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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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 Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:08 am Post subject: |
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You know what, having done honors English all through High school, being Senior English student of the year and studying English Lit in university, I remember little emphasis on spelling. If I am submitting a paper, I spell check and weigh word usage carefully. Online why should I bother. Really why would anyone care about spelling? If you think being able to spell is a big factor in teaching then you are way off base. My sister who is 8 million times the teacher I am, single handedly got me high grades in high school leaving exams. She can't spell for her life. Luckily she has a dictionary for that. Her other skills that are essential to her teaching ability are not so handy to aqquire.
Any spelling, punciation or grammar mistakes above or in this sentence are entirely intentional. To point them out would be to label yourself as a fool. |
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crusher_of_heads
Joined: 23 Feb 2007
Location: kimbop and kimchi for kimberly!!!!
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:17 am Post subject: |
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Which digit of your left hand do you hit the 'e' key eith, Einstein?
Which digit do fyour right hand do you hit the 'i' key with, moron?
Discuss. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| You know what, having done honors English all through High school, being Senior English student of the year and studying English Lit in university, I remember little emphasis on spelling. |
That's exactly the problem. People think English majors are experts on English and writing and literature. Not true. They're experts on reading literature and churning out boring formulaic essays.
I've seen a lot of jobs I was qualified for unavailable to me because they required an English major. Never mind I have more experience with writing and the ability to analyse things other than Chaucer. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Politics and Religion, please meet Syntax. Wow! |
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pest2
Joined: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject: Re: Rediculous |
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| superacidjax wrote: |
No wonder kids in Korea have such a tough time learning.. Many of the teachers can't spell themselves....simply "rediculous." |
I can spell myself : "P-E-S-T-2". What's even worse is how people get lazy with punctuation. Geez... I hope these people wont be teaching a writing class. |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:18 pm Post subject: Re: Rediculous |
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| Ozabout7or8 wrote: |
You are arrogant. If you are offened by peoples mistakes point it out and they may take more care when writing to you. But do not infer that they cannot spell/puctuate etc. You are wrong.
You should read up a bit on the literature of the line of work you are in buddy. |
Spelling ridiculous with an "e" isn't a mistake due to casual communication.. not when the error is repeated. I also said that I don't care about minor typos.. I am complaining about people that really don't know how to spell, yet calling themselves teachers.
Yes, this is a general discussion forum, but shouldn't people at least preview the message before posting? This is supposed to be a community of English professionals, is asking for at least some attention to detail that much to ask?
Your suggestion that people don't worry about spelling, etc, because this is casual communication begs the question... when dealing with low level students, are teachers not worrying about spelling and grammar simply because the students are not at a high enough level to understand? |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| If you think being able to spell is a big factor in teaching then you are way off base. |
If you're teaching math, of course spelling is immaterial, but teaching ENGLISH!! How can someone teach English and not be able to spell? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.
It's like a violin teacher not knowing how to play the violin. |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| That's exactly the problem. People think English majors are experts on English and writing and literature. Not true. They're experts on reading literature and churning out boring formulaic essays. |
Right! A more relevant degree is Journalism. In J-classes, the emphais is always on spelling, punctuation, style and presenting arguments. English majors, as you said are focused on literature (usually) or creative writing. An English major is less concerned about practical language and more about lit. theory or creative writing.
Teaching EFL is about functional and practical language.. exactly the aim of a Journalism degree. Psychology or obviously education are also much more relevant than English degrees (in the context of EFL.) |
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Ozabout7or8
Joined: 04 May 2007
Location: NZ
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Right! A more relevant degree is Journalism. |
Applied Linguistics is the most relevant to English Language Teaching. |
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Ozabout7or8
Joined: 04 May 2007
Location: NZ
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| superacidjax wrote: |
| It's like a violin teacher not knowing how to play the violin. |
I agree with your concern but please take better care with your use of analogies Super. English Language Teaching is not 100% made up of spelling, you could teach someone to speak fluently without even spelling a word.
