Tired Of The English Language Police

[manarak]

You want Engrit lessons? Pay for them like everyone else. I don't think this is the place for petty corrections!

I think the correct transliteration is "Angrit"

And why don't you sleep already?

Stop with the corrections or I'm coming over to SPONK you.

You'll have to hopple to my place on one leg to sponk me, because I think I pulled the other....

[phutoie2]

The forum where nine out of ten members do not know the difference between loser (n) and looser (adj).

More power to the S & G Polizei is wot i say!

[kerryk]

I am not teaching in Thailand yet, i still have one year left until graduation. I have experience teaching kids here as part of my major in education. I also coach middle school football, i am in charge of the lineman.

After teaching for a number of years in Thai government schools I have come to the conclusion that the only way to teach English to students is by changing the language of sports instruction.

If you can convince all the football coaches to start speaking English when they coach the children will actually learn some English.

The vocabulary may be a bit limited for some life situations but at least the kids would have a start.

You probably think I jest but those who have taught at government schools will realise the brilliance of this idea.

[Soutpeel]

this is the kind of reply that i was refering to if i dont use the proper punctuations or commas or whatever who really cares as long as people understand what i am trying to tell them it is ok right???........

You are 100% correct....if people understand what you are talking about, then you are communicating effectivelyin that particular languge, however the line should be drawn at people whose "profession" is English ie Jouro's/ writers, "English teachers"...they are suppose to be "experts" in the language, therefore I do take exception to the p*ss poor English language skills shown in the English languge rags in Thailand, where the English languge is butchered on a daily basis

[Hawkman]

Though we should encourage correctly worded grammar, we're on a forum here, we're not posting our dissertations. Grammar Police are annoying as most posts on a forum are done quickly, so who cares if there is an error, if the meaning is still clear.

However, people who text speak on a forum should be shot. I once received a CV from someone looking for a teaching job, who wrote in text speak a few times; well all I can say is, our profession surely attracts them.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Hawkman

[tartempion]

An English native speaker asked "Am I alone to be offended?" because I, A French, German and Dutch native speaker used the word "bitch" in some posting about a mean woman.

In subsequent replies I called him an idiot, and he was not offended.

Now calling him an "idiot " is a lot worse than calling someone else "bitch", go figure: native English speakers need to consult a dictionary more often

The forum where nine out of ten members do not know the difference between loser (n) and looser (adj).

Aha, I loved that one

And we IT guys used this one:

"Tree munch ago I culdnt even spill progremmer and know I are one"

Edited July 3, 2011 by tartempion

[tolsti]

Capitalisation is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

[OZEMADE]

The Germans wanted us to speak German, we bombed the F*** out of them.

The Japanese wanted us to speak Japanese, we bombed the F*** out of them.

The Chinese wanted us to speak Chinese, we bombed the F*** out of them in Vietnam.

So they all agreed to speak English.

[andrewbkk]

p*ss poor English language skills shown in the English languge rags in Thailand, where the English languge is butchered on a daily basis

The irony in some of these posts is almost unreal.

[outofoz]

Proper language is a bit like personal hygiene. Some think it's important, some don't.

You obviously don't, but let me simply tell you that your post would greatly benefit from proper punctuation. And even in Dutch you start a sentence with an upper case letter. It makes it so much easier to read.

Some people don't know the difference between there, their and they're, which makes is hard to understand their text (or is it "there text"?)

Language allows us to express your thought and feelings. Some thoughts and feelings are very simple, so a simple language will do. Others are more complicated, have more nuances, hence a more sophisticated language which then needs proper spelling and punctuation.

There is this funny story about the German emperor, who was asked to pardon a prisoner with a death sentence. He wrote a short notice to his secretary: " Pardon no execution". The lady thought that he was in a good mood and put the coma: "Pardon, no execution", but she could just as well have put it here: "Pardon no, execution". This shows how important punctuation can be.

English is not my mother tongue either, but out of respect for the language and those who read my profound shallowness, I try to follow the rules of spelling and punctuation.

Oh, the SPG Police (Spelling Punctuation Grammar) make me laugh!

This is such a typical reply from a member of the SPG Police. Start the reply with a ridiculous analogy. 'Oh, you don't value grammar so you don't value personal hygiene'.

Then follow with the put down of 'but let me simply tell you that your post would greatly benefit from proper punctuation.'..as if you are the final judge of how a post does or does not benefit from something.. (Clearly you understood the post so it must have been A-OK as it was?)

Then comes the well worn parable ...of how such a heinous crime as a misplaced comma can lead to death!! Death of all things!!! omg!!!...I think I first heard a similar version when I was 10 years old... YAWN

Then...the final lesson...always given.... 'you have to follow the rules'...

I always look forward to the SPG Police combing my reply , looking for anomalies, mistakes, typographical errors, with which to craft their response... (an easy task given my lack of grammatical skills)

[bonobo]

Capitalisation is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

[Soutpeel]

p*ss poor English language skills shown in the English languge rags in Thailand, where the English languge is butchered on a daily basis

The irony in some of these posts is almost unreal.

Yes Miss...shall I go to the back of the class and write it out 100 times...

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Just as in Thailand there are several different kind of Thai spoken, Most do not know there are over 40 different English languages

[Soutpeel]

Just as in Thailand there are several different kind of Thai spoken, Most do not know there are over 40 different English languages

Think you mean dialects ?........is this a line from one of your lesson plans this week.... ?...

Edited July 3, 2011 by Soutpeel

[Travel2003]

It would be interesting to know just how many people are fluent in English, either first or second language speakers...

