Enough With The Grammar Lessons

[RakJungTorlae]

ok ok me sorry jing jing na ja. Me no dum

Devastation, Obliteration Are all to the point of Exacerbation, Decimation, Disintegration Now beyond the point of imagination, there’s no explanation my situation. So why does this shit keep happening to me?

[intumult]

I am fairly new at this forum business so maybe this is a common phenomena, but what is the obsession here with the English grammar and spelling lessons? I saw this one topic about where to get good coffee so I clicked it and there was like 2 postings about coffee and the next 87 or so were about people's spelling errors and grammar and such. By the time I was finished reading all this crap, not only did I not know where to get good coffee, but I no longer wanted coffee at all, and by now needed a pint of vodka or maybe some valium. Then just to see if it was maybe coffee drinkers who were all anal retentive, I read some other random topics and it was more of the same. I mean this is n ot even an English speaking country. Is it because there are so many English teachers here that there is this obsession? There is apparently a murder contract out on me now because I failed to leave a space after the period in a sentence.

If I really wish to learn to improve my grammar I will go back to school. I bet there are other people who feel the same way. Does it make people feel superior to correct someone elses grammatical error? Do these people just sit home in front of their computer looking for mistakes so they can say,'Look how smart I am. This other idiot didn't know enough to put a semi-colon in that sentence.Now I have humiliated the idiot and at the same time showed the world my superior intellect.Hooray for me!"

And just to give these people something to live for I will make sure to make as many speling and grammerical errers as posibul from now onn.

1) very sensible. Especially tonight as I am Mao.

2) Yes, very superior. But they are no better than you and I. As far as I am concerned. we are all no better than the rest. Some may have more dosh - sorry, English perfectionists - money, but that does not make them any better than the rest of us.

3) Give 'em he_l.

4) Oops! I am feeling radical tonight / this morning

[elkangorito]

ok ok me sorry jing jing na ja. Me no dum

Devastation, Obliteration Are all to the point of Exacerbation, Decimation, Disintegration Now beyond the point of imagination, there's no explanation my situation. So why does this shit keep happening to me?

My corrections in blue.

Devastation and obliteration are all to the point of exacerbation. Decimation and disintegration are now beyond the point of imagination. There's no explanation my situation so why does this shit keep happening to me?

Edited July 27, 2008 by elkangorito

[elkangorito]

I am fairly new at this forum business so maybe this is a common phenomena, but what is the obsession here with the English grammar and spelling lessons? I saw this one topic about where to get good coffee so I clicked it and there was like 2 postings about coffee and the next 87 or so were about people's spelling errors and grammar and such. By the time I was finished reading all this crap, not only did I not know where to get good coffee, but I no longer wanted coffee at all, and by now needed a pint of vodka or maybe some valium. Then just to see if it was maybe coffee drinkers who were all anal retentive, I read some other random topics and it was more of the same. I mean this is n ot even an English speaking country. Is it because there are so many English teachers here that there is this obsession? There is apparently a murder contract out on me now because I failed to leave a space after the period in a sentence.

If I really wish to learn to improve my grammar I will go back to school. I bet there are other people who feel the same way. Does it make people feel superior to correct someone elses grammatical error? Do these people just sit home in front of their computer looking for mistakes so they can say,'Look how smart I am. This other idiot didn't know enough to put a semi-colon in that sentence.Now I have humiliated the idiot and at the same time showed the world my superior intellect.Hooray for me!"

And just to give these people something to live for I will make sure to make as many speling and grammerical errers as posibul from now onn.

1) very sensible. Especially tonight as I am Mao.

2) Yes, very superior. But they are no better than you and I. As far as I am concerned. we are all no better than the rest. Some may have more dosh - sorry, English perfectionists - money, but that does not make them any better than the rest of us.

3) Give 'em he_l.

4) Oops! I am feeling radical tonight / this morning

No problem with your reply whatsoever. You are perfectly understandable. The gripe that "we" have is more about not understanding some posts. Also, it is really not very good for a so called native English speaker to write in such a way that is not easily understandable.

