Maybe I am being too mean. Nah!
Written languages are an art form. The English language is as difficult to learn and understand as Mandarin.
There used to be a time when reading and writing were only taught to the aristocracy and poor people had to suffer. Now that everyone has equal
opportunity to learn these skills, they're tossed away or disrespected.
I stated that I have never criticized anyone on ATS for their spelling and grammar -- and I am being completely honest. ATS is a discussion forum, not
a place to come and read articles written by members. We come here to discuss our ideas in a casual manner. If my rant made you question your own
spelling and grammar, this was not my intention and you're being overly sensitive. I explained that I'm not critical of ATS posts and I meant it.
This rant is solely based on blogs and articles only. A blog is the same as an editorial piece you would read in the newspaper. I don't watch the
news, I read it. Every time I see a mistake in an article, I think back to the newspapers of long ago. A person was hard pressed to find a spelling or
grammatical error within the articles. I read the news online today and see tons of mistakes. When I purchase a newspaper, I expect quality and
nothing less. When one googles 'Michell Obama',
Michelle Obama Watch is the fourth website to appear in the list. This is a website that should
have higher standards and their bloggers should be more detail-oriented and precise with what they're presenting.
I'm beginning to understand why immigrants don't want to learn English. Why should they have any respect for it if America's citizens don't? If I
moved to another country and what I read was full of mistakes, how am I suppose to learn it properly? It would be very confusing.
I have great pride in what I write. I actually write children's books on the side. When I submit a chapter for review, it is expected to be free of
errors and I make sure it doesn't have any. I proofread my own work and use spell check. I make mistakes on my ATS posts, but this is a casual
atmosphere and should be treated as such. If I were writing blogs for a website, I would read what I wrote prior to sending it in for publication.
It's only the professional and responsible thing to do. I used to be a reading teacher and I've worked with kids who suffered with dyslexia. The
mistakes you see in the blog/article I've referenced are due to laziness and not because the writer has a reading or learning disability. Any adult
with dyslexia should know to use tools such as spell check if they enjoy writing. Spell check is a wonderful invention designed to help us. Even the
best of us use it wisely and are not embarrassed to admit that we run our writing through the program. I would bet my bottom dollar that the author of
the piece I've referenced didn't even give their article a once over before submitting it.
To be fair, I'm not very good with numbers. In fact, I suck at using numbers
and math. I'm also not great at working with measurements and
angles. If I built a birdhouse and it ended up being all crooked and malformed, I wouldn't expect anyone to appreciate my work. I would take one look
at it and know that I wasn't careful and should have worked harder at measuring the wood and where I placed the nails. If I was smart, my next
birdhouse would be created with care and accuracy. Everything we create and present should be something we are proud of. If a creation looks as though
it was done in a rush, then it most likely was. Such creations should not be held in the same light as a creation presented by someone who took the
time, care, and patience to polish their project and remove the errors.
If I've offended anyone, this was not my intention. I just want to see better writing. I want to see my native language respected as it used to be.
It's now an example of laziness and impatience. Maybe technology has done this to us? Now we're in such a rush that our writing skills are going the
way of our morals and self-respect. In my opinion, the more we allow the written language to decline, the more we're allowing ourselves to decline.
Our writing and language skills truly prove that humans are devolving instead of evolving. Written communication is so very important and should be
given more care and consideration. I'm sorry that more people can't see how much it's declined and feel the need to defend this atrocity by making
excuses and attacking the people who want to see things change for the better.
edit on 21-9-2011 by Afterthought because: (no reason
given)