I agree that people need a basic level of spelling but don't over-dramatise things with false analogies. |
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cosmo
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| She can't spell for her life. Luckily she has a dictionary for that. |
How can you find a word in the dictionary if you can't spell it ? |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Ozabout7or8 wrote: |
| English Language Teaching is not 100% made up of spelling, you could teach someone to speak fluently without even spelling a word. |
Obviously. But English teaching isn't speaking only. Speaking is only half of the equation. It's bad enough that American students aren't able to spell very well, now we get to export spelling incompetence! |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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Wait a minute. Do you mean not being able to spell means not spelling any word, then yes it is an impediment to teaching English. If on the other hand you are not a very good speller who can't remember whether to write for example "rediculous" or "ridiculous" or other such common mistakes, then that is no impediment at all.
| Quote: |
| How can you find a word in the dictionary if you can't spell it ? |
Are you serious? If you are looking for the word "Ridiculous" there are only two paths you can go, RE or RI. Once again we are talking about simple spelling errors, not an inability to spell at all.
| Quote: |
That's exactly the problem. People think English majors are experts on English and writing and literature. Not true. They're experts on reading literature and churning out boring formulaic essays.
I've seen a lot of jobs I was qualified for unavailable to me because they required an English major. Never mind I have more experience with writing and the ability to analyse things other than Chaucer. |
This is just patronising. I have to agree however that English lit is not the same as learning the language so my experience is pretty irrelevant. I think English Lit gives you more than the ability to churn out essays about Chaucer however.
Your complaint about not getting jobs happens in all fields. Some jobs require certain qualifications even if the person applying is otherwise well qualified. Deal with it.
I think you are all way over blowing the importance of spelling. Really how many mistakes do people make on these boards? Unless you absolutely cannot spell, then you can teach(as long as you have the other required skills for teaching). It just requires more planning and work.
We may be unclear on this though. Are you talking about people who can't spell at all, or people who make errors such as 'grammer', rediculous or leave out one letter when it should be doubled etc? I'm a good speller, as in when I hear a word I can normally spell it sylable by sylable. My sister cannot do this but is still a fantastic teacher who has to do more work to compensate for her spelltardness. I'm sure if she was on an online forum she souldn't put that time in to correct her mistakes.
Any spelling, punciation or grammar mistakes above or in this sentence are entirely intentional. To point them out would be to label yourself as a fool. |
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esetters21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject: Re: Rediculous |
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| superacidjax wrote: |
Insanity. While purusing Dave's while I'm supposed to be doing some work, I discovered several people that spell ridiculous incorrectly. Chronically.
It's mostly English teachers on this board, so it amazes me when such a common word is repeatedly misspelled, I have to wonder. I'm not a typo-Nazi like some of the people on the board, but when people are obviously clueless about how to spell something, yet they continue to use the word..
No wonder kids in Korea have such a tough time learning.. Many of the teachers can't spell themselves. An error is one thing (we all make mistakes) chronic grammar and spelling errors are simply "rediculous." |
I'm still trying to figure this out. Please elaborate on the use of the word "pursuing" in the context that you used it. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 10:24 pm Post subject: Re: Rediculous |
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| esetters21 wrote: |
| superacidjax wrote: |
Insanity. While purusing Dave's while I'm supposed to be doing some work, I discovered several people that spell ridiculous incorrectly. Chronically.
It's mostly English teachers on this board, so it amazes me when such a common word is repeatedly misspelled, I have to wonder. I'm not a typo-Nazi like some of the people on the board, but when people are obviously clueless about how to spell something, yet they continue to use the word..
No wonder kids in Korea have such a tough time learning.. Many of the teachers can't spell themselves. An error is one thing (we all make mistakes) chronic grammar and spelling errors are simply "rediculous." |
I'm still trying to figure this out. Please elaborate on the use of the word "pursuing" in the context that you used it. |
He means 'perusing' I assume. He should be fired immediately. |
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