Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kimcheeking]

[desultude]

I doubt that they were typos. Two typos in two posts? I see a lot of bad spelling and bad grammar on Dave's. I usually try to ignore it, as I don't want to be the nanny with the ruler, but we do all have reference books, don't we? And we are supposed to be teachers. Do you let your students slide with bad spelling? Do you give written assignments? Even in English, spelling and pronunciation are often, though not always, related. After grading papers for years, my own spelling errors and grammatical mistakes scream out at me, and I ALWAYS have a dictionary handy.

All that being said, I assume most of us are trying to cope with new languages, and that does throw off the spelling. Use a dictionary, and respect you fellow readers by being literate, please.

[Hotuk]

"And we are supposed to be teachers..."

Yes, but this doesn't mean we're all perfect. I once worked for a jr. high principal who couldn't spell or punctuate her way out of a paper bag.

Though most/all of us posting here are foreigners right now, if a Korean wants to contribute too it will be a shame if attacks on imperfect grammar and spelling scare them away. It sends everyone (including shy lurkers) the negative message that we're lying in wait to pounce on people who misspell. And the thread drifts away from the topic, like now.

I agree that spelling is important. Hopefully we all do. But I think we can be more relaxed here as a professional courtesy to our colleagues. Don't you?

[scott]

space

[Hank Scorpio]

[jaderedux]

Well...my goodness the spelling and grammar patrol is out in force these days.

When I send a business letter or I am in my class I try very hard to be sure my grammar is correct. However, when I am posting to a bulletin board or writing an email I tend to be very casual.

This is a forum not a classroom. People are casual and since most of them are very young they are very accustomed to writing and speaking one way in this media and another way when they are in a more professional atmosphere.

Seems to me we are a bit too over eager to wag fingers and cluck our tounges like "spinster" teachers in a 1950's movie. I hope most of the errors are a case of:

1. Damn where is spell check when I need it?
2. It's a bulletin board on website not my classroom.
3. Where the heck is that darn shift button?
4. I can relax here.

Just stuff like that. I don't think the style here is necessarily indictive of their abilities. Only that they are more casual here and just dash off a quick message similar to dashing off a quick email.

Lets not get wrapped up in "my spelling and grammar is better than yours", or the "how can you call yourself a teacher? Look at your spelling!"

All the above may be attributed to the fact I despised both subjects in grade school. Heavy sigh.

Jade

[hellofaniceguy]

It's called pride and not being lazy. Taking pride in whatever you do, be it posting a letter on this form or being a bum. What ever it is you do, be the best at it.
If someone can't write a letter or post one using correct spelling, I think that they also will not be a outstanding teacher. It reflects. Students also read this site and think, "well, that word is spelled differently than the way I spell it and because this person is a teacher, he/she must know the correct way and I guess I have been spelling it wrong." Sure, flame me. I don't care. Korea has many bad foreign teachers. And it's NOT the teachers fault, it's immigration's fault! As long as one has a four year degree in basket weaving, they can get a visa! The standards are low. I see EVERY day teachers coming from Canada, signing to teach 10 50 minute classes a day for 1.9 and have degress in something other than English, TESL/TEFL or education! Same with Americans. But, I point out the Canadians, why? I have asked a few why teach 10 50 minute classes a day, 5 days a week for 1.9 and complain about it all the time? Answer? It's twice what I can make in Canada! So, as long as teachers sign B.S. contracts, the quality of teachers is lowered and the pay won't go up.

[kimcheeking]

[Bulsajo]

It's called pride and not being lazy. Taking pride in whatever you do, be it posting a letter on this form or being a bum. What ever it is you do, be the best at it.
If someone can't write a letter or post one using correct spelling, I think that they also will not be a outstanding teacher.

Warning! Pet Peeve Alert:

Well, if we're going to rag on people about their English, let's rag on those who can't spell 학 원 (Hagwon/Hakwon). It bothers me to no end when I see hokwon, hogwan, hagwan etc. in a post, and particularly when the poster claims either to have been in Korea for some time or claims to have a good knowledge of Korean. Lazy and sloppy, without a doubt.

P.S. - Shouldn't that be "AN" outstanding teacher?

[desultude]

I teach English, therefore I am sensitive to correct usage, if for no other reason that the fact that I AM PAID TO NOTICE. This cannot help but to be reflected in my personal usage.
One of the things that I know about teaching is that, more than anything else, we should be models of correct usage to our students. They emulate us. They want well paid jobs where they will use English. It does matter how we speak and write. Especially since, as some of you point out, there are non-native speakers on this site. They see how we use the language and how we spell. They may even be logging on here to learn English usage. If you don't care about the subject that you are paid to teach enough to use it properly, you need to find something else to teach.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, and, admittedly it is, but it is also true that we all stand on each other's reputations, and we all have to teach each other's students.
Of course, we all make typos, my initial point was that the same word mispelled in two consecutive posts is not a case of typos. I am not so worried about the quality of writing I have to read (but I do prefer good writing) but what the writing reflects about the teacher who is writing it.

[lawyertood]

Let me preface this by saying that poor spelling by teachers of a language is one of my pet peeves. I think we have become too reliant on Spellcheck and not on our own ability to spot mistakes. Spellcheck, to me, is like Social Security in America, a useful thing but it was never meant to be relied on exclusively.

While I agree that this is an informal board and a more relaxed atmosphere is okay, poor spelling (not typos) gives a bad impression of the poster as a teacher of English. I'm more forgiving of non-native speakers. Too often I have seen the words "their," "there" and "they're" mixed up and misused. Also, "lose" and "loose." Spellcheck will not catch these kinds of mistakes.

Having said all this I'm getting off my soap box. I won't personally attack anyone on this board for misspellings and poor grammar. Please just try to be more careful and project a more professional image of yourself as a teacher. Thanks for putting up with my opinion.

[Anda]

I've been writting conversation scripts now for three years. When I write these I pay a lot of attention and rewrite things often. I am told that script writting is reguarded as difficult. Sometimes I can spend more time in just getting one paragraph to sound just right than I do for the whole of a two page script.
What I'm saying is that normal speech is full of grammar mistakes and is often unclear (poorly structured) but it doesn't seem to stop people from using speeck to commuicate. Why should this board be any different.
Content is a lot more important than spelling and grammar. I'd rather read something of interest that used bad grammar than something that was boring but well written.

[sparkx]

We have a winner folks!!

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"I am told that script writting is reguarded as difficult. Sometimes I can spend more time in just getting one paragraph to sound just right than I do for the whole of a two page script.
What I'm saying is that normal speech is full of grammar mistakes and is often unclear (poorly structured) but it doesn't seem to stop people from using speeck to commuicate"
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Veeeery disturbing.

[schwa]

[william beckerson]