Black/Urban English? Is the inability to speak correctly contributeing to unemployment?

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly. It is impossible to understand some people these days, not just blacks, but most urban city speak. I have ALWAYS had an issue with people who say "aks" instead of ask. I have heard people whom I thought were well educated use it and instantly my perception of them became jaded. Nothing to do with color, just the fact they can't use proper English leaves me baffled.

S&F

This thread resonates with me 100%. No need to add anymore - it's all been said. S&F, Ess and Eff.

its fun to talk to people that speak like this just for laughs.
this is not really urban english but there is a black dude that works at my shop names randall.
he is about 50.

every so often he barks...like super friggin loud as hell. guess its his way of saying hello to someone 100 feet away.
also, whenever you talk to him, no matter if you are telling him something or asking him something the first words out of his mouth are
"bitch i already know"

no matter what

originally posted by: spacedog1973
The inability to spell a thread title correctly is probably more indicative of the educational level and subsequent relevance of said person's position. Especially when spell checking is baked into the forum software, making spelling errors even less excusable.

I fail to see how the thread title is difficult to understand?

Unlike innercity urban dialects that are almost a separate language.


PS it was written from a smart phone with a touch pad which I have trouble with and thanks to ATS 2 hour edit window I can not change any MINOR spelling mistakes o grand spelling nazi!

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: spacedog1973
The inability to spell a thread title correctly is probably more indicative of the educational level and subsequent relevance of said person's position. Especially when spell checking is baked into the forum software, making spelling errors even less excusable.

I fail to see how the thread title is difficult to understand?

Unlike innercity urban dialects that are almost a separate language.


PS it was written from a smart phone with a touch pad which I have trouble with and thanks to ATS 2 hour edit window I can not change any MINOR spelling mistakes o grand spelling nazi!

bitch i already know

a reply to: crazyewok

OMG! You did an E rong!

EDIT: Just to add... you would not believe how many emails I get from supposedly senior and well educated people who don't know the difference between "There, their and they're". Or, for that matter "To, too and two". Then there's "It's and its". Makes me sooo made (sic). But then I rate myself as a grammar snob with no expertise in that field whatsoever. Ha!

originally posted by: MrCrow
a reply to: crazyewok

OMG! You did an E rong!

Na I didindu nuffin!

a reply to: crazyewok

Fail wid da E innit solja.

Good communication skills are of the utmost importance in every day life, not just employment. I will not hire someone whom I cannot understand. I do not want them representing me or my company. If you cant dress yourself, conduct yourself, or communicate in a socially acceptable professional manner I have no use for you.

Oh, and to add fuel ta da fy ya: ...

Or "......."

Or "................................................"

Overuse thereof.

OK. Breathe. Breathe. Take the blood pressure pill...

/Citolopram

Peasc. Out.

originally posted by: MrCrow
Oh, and to add fuel ta da fy ya: ...

Or "......."

Or "................................................"

Overuse thereof.

OK. Breathe. Breathe. Take the blood pressure pill...

/Citolopram

Peasc. Out.

Are you referring to the punctuation or is that a fill in the blanks?

This is what happens when they stop trying to teach grammar, punctuation, spelling, when they decide that the best way to teach children how to learn effective reading/writing skills is to simply expose them to good examples of written English ... Yes, in my two years of teaching 8th grade, that was the curriculum focus for teaching the nuts and bolts. Occasional 15-minute mini lessons and lots of "making connections" with the texts.

a reply to: ketsuko

Instead of our public schools teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, they teach about climate change and social justice.

originally posted by: ketsuko
This is what happens when they stop trying to teach grammar, punctuation, spelling, when they decide that the best way to teach children how to learn effective reading/writing skills is to simply expose them to good examples of written English ... Yes, in my two years of teaching 8th grade, that was the curriculum focus for teaching the nuts and bolts. Occasional 15-minute mini lessons and lots of "making connections" with the texts.

I think the responsibility lies with parents ultimately.

...and I may be boring saying this over and over, but reading bedtime stories with old fashioned books, and a finger trailing the word in real time, gives our kids the best chance of learning formal language skills in their most influential learning years.

Parents who don't do bedtime reading stories when putting their little one to bed are lazy bastards in my opinion, and I don't care if that offends anyone.

a reply to: grainofsand

That gives kids a big head start, no doubt, so much so that well-meaning SJW profs wrote papers about how to create equality in this area by taking books away from parents. After all, their research uncovered that white households, even poor ones, overwhelmingly valued books and reading to their children more than African-American households, even wealthy ones.

But, learning grammar and language structure isn't something that can easily be picked up just in that method alone. It needs to be taught. I think we made a mistake when we dropped the much-maligned diagramming from the curriculum.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

Sorry overuse of the dot, dot dot.

As in, finishing every sentence with multiple full stops.

a reply to: ketsuko

Free access to books from school is common in the UK but illiterate or lazy parents don't take the time, and if the parents never leave their housing estate then those poor kids will face challenges learning even the basics of communicating in business/formal English.

It has become a generational thing here in state owned housing estates, would take a fortune in taxes to drag many many families out of their tragic revolving door.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: grainofsand

That gives kids a big head start, no doubt, so much so that well-meaning SJW profs wrote papers about how to create equality in this area by taking books away from parents. After all, their research uncovered that white households, even poor ones, overwhelmingly valued books and reading to their children more than African-American households, even wealthy ones.

But, learning grammar and language structure isn't something that can easily be picked up just in that method alone. It needs to be taught. I think we made a mistake when we dropped the much-maligned diagramming from the curriculum.

Reading is fundamental...

I love to read. My parents weren't rich, nor were they academic geniuses. Neither graduated from college. My dad was cop. However, the one thing that my dad loved to do was read. He was always reading a book. He loved science fiction. So like any kid, I wanted to do the things my dad did and since he read so much, I picked up on it. He also had a HUGE library of National Geographic magazines. By the time I was in first grade, I was reading NatGeos, Asimov and other dense Sci-Fi works.

My grandmother used to always say she may not always have money to buy me toys, but she always had money for a book.

a reply to: Edumakated

Exactly. My parents were poor. We spent weeks figuring out how to make it on less than $100 at times when I was growing up, but we always had books and my mom and dad always had time to read to us.

And we do that for our son today. The easiest part of pre-K homework is the 10min/night reading to him. One story from mommy and one story from daddy which we were doing anyhow pretty much covers that. He's got a good vocabulary and memory for his age, so of course it works.

a reply to: Edumakated

Same for me.
I grew up in a poor house, sharing bathwater with siblings, Jack Frost on the windows in Winter, etc, but my Mam always read to me in the evening when I was little.
I read books every bedtime with my now 18 year old son when he was little, even when I was poor, charity shops still have kids books for 10 pence where I live.

If a parent is not illiterate then they are lazy bastards if they do not read with their little ones.
That's my opinion anyway.