Maybe I am being irrational, but does the total lack of writing skills go against anyones grain?. My grammar and punctuation are certainly not perfect, but the way young people write today makes me wonder if there is any point to teaching English at all. I realize this is a math forum(the unofficial antithesis of English), but the lack of punctuation and crazy ways of spelling, i.e. plz for please, ur for your, etc. make some posts difficult to read. It's like trying to decipher some silly code. Is it me or does this bother anyone else?.
IM-speak?
- Thread starter galactus
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2004
- Messages
- 16,582
I view it as a matter of basic politeness. Students are quite welcome to be as cutesy and informal as they like when they're chit-chatting with their little kiddie-friends. But when they're asking complete strangers for the favor of assistance, they can danged well show some basic respect.
And for them to claim that they type, for instance, "know" as "noe" because they "dont hv tim 2 spel" is just plain insulting. They don't have the time to bother speaking clearly, but we losers, allegedly having nothing better to do with our lives, have the time to puzzle out what the heck their crypto-lingo means, figure backwards to divine all the omitted information (like the instructions), and then provide a complete worked solution prefixed by a mini-lesson...? And hurry up, cuz they been waitin' like a whole three minutes!!!!
I'm not usually one to endorse "zero-tolerance" "solutions", but I certainly wouldn't object if the mass of tutors stopped polishing their crystal balls, trying to figure out what these smug elitists want, and instead replied along the lines of, "I'm sorry, but you will need to clarify your post before it can be answered. Using standard punctuation, spelling, and grammar, along with posting the exact text of the exercise, will be very helpful. Thank you for your consideration."
Just my (old and grumpy) two cents....
Eliz.
And for them to claim that they type, for instance, "know" as "noe" because they "dont hv tim 2 spel" is just plain insulting. They don't have the time to bother speaking clearly, but we losers, allegedly having nothing better to do with our lives, have the time to puzzle out what the heck their crypto-lingo means, figure backwards to divine all the omitted information (like the instructions), and then provide a complete worked solution prefixed by a mini-lesson...? And hurry up, cuz they been waitin' like a whole three minutes!!!!
I'm not usually one to endorse "zero-tolerance" "solutions", but I certainly wouldn't object if the mass of tutors stopped polishing their crystal balls, trying to figure out what these smug elitists want, and instead replied along the lines of, "I'm sorry, but you will need to clarify your post before it can be answered. Using standard punctuation, spelling, and grammar, along with posting the exact text of the exercise, will be very helpful. Thank you for your consideration."
Just my (old and grumpy) two cents....
Eliz.
I agree completely with the previous posters!
Wouldn't you like to see a job application filled out in "kiddie-speak"?
xxxxi'd like 2 work 4 ur company cuz i'm gr8 at communic8in w/peeps gimme a holla
Wow! That should impress the folks in Human Resources! I think that if we insist, as a group, that students post in something at least resembling formal English, we will be doing them a favor in the long run.
Wouldn't you like to see a job application filled out in "kiddie-speak"?
xxxxi'd like 2 work 4 ur company cuz i'm gr8 at communic8in w/peeps gimme a holla
Wow! That should impress the folks in Human Resources! I think that if we insist, as a group, that students post in something at least resembling formal English, we will be doing them a favor in the long run.
galactus said:
I don't like how you generalize "young people". Although many of my friends and classmates talk like this online, I have never written in "IM-speak" or even "l33t" for that matter and have been a computer-nerd since I was nine. It bothers some of us young people as well...
I'm not taking offense to what you said, just defending the few of my generation who take the time to write correctly :mrgreen:
I don't believe that's how the term "young people" was specifically meant. Yes, it seems generalized, but honestly, most people our age do write in IM speak. I don't and it's obvious that you don't, but I certainly don't take offense to the generalization about young people typing incorrectly because I know that I do not, but also that many people my age do.Of course, I didn't mean to paint with such a broad brush. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but I find IM-speak lazy and an insult to ones intelligence...the writer as well as the reader. I certainly didn't mean to infer that EVERY young person/student uses this irritating form of communication.