[Regina]

Hyack Hyack:

When I was in school my notes were all taken with my own "shorthand", but that was only so I didn't have to refill the ink well or sharpen my quill so often....

Yeah those oil lanterns and candles don't burn forever. Not only that but once you get the parchment paper on the scroll pinned down you hate to stop writing.

[PJB]

My son recently graduated from grade 12 in good ole Saskatchewan and I swear that he spells at a 4th or 5th grade level. Computers and spell check are the worst things that students have access to. I have seen some of his papers and have counted many mistakes. Using wear for where, no for know. I guess as long as whatever word is spelled correctly the meaning is implied.

[bootlegga]

Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:

My wife recently had to write a speech to the bride of a wedding, she gave it to me to proof read. Now we are pretty much the same age, but I went to school in Alberta and her in New Brunswick. Technically I am a highschool drop out (had the credits but not the required courses for a diploma) and she has gone to collage and at one point was a qualified vet tech. What she had strung together was atrocious, and after 20 min of trying to find out what she was trying to say we had a speech. Which brought the tears to the bride's eyes. Now I dont know what condition Alberta education is in now, but there is no way in hell I am letting my son go to school in New Brunswick.

Actually, when I went to the University of Alberta, the professors there were almost unanimous in their low opinion of high schools in Alberta, ie, they all thought that high schools here sucked.

The general opinion was that high schools here taught kids to memorize things and basically copy right out of texts and such, making most students atrocious writers.

In retrospect, they were largely correct - my Social Studies teacher taught us a 'formula' if you will for writing essays, including generally what to say in each sentence in the both the introductory & concluding paragraphs and how to structure our arguments (strongest first, weakest second, counter argument last. It served me well on the Diploma exam, which counted for 50% of my final Grade 12 mark, but was totally useless in university.

I had honours in Social Studies, English and a couple of other Grade 12 subjects, but I came close to failing several first year university courses (English, History and Poli Sci) largely because my writing skills simply weren't up to snuff.

It wasn't until my third year in university that I returned to honours grades in my courses because of the poor writing skills I learned in high school. That only happened because I took several years off and spent some time in the workforce, and during that time, I worked on my writing, taking several evening courses. Even then, when I went back, I had doubts about whether or not I would make it.

FYI, as already noted, the above post is rife with errors - but in fairness, we can't really hold that against you as you yourself noted that you are essentially a high school dropout.

Having said that, it most definitely is not a ringing endorsement of the Alberta secondary education system.

[BartSimpson]

raydan raydan:

In my last post I wrote "texte" (French spelling) but caught it before submitting.

There's nothing wrong with that at all. One of the admirable things about English is that the incoporation of non-English words and spellings into the vernacular is acceptable since around World War Two.

Just turn off the stupid spell-check on Microsoft Word if you're using it. I hate that thing.

[DrCaleb]

Guy_Fawkes Guy_Fawkes:

Now I dont know what condition Alberta education is in now, but there is no way in hell I am letting my son go to school in New Brunswick.

$1:

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is giving high praise to Alberta's education system, which the province's educators say can be credited to our teachers, and the innovative way they use technology in classrooms.

"Alberta is the jurisdiction with the best educational results of any English speaking jurisdiction in the world," said Prime Minister Cameron at the House of Commons on Thursday, calling Canada a home of "innovation and technology."

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/britain ... story.html

[raydan]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

There's nothing wrong with that at all. One of the admirable things about English is that the incoporation of non-English words and spellings into the vernacular is acceptable since around World War Two.

Just turn off the stupid spell-check on Microsoft Word if you're using it. I hate that thing.

Catching Miss pilled Words with Spilling Checker

As an extra addled service, I am going to put this column in the Spilling Checker, where I tryst it will sale through with flying colons. In this modern ear, iris simply inexplicable to ask readers to expose themselves to misspelled swords when they have bitter things to do.
And with all the other timesharing features on my new work processor, it is in realty very easy to pit together a colon like this one and get it tight. For instants, if there is a work that is wrong, I just put the curse on it, press Delete and its Well sometimes it deletes to the end of the lion or worst yet the whole rage. Four bigger problems, there is the Cat and Paste option. If there is some test that is somewhere were you wish it where somewhere else you jest put the curse at both ends and wash it disappear. Where you want it to reappear simply bring four quarts of water to a rotting boil and throw in 112 pounds of dazed chicken. Sometimes it brings in the Cat that was Pasted yesterday. But usually it comes out as you planned, or better. And if it doesn't, there are lots of other easy to lose options...

[raydan]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

raydan raydan:

In my last post I wrote "texte" (French spelling) but caught it before submitting.

There's nothing wrong with that at all. One of the admirable things about English is that the incoporation of non-English words and spellings into the vernacular is acceptable since around World War Two.

Just turn off the stupid spell-check on Microsoft Word if you're using it. I hate that thing.

What's "incoporation"?

A merger of law enforcers?

[Dragon-Dancer]

Spell checkers are still a very useful tool but you have to know how to use them. Just because the spell checker thinks that it knows what word you may be trying to write does not mean it's correct. If you don't know where to start then of course you will end up with crap. I can write fairly well usually but I quite enjoy Firefox's built in spell checker just for the benefit of having it catch my type-Os. Even the best of us occasionally forget the correct spelling of words we don't tend to use very often so it's also nice to get that list to pick from since it's does tend to jog memory when you do see it.

All the short hand in forum ports or e-mail does bother me though. I know it's all the range when texting and I can even buy that but when you have the space and the time it's just laziness to not write fully and properly. Nobody's perfect but at least try.

[raydan]

At least 2 errors your spell-checker COULD not catch.