[RakJungTorlae]

ok ok me sorry jing jing na ja. Me no dum

Devastation, Obliteration Are all to the point of Exacerbation, Decimation, Disintegration Now beyond the point of imagination, there's no explanation my situation. So why does this shit keep happening to me?

My corrections in blue.

Devastation and obliteration are all to the point of Exacerbation. Decimation and disintegration are now beyond the point of imagination. There's no explanation my situation so why does this shit keep happening to me?

I should start paying for Thai visa. I’m getting a free education right here. Thank you.

[elkangorito]

My pleasure

[Nongwahyay]

.......... I hate and abhor everyone who doesn´t know the difference between "your" and "you´re".... I´d love to shoot them all (otherwise I´m a really nice bloke to know..... )

[elkangorito]

Let me try again...I had a few mistakes that need correcting;

"Devastation and obliteration are all to the point of exacerbation. Decimation and disintegration are now beyond the point of imagination. There's no explanation why my situation exists so why does this shit keep happening to me?

Sorry, I had to read it a few times amongst all the other internet things that were going on. Thus I missed a few things.

[Priceless]

If the thread about good coffee that the OP had read was in the Chiang Mai forum, I may have been one of the grammar correcting culprits. In that case, I'd like to apologize but point out that the hailstorm of grammar-related post was actually a bit of joking between friends.

However, I think that many of the native English speakers on the forum don't realize the problems that non-native speakers sometimes have deciphering some posts, due to their bad grammar. For a native speaker it maybe obvious what the poster means when s/he e.g. uses "they're", "their" and "there" interchangeably, as if they were synonyms, but for somebody struggling with English it may be enough to make them give up

/ Priceless

Dear oh dear! My corrections/suggestions in blue.

Let's start again;

If the thread is about good coffee & the OP, who had read this [the post] was in the Chiang Mai forum, I may have been one of the grammar correcting culprits.

Did I make this sentence understandable or not? Is this what you meant?

In that case, I'd like to apologize but and also point out that the hailstorm of grammar-related posts was were actually a bit of joking between friends.

However, I think that many of the native English speakers on the forum don't realize the problems that non-native speakers sometimes have deciphering some posts, due to their bad grammar. For a native speaker it maybe obvious what the poster means when s/he e.g. uses "they're", "their" and "there" interchangeably, as if they were synonyms, but for somebody struggling with English it may be enough to make them give up.

Apart from the hiccups in your first paragraph, I found your post quite intelligible. Did I understand your first paragraph correctly? I'm not kidding. I had trouble understanding your meaning in the first paragraph & I think that guessing is dangerous. Did I guess correctly?

No, I'm afraid you made the sentence rather unintelligible. I attempted to make a reference to the following sentence in the original post: "I saw this one topic about where to get good coffee so I clicked it and there was like 2 postings about coffee and the next 87 or so were about people's spelling errors and grammar and such." In other words, the OP had come across a topic about good coffee, this is very clear from his first post. Said thread had, according to the OP, lost its original track and become a thread about grammar. I tried to indicate as my assumption that this thread (i.e. the coffee one) originally did appear in the Chiang Mai forum. In case my assumption was correct I offered my apologies.

/ Priceless

[elkangorito]

Shit!!! I had no idea to what you were alluding. Thank god you took the time to explain. BTW, I didn't make any sentence unintelligible. You did that.

Edited July 27, 2008 by elkangorito

[Priceless]

Shit!!! I had no idea to what you were alluding. Thank god you took the time to explain. BTW, I didn't make any sentence unintelligible. You did that.

My sincere apologies. I went to school a long time ago. Then we learnt to read sentences longer than ten words. I will never write one like that again. I hope that makes you happy.

/ Priceless

[elkangorito]

It'll only make me happy if I can understand what you are trying to say. I'm sure at this point, we will both be happy. Yes?

Oh. BTW. I went to "school" a long time ago too.