According to

http://en.wikipedia....king_population

there are 948,676,514 English speakers in the world or 17.65% of the world population.

And the world total number who speak English as their first language is 335,164,058 with the following breakdown:

Country______Number________% of World Total

U.S.___________215,423,557_____64.3______________

U.K.___________58,100,000______17.3______________

Canada_________17,694,830_______5.3______________

Australia______15,013,965_______4.5______________

Other__________28,931,706_______8.6______________

Pretty useless stats really,as it never tells how much/good English the people command.

I see Norway had 91%.

Being a Norwegian myself, I feel the common English skills in Norway is not too impressive really.

Sometimes after I have posted something here, I notice I have made a spelling/grammar error. I dont always see this before some time later.

I have never been "corrected" for it, and I thank You for that, as I guess it means my point was the more important part of my post.

It is always enojyable to watch how the Brits tell the Yanks about how the English language has been violated, and still the Brits are implementing words as "wanke_r" and "plonker".

[Soutpeel]

It is always enojyable to watch how the Brits tell the Yanks about how the English language has been violated, and still the Brits are implementing words as "wanke_r" and "plonker".

And rightly so, they should be complaining, how dare they modify the queens english....."Plonker" I will have know has existed in the English language since early last century or so and w*nker has been around since the second world war, and words like "pillock" go back to the middle ages and orginates from a Norwegian word "Pillicock" .....so hardly new to the English language...

Edited July 3, 2011 by Soutpeel

[Travel2003]

It is always enojyable to watch how the Brits tell the Yanks about how the English language has been violated, and still the Brits are implementing words as "wanke_r" and "plonker".

And rightly so, they should be complaining, how dare they modify the queens english....."Plonker" I will have know has existed in the English language since early last century or so and w*nker has been around since the second world war, and words like "pillock" go back to the middle ages and orginates from a Norwegian word "Pillicock" .....so hardly new to the English language...

The stuff we learn here.

[Soutpeel]

It is always enojyable to watch how the Brits tell the Yanks about how the English language has been violated, and still the Brits are implementing words as "wanke_r" and "plonker".

And rightly so, they should be complaining, how dare they modify the queens english....."Plonker" I will have know has existed in the English language since early last century or so and w*nker has been around since the second world war, and words like "pillock" go back to the middle ages and orginates from a Norwegian word "Pillicock" .....so hardly new to the English language...

The stuff we learn here.

Sometimes I have a lot of idle time at work..... ....... in addtion, I can tell you a lot about the origins of Vegimite and Marmite and who invented it as well if you are interested......

[geriatrickid]

Just as in Thailand there are several different kind of Thai spoken, Most do not know there are over 40 different English languages

Think you mean dialects ?........is this a line from one of your lesson plans this week.... ?...

:cheesy: Touché

[bangkokrick]

Maybe English is the only language they know and they think it's the no 1 language on the planet.

It is the most important language on the planet.

For the moment, but one could suggest in in years to come Chinese could be the most important language on the planet....

I doubt that. Most of the Chinese that I meet and I work in China a lot, can speak or are learning English.

[Soutpeel]

I doubt that. Most of the Chinese that I meet and I work in China a lot, can speak or are learning English.

The chinese goverment is preparing their population for world domination and of course they would need to speak the language of the natives....makes perfect sense...

[bangkokrick]

I doubt that. Most of the Chinese that I meet and I work in China a lot, can speak or are learning English.

The chinese goverment is preparing their population for world domination and of course they would need to speak the language of the natives....makes perfect sense...

You can travel anywhere in the world and communicate with the natives in English. I doubt that this will ever apply to the Chinese language.

[Kwasaki]

Neither do I think it will ever be replaced by "Chinese". As somebody stated above there is more than one language in China for a start. Mandarin and Canton are the most spoken, but there are many regional languages too. In fact, the second most spoken language in the World is Spanish.

History police Here Mandarin is 1st.

Hindi 2nd. Spanish 3rd.

It would be interesting to know just how many people are fluent in English, either first or second language speakers...

there are 948,676,514 English speakers in the world or 17.65% of the world population.

And the world total number who speak English as their first language is 335,164,058

English still 4th.

My dialect is English cockney.

[Soutpeel]

My dialect is English cockney.

Rodney...you plonker...

[Scott]

A significant proportion of the posters on ThaiVisa are not native English speakers. Unless a poster has posted a question about grammar or spelling, negative comments and corrections are usually off-topic. Off-topic posters run the risk of having their posts deleted and receiving a formal warning if they are particularly nasty.

A significant number of non-Thai teachers in Thailand are also not native English speakers and many do not teach English. In many schools, teachers are employed to teach, mathematics, science, social studies, music, physical education and other foreign languages using the medium of English for instruction.

Finally, it is a web forum and many posters are engaged in a conversation of sorts with other posters; spelling and grammar become secondary.

(Oh, and by the way, I spent considerable time on a farm, so not only did I have to help my uncle jack off a horse, but also a bull and a ram. Artificial insemination was a big thing at the time!)

[Scott]

I forgot to add that if you make a mistake, you can use the edit function to correct your post, although the edit has to be done in a certain time. If you can't correct the error and it seriously changes the meaning of your post, use the report function or send a PM to an on-line mod and ask for a correction.

I hate it when I type faster than I think and leave an important word like 'NOT' out of a sentence. It changes the entire meaning.

[TimTang]

I have already started doing so. It was embarrassing going to the check-out counter with, "English Grammar For Dummies" lol

Relax! Just say you're buying it for someone else. That's what I do when ever I'm buying women's lingerie.