students who settle here.(Werner Von Braun the father of space travel was literally kidnapped after the war.)

I agree with you that American influence in culture and art are not a by-product of the quality of American education



Perhaps so, but I maintain that if the income disparity of our society continues to grow, the next fifty years won't be as palatable.

you just beat me to this one

Believe me. That don't happen too often.

Nearly all of our accomplishments are due to furriners who settle here.