Edited July 27, 2008 by elkangorito

[Priceless]

It'll only make me happy if I can understand what you are trying to say. I'm sure at this point, we will both be happy. Yes?

Oh. BTW. I went to "school" a long time ago too.

I have now re-read my original first sentence several times. I still fail to see the difficulty or grammatical error. Can you please enlighten me? By the way, what is your native language?

/ Priceless

[Mossfinn]

Stop worrying. You are easily understood & you grammar is ok.

You wanna try again?

Edited July 27, 2008 by Mossfinn

[qwertz]

My command of English is much better than my typing ability.

My apologies in advance for any errors you may detect in future posts from me.

[elkangorito]

Stop worrying. You are easily understood & you grammar is ok.

You wanna try again?

Oops! A "typo". Point taken though.

[elkangorito]

My command of English is much better than my typing ability.

My apologies in advance for any errors you may detect in future posts from me.

I don't think this is about "errors" as such but more to the intelligibility of a post, which may be affected by individual errors.

[qwertz]

My command of English is much better than my typing ability.

My apologies in advance for any errors you may detect in future posts from me.

I don't think this is about "errors" as such but more to the intelligibility of a post, which may be affected by individual errors.

Phew, that's a relief!

I'd hate to think I studied in vain for years .

[elkangorito]

If the thread about good coffee that the OP had read was in the Chiang Mai forum, I may have been one of the grammar correcting culprits. In that case, I'd like to apologize but point out that the hailstorm of grammar-related post was actually a bit of joking between friends.

It'll only make me happy if I can understand what you are trying to say. I'm sure at this point, we will both be happy. Yes?

Oh. BTW. I went to "school" a long time ago too.

I have now re-read my original first sentence several times. I still fail to see the difficulty or grammatical error. Can you please enlighten me? By the way, what is your native language?

/ Priceless

Since you have explained yourself, your post makes sense, although it is obscure. To make things perfectly clear;

"If the thread about good coffee, which the OP had read, was in the Chiang Mai forum, I may have been one of the grammar correcting culprits."

Without any explanation from yourself, it may not have been evident to people what you were trying to say if they had forgotten or not read the initial post. What a shocking sentence.

Edited July 27, 2008 by elkangorito

[Mossfinn]

I am not entirely sure you understood my point, but hey, wadda I care

[qwertz]

I am not entirely sure you understood my point, but hey, wadda I care

Mossy. stop funning, elK is in a serious mood today.

[elkangorito]

I am not entirely sure you understood my point, but hey, wadda I care

Do you understand the conversation that is going in your avatar?

[mizzi39]

LOL

BTW, the only country in the world to speak English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) is Australia

Another edit.

This is why my college prefers Australians....the accent is about the same no matter from where they come.

Your College may prefer Australians, but Thais (always have and always will) prefer "American" English plain and simple (like we speak it).

[PeaceBlondie]

BTW, the only country in the world to speak English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) is Australia.

Your College may prefer Australians, but Thais (always have and always will) prefer "American" English plain and simple (like we speak it).

Precisely. garro, the Irish English teacher, states that American English is the only accent he has ever heard preferred by Thais.

elk, I have to disagree with your pedantry, especially when you tried to pick to pieces a post, written by a very intelligent non-native speaker, which I understood easily the first time through. But hey, maybe it was easy for me because the author of the post also has a fine, clear, American accent.

Pedant and pedantic are words I seldom used before I taught English. One of my dictionaries defines it as "a person who puts too much stress on formal rules and trivial details; ...makes a tiresome show of his knowledge."

Yes, the OP has a point, that he overemphasized a trillion times. Folks do not enjoy having their mistakes marked, outside of class.

[OlRedEyes]

LOL

BTW, the only country in the world to speak English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) is Australia

Another edit.

This is why my college prefers Australians....the accent is about the same no matter from where they come.

<deleted> is speaking English unilaterally?

I wouldn't ask, but you seem to have many posts in this thread in which you try and give the impression of some in-depth knowledge of English.....

To the OP. People nitpick on technical points because they lack in understanding of the bigger picture. It is prolly why they seldom see the bigger pic.

