Job Discussion Forums

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

It's rather common in these threads to see misspellings by EFL instructors. I see "definately" a lot and today I noticed someone wanting to know about "commutting" within the UAE. What's up with that??

I'm hardly ever this didactic and self-righteous, but really, elementary errors like this from supposedly educated English teachers grate on my nerves like chalk screeching across a blackboard.

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

Replace instructors with TEFLers.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

whus da mater wit yu? Know problemos. knot bodder mee atoll.

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

U need go school and fix u coconut!

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

Or as the prison warden in Cool Hand Luke said, "Ya got-ta git yer mind right!"

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

They're called 'typos'.

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

"Definately" is not a typo. It is a common misspelling, for which English teachers have little excuse. "Commutting" is also not likely to be a typo. There are others as well.

saint57 · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

I was going to start a thread titled, "Asia is Making Me Dumber!". After living in Asia for three years I can't speak or write English as well as when I was 23. I wouldn't mind so much if I were picking up another language, but I ain't.

I have two degrees and I am planning on starting another one next year. I simply feel that all the Konglish, Chinglish, and Malaynglish have taken their toll on me.

I also tend to drink a lot near the computer, so that could account for some of my mistakes. I'm only on beer #1 right now.

I miss Super Mario.

Tiger #2 is calling me.

Buy Buy!

merlin · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:11 pm Post subject:

It could also be that when typing in an informal context we engage a different part or parts of our brain. Recent recearch in neuropsychology has shown a correlation between participation in online fora and increased activity in the speech centers of the brain while academic writing (for example for a research paper) shows a positive correlation more with the writing centers of the brain.

My conclusion from the above research is that in an informal discussion forum we type more like we're speaking while if we write academically we type more like we write.

This has been discussed before so if you want the links to the reasearch you'll have to use the search function.

TravellingAround · Joined: 12 Nov 2006 Posts: 423

It's amazing how many people think perogative is a word.

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

Definately! Such loosers! (Another one my favorite grating, irritating common errors)

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

Nomad's right. A typo is when you accidentally hit a letter next to another letter. Misspelling is when you don't know how to spell a word, and vowel errors are the most common.

Typos are to be expected, here or anywhere.
Genuine misspelling is not funny - it's just ignorant. We all make mistakes but we're supposed to learn from them, not be proud of them.

Merlin's point is also good.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:01 pm Post subject:

The next letter over isn't the only kind of typo- I'm clumsy, and my keyboard is old-

not htting a key hard enough can lead to mssing leters...

Or hitting a stickky keyy caan lead to innnapropriate addiitionall lettters...

I'd be interested in other people's experiences on this one, though. Within my administrative job, I work mostly in Spanish. (Speaking, reading, writing, everything.) As I've spent more and more time in Spanish (which for me is a fluent adult aquired second language), I've found that spelling well in English is something that takes a lot more concentration than it used to. Being quite booky, and an avid reader, I've always spelled well, but now I notice that my English writing frequently comes out full of the most obvious errors, usually having to do with either double letters, or swapping homophones around. (Sucess? success? Hell, could be "succcesss" for all I sometimes know at the end of a long day. Very Happy

Or swapping "accept" and "except," sometimes even "are" and "our," which in my native accent are pronounced the same.)

It's interesting to me that this happens often when I type, which I do rather quickly, but never when I write. (Using an old fashioned pencil)

Best,
Justin

John Hall · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:43 pm Post subject:

If you correct hundreds of essays written in badly-worded English on a regular basis, you tend to pick it up "by osmosis." Also see this thread:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=49667

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

At home I have an English keyboard whereas at work I have a Turkish keyboard, which is slightly different. It's not only spelling but punctuation. (which is a bigger problem)

btw I have a spell check when I type on Dave's. Is this because of my browser?(Firefox)