Language Barrier

Thank you, Angela for suggesting the topic for the day --  poor grammar!

Growing up, there was a commercial on the radio that started with the words, “Fair or not – people judge you by the words you use.” It was an ad for a product called Verbal Advantage, an audio learning method for improving your vocabulary. Whenever I hear someone say something grammatically incorrect, that phrase immediately comes to mind. The more I think about it, the more I think that people should be judged not only by the words they use, but how they use those words. Call me a snob, but what is the point of learning anything in school if you don’t use what you learned correctly?

When someone corrects a child, they are trying to teach them something, but from one adult to another, it’s considered rude, even if done discreetly. The problem is it’s difficult to correct someone without sounding like an arrogant ass. Although, if it was socially acceptable to correct someone, I believe instances that required correction would drop dramatically.

I’ve often heard that English is an evolving language, and while that is true to a degree, I don’t think it is an excuse to abandon the rules of grammar and spelling. It’s easy to blame the school system for the way things are, but that doesn’t explain why people from the same family or students in the same class are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Dependence on computers’ spell checkers and the catastrophe that was Hooked on