Grammar

[Seanny]

Just my opinion, honest as always:

Bad grammar and/or bad spelling tells me that the poster is lazy. I dont think anyone here is super educated (I may be wrong, I'm certainly no brainbox), but I think its only right and proper to put some thought into your posts, whether that post is here in Geek, in some other forum or simply in an email. It takes just a few seconds to check and it makes the life of the recipient so much easier. JUST DO IT.

I should add that I dont expect any non-english speaking geeks to be exact in their posts, to be honest, I am in constant amazement at their ability and desire to slot in here even though their English isnt the greatest. Well done you guys!

 

[collin]

good thread....I am seriously dyslexic and so are both my kids...this does get frustrating from a personel pride point of view ..but has certainly never held me (or my boy's) back from acheiving well in life.
When I was a lad at school we never received any help..however my kids now get additonal tuition /extra time in exams as well as the ability to use laptop in class...great news as this is really helping them.
what is embarrassing is that my wife is German (speaks 5 languages) and I keep asking her how to spell the simplest of words...I actually have just had to ask her how to spell "embarrassing" so if its wrong then its her fault.
I have heard of case studies that have shown that Dyslexic individuals in general are highly creative individuals and acheivers.
So I guess somewhat embarrassing (didnt need to ask her again as I could copy from above ) but if thats all you can be critisised for then it really doesnt matter to much in the wider scheme of things..look at atilla the Hun ..he could spell but look at how much critism he gets in the press!!!
So I suppose I could use this opertunty to apologise generally for any spelling mistakes in this thread response or any others I may have posted...please no smart arse spelling correction notices :hug: -maybe the moderators will cut me a bit of slack on my posting spellings after this now that my little secret is out hey???
just before going...is it "I before E or other the way round" :lol:

 

[collin]

Just my opinion, honest as always:

Bad grammar and/or bad spelling tells me that the poster is lazy. I dont think anyone here is super educated (I may be wrong, I'm certainly no brainbox), but I think its only right and proper to put some thought into your posts, whether that post is here in Geek, in some other forum or simply in an email. It takes just a few seconds to check and it makes the life of the recipient so much easier. JUST DO IT.

I should add that I dont expect any non-english speaking geeks to be exact in their posts, to be honest, I am in constant amazement at their ability and desire to slot in here even though their English isnt the greatest. Well done you guys!

Whilst I agree with some of your view points I do have to say I am finding it extreemly hard to be very carefull and curteous in my response to your views on spelling...us Dyslexic's are certainly not lazy..any genuine disability (no matter what it is)does not and should never be catagorised(yes I did ask my wife to spell that for me) under the heading"lazy":smack:

 

[collin]

Facts abut me

* I CANNOT spell
* I CANNOT understand grammer (though Marion done a lovely job explaining to me about apostrophes!)
* I CANNOT do mental arthimatic.
* I CANNOT use spell check on here it tells me to install something or other when all I want to do is spell check

Want to here another fact about me? I'm dyspraxic.

I will always read through my posts but because I miss out words and letters it always looks fine to me:!:

I always use paragraphs though, people who don't give me headache!!!

Spelling and grammer was never made a big deal at school for either but I think the other point is we all now live in a lazy nation where we can get microsoft word to do it all for us. :lol:

I do try though I swear (and yes there a million spelling and grammer mistakes in this post, Oh well - enjoy :lol

Amy :hug:

good for you Amy...I also cant get that kin spell check jobby to work either??

 

[marioned]

us Dyslexic's are certainly not lazy..any genuine disability (no matter what it is)does not and should never be catagorised(yes I did ask my wife to spell that for me) under the heading"lazy":smack:

I totally agree with you Colin in what you are saying. Well done for being brave and telling your "secret".

Some posters who use bad grammar or spelling may be lazy. Others who have genuine difficulty in these areas, for whatever reason, be it dyslexia, learning difficulties, lack of teaching, etc, are not being lazy. They are probably working at least twice as hard as others in order to put their points across. They are also taking a huge leap of faith that their point of view will be listened to, and that their mistakes are not seen by the reader as more important than what they are saying.

Marion x

 

[collin]

I totally agree with you Colin in what you are saying. Well done for being brave and telling your "secret".

Some posters who use bad grammar or spelling may be lazy. Others who have genuine difficulty in these areas, for whatever reason, be it dyslexia, learning difficulties, lack of teaching, etc, are not being lazy. They are probably working at least twice as hard as others in order to put their points across. They are also taking a huge leap of faith that their point of view will be listened to, and that their mistakes are not seen by the reader as more important than what they are saying.

Marion x

thanks...we do take 4 times longer to write..we check and re check.all looks fine from our perspective....I guess its better to get a valid contributory view point across rather than to be silent and never heard
Right its time for a nice glass of red wine...hick

 

[geeg]

Do you know what?? I don't think there is a single person who aimed this thread at people who have dyslexia or any other problems of this kind including Seanny, and I think you all know it perfectly well.
You know why?? Because that would be unkind not to mention cruel and that is not the sort of people we are on here ... so lets not make something turn sour that needn't OK?