Edited July 28, 2008 by OlRedEyes

[Tod Daniels]

The insightful reply by "elkangorito" about Aussies speaking English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) seems to be an oxymoronic statement at best, and an asinine one at the worst. I have never heard anything close to resembling english (<-purposely left not capitalized in the entire post) uttered from the mouth of a person with Australian origin or upbringing. Most of the time I can't understand a single word they say due to their overpowering and strangely accented command or lack thereof in the language known as english.

Now that the O/P has done his bloviating and given us his dissertation about the less than proper english grammar and syntax used in the posts on this forum, a single questions remains in my mind. Do you feel better about yourself; superior in your intellectual understanding and grasp of the intricacies in proper usage of the english language or do you still feel the need to put down other peoples' command of a language which may or may not be their native tongue.

You posts are pretentious, and you seem to write only to demean other people. The number of posts you've made on this subject alone suggest to me, you're definitely wading in the shallow end of the proverbial gene pool. I would suggest a worthwhile hobby like underwater basket weaving or perhaps the ever popular hobby of self flagellation to relieve your pent up angst.

Just as an aside; (because inquiring minds may want to know for future reference) and after all this is the THAI Visa Forum. How good is your thai? Progress past two-word "tourist thai" yet or still rely on your "thai-in tow" to order food for you?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

LOL

BTW, the only country in the world to speak English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) is Australia

Another edit.

This is why my college prefers Australians....the accent is about the same no matter from where they come.

You got to be kidding. Have you never been up around Cairns, they sound nothing like the people down south. Australia is the only place I have been where anything over 2 syllable is shortened to 2 ie. registration is rego, garbage collector is garbo, afternoon is avro and the list goes on. Go in the outback and good luck in understanding them.

But that said, Australia is a great place and I love it but the people talk funny.

[PeaceBlondie]

Shucks and gawrsh, I thought all the English language purists were Oxbridge graduates.

[JetsetBkk]

The insightful reply by "elkangorito" about Aussies speaking English unilaterally (without a discernible accent difference) seems to be an oxymoronic statement at best, and an asinine one at the worst. I have never heard anything close to resembling english (<-purposely left not capitalized in the entire post) uttered from the mouth of a person with Australian origin or upbringing. Most of the time I can't understand a single word they say due to their overpowering and strangely accented command or lack thereof in the language known as english.

Now that the O/P has done his bloviating and given us his dissertation about the less than proper english grammar and syntax used in the posts on this forum, a single questions remains in my mind. Do you feel better about yourself; superior in your intellectual understanding and grasp of the intricacies in proper usage of the english language or do you still feel the need to put down other peoples' command of a language which may or may not be their native tongue.

You posts are pretentious, and you seem to write only to demean other people. The number of posts you've made on this subject alone suggest to me, you're definitely wading in the shallow end of the proverbial gene pool. I would suggest a worthwhile hobby like underwater basket weaving or perhaps the ever popular hobby of self flagellation to relieve your pent up angst.

Just as an aside; (because inquiring minds may want to know for future reference) and after all this is the THAI Visa Forum. How good is your thai? Progress past two-word "tourist thai" yet or still rely on your "thai-in tow" to order food for you?

Pity. 9 out of 10.

[Beacher]

Many posts at TV are painful to read due to terrible grammar, but I'd say the reminders or mini English lessons aren't offered enough, rather than too often as the OP claims. I occasionally abandon reading a post because it really is too difficult trying to figure out what the person wants to say. Some of the most annoying are the ones where people don't bother with basics like capitalization and full stops -- one sentence runs into another in an exremely confusing style. That appears to be a simple case of laziness.

Personally, I wouldn't criticize someone here for their poor writing as it really is a difficult skill for many people to learn. However, when it's clear (by the level of vocabulary) that the person is likely a native-English speaker but doesn't make any effort to communicate well, that bothers me.

The other thing I keep in mind when I encounter terribly written posts is that we have no control over the level of sobriety (or sanity) possessed by the writer.