The spell check can't be that difficult to down load in any case as I managed it and I am not a computer geek as so many of you are! In fact I haven't a clue generally about these things.

 

[blossom]

I have always found punctuation, spelling and grammar easy to understand and I have to say, if people made better use of it then sometimes posts would not be misinterpreted! (I don't mean this one lol.) Sometimes, for the sake of speed, or just how I want them to be read, my posts are not grammatically perfect and I certainly don't judge anyone else on their errors, spelling mistakes or lack of punctuation.

I totally agree with Geeg that none of this was aimed at anyone with dyslexia or something similar.

 

[amirose]

Why I am jumping in here I don't know I'm sure I will regret it however I feel as though some of these recent points are aimed at my contribution to this thread.

I certainly wasn't, nor do I believe anyone else was, trying to say I was being "picked on" when I said I was dyspraxic. If you interpreted it that way then you misunderstood. What I was trying to say is that people are quick to make assumptions as to why someone hasn't spelt something correctly or entered their apostrophes in the right place.

For me Spell Check does not allow for the fact I will write the completely wrong word or missed out half a sentence.

And Geeg its not a case of not understanding how to install spellcheck I simply don't like having to install things on to my computer after having to format it so many times because I don't have a clue what I'm downloading.
Anyway sj1973 showed me a way with my google bar. Hey Collin have you got a google toolbar theres a thing going ABC Check with a green tick - thats a spell check. :lol: Its only been there for 4 years without drawing my attention :idea:

Amy

 

[geeg]

Why I am jumping in here I don't know I'm sure I will regret it however I feel as though some of these recent points are aimed at my contribution to this thread.

I certainly wasn't, nor do I believe anyone else was, trying to say I was being "picked on" when I said I was dyspraxic. If you interpreted it that way then you misunderstood. What I was trying to say is that people are quick to make assumptions as to why someone hasn't spelt something correctly or entered their apostrophes in the right place.

For me Spell Check does not allow for the fact I will write the completely wrong word or missed out half a sentence.

And Geeg its not a case of not understanding how to install spellcheck I simply don't like having to install things on to my computer after having to format it so many times because I don't have a clue what I'm downloading.
Anyway sj1973 showed me a way with my google bar. Hey Collin have you got a google toolbar theres a thing going ABC Check with a green tick - thats a spell check. :lol: Its only been there for 4 years without drawing my attention :idea:

Amy

None of my points were aimed at a particular individual ... if they had been, I would have pm'd that person and not posted on the site. But as you have mentioned it I am now posting to you and everyone else that I never aim comments to just one person (for one it goes against site rules).

All my comments are general and I did not want a bunch of peeps all with their own individual reasons for being bad spellers or bad at punctuation or bad at grammar or anything else to start jumping in and turning this thread (which is a good one) into something else. Period.

 

[Ophala]

I really hope I don't offend anyone here - as it's not what I want to do at all, but I'm just curious as to why 'dyslexic' is such a hard word to spell....considering it's meaning!?

 

[CurlyQs]

Do you know what?? I don't think there is a single person who aimed this thread at people who have dyslexia or any other problems of this kind including Seanny, and I think you all know it perfectly well.
You know why?? Because that would be unkind not to mention cruel and that is not the sort of people we are on here ... so lets not make something turn sour that needn't OK?

The spell check can't be that difficult to down load in any case as I managed it and I am not a computer geek as so many of you are! In fact I haven't a clue generally about these things.

I agree. All people are saying is, be courteous and check your post over. Don't spend an hour on it, and no one cares if there are a few errors in it, but it's pretty obvious when someone didn't bother to give it a glance or spell check before posting.

As far as paragraphs go, I don't think it matters if they're actually in the right places. Just a matter of breaking up a big block of text.

 

[CurlyQs]

I really hope I don't offend anyone here - as it's not what I want to do at all, but I'm just curious as to why 'dyslexic' is such a hard word to spell....considering it's meaning!?

Not sure that's a priority when the names of exceptionalities or disabilities are created. Maybe an internet search will explain how the name was arrived at.....

 

[collin]

Do you know what?? I don't think there is a single person who aimed this thread at people who have dyslexia or any other problems of this kind including Seanny, and I think you all know it perfectly well.

Couldnt agree more and I am sure no one feels they have been targeted individually...good healthy debate...by the way has anyone dared to check any further spellings on this thread ?...I know I am dying to but but dont dare to nor do I have the capability to do so
I do think that as long as we all at least do our very best within the constraints of our individual incapabilities (be it either that we have a disfunction or that we are from a different country and find the English language difficult to communicate in) and that the content of what we are communicating is valid ,of help and of intrest to others then surely that is all that really matters.
Crossing the T's and dotting the I's whilst important are mearly second place to the communication being made.
Unfortunatley devices like spell check's on our PC's do little in the long term developement of the written word as to does SMS talk....far better to have a dictionary to hand and at least work at "doing it right" even if on occasion you might get it wrong :hug:

 

[marioned]

I sincerely hope I haven't offended anyone by any of my posts. I have intended my posts to be general and they have not been aimed at anyone in particular, whether those with language difficulties, or without. It certainly isn't my intension to stir up trouble, and if I have upset anyone I am very sorry.

My intention was to try to make people aware of the difficulties faced by some others, and that people shouldn't jump to assumptions when reading posts. The thread was started by someone who has difficulties with grammar. She asked if this type of difficulty (spelling/grammar/punctuation) made other people think they were less "intelligent".

This thread was initially, therefore, about peoples' attitude towards those with specific language difficulties and I feel that people were wandering away from the topic by then generalising to people who posted without checking over their writing. In no way do I think that people were referring in particular to those who have dyslexia, etc., but that they are forgetting that this thread, and the original question, are about people with language difficulties.

I really feel that everyone has the right to put forward their ideas and that some of the generalised comments made may put off some people from posting because they are unsure if their spelling or grammar is "correct enough". For someone with these difficulties a piece of writing can be checked a hundred times and the error still won't jump out. Spell checkers and grammar checkers can help to some extent, but many errors will still "slip through".

This site has some of the most truly supportive people I have come across and I am sure we are all supportive of all other members whether they need help with site topics in nails, hair or beauty, or with any more personal “issues” such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, reading, mental health, physical difficulties, etc.

Marion x

 

[geeg]

Well I do not for one moment think most of us read posts with an overly critical eye. (I'm sure I would miss most of the spelling mistakes anyway).

I'm not bad at spelling, but my nails make gazillions of mistakes when typing, so without spell check I could not live!!

And although I agree we have gone slightly off the original topic which, if I were to make an answer, I would say that, NO, I do not think someone is stupid for mistakes in grammar, punctuation or spelling.

I do, however, think that there are many who could make some effort to type posts in a manner that does not look ignorant or lazy, out of courtesy to all that come to visit here on the site.

There are moderators here that spend hours (literally) just cleaning up peoples' posts. Have a thought for we who spend valuable time doing that job so that others will enjoy their experience here. Showing some consideration for others would be appreciated.

 

[sj1973]

Why I am jumping in here I don't know I'm sure I will regret it however I feel as though some of these recent points are aimed at my contribution to this thread.

I certainly wasn't, nor do I believe anyone else was, trying to say I was being "picked on" when I said I was dyspraxic. If you interpreted it that way then you misunderstood. What I was trying to say is that people are quick to make assumptions as to why someone hasn't spelt something correctly or entered their apostrophes in the right place.

For me Spell Check does not allow for the fact I will write the completely wrong word or missed out half a sentence.

And Geeg its not a case of not understanding how to install spellcheck I simply don't like having to install things on to my computer after having to format it so many times because I don't have a clue what I'm downloading.
Anyway sj1973 showed me a way with my google bar. Hey Collin have you got a google toolbar theres a thing going ABC Check with a green tick - thats a spell check. :lol: Its only been there for 4 years without drawing my attention :idea:

Amy

Good for you Hun....i did not know how to install spellcheck on salon geek either....that's why i use the Google one....i hope it helps you like it helps me hun xxxxxxxx

 

[hippy-chick]

well I've just read the whole thread and can't see that anyone has been singled out or picked on.

It has been a nice, general discussion.

I also agree with everyone re: text talk and not putting paragraphs in.

But, I must say. I have always had a mental block with their/there/they're.
I really struggle with this one and sometimes re-write a sentence just so I don't actually have to put that word in.

I also type as I speak, and sometimes get way to over-excited. I don't generally check my work, but I do generally read it over once I've posted and go back and edit it.

 

[blossom]

I really hope I don't offend anyone here - as it's not what I want to do at all, but I'm just curious as to why 'dyslexic' is such a hard word to spell....considering it's meaning!?

It is taken from Greek words, roughly translated meaning "word" "impaired" :green:

Where we get words from interests me.

 

[soriminah]

The one thing that annoys me is when people just can't be bothered checking the spelling of something in important documentation. In particular names. Mine gets mispelled all the time so I'm very conscious of checking other peoples names.

Years ago I had a graphic design business with a friend. She sent out a letter to a teacher at the local high school about typing up school assignments for students - basically we were asking for work.

I saw how she'd written the name on a piece of paper and asked if she'd checked the correct spelling before she sent it out. She said no, that's how she'd written it - she's had a rough guess. I knew how to spell the teachers name so I knew what she'd written was wrong.

I cracked saying how unprofessional it was, that she should have asked me or rung the school to check. Her opinion was close enough was good enough but when you're doing newsletters for businesses or Resumes for clients, you need to be 100% accurate - not, 'oh, that'll do'. Needless to say we never heard from the teacher and the partnership lasted less than 6 months. I ended up working just for myself. She wanted the money from a business but didn't want to put in the effort of producing high quality work.

So from my point of view, spelling mistakes in certain instances is ignorant, unprofessional and shows you can't be bothered. If I received documentation full of spelling mistakes from a 'professional' I wouldn't bother with their business.

Forums, emails, text messages etc are a whole different thing. They are informal and so long as it's not in text speak and there are paragraphs to break up the text, then no big deal. Oh, the only other thing that annoys me is when the whole post is in capital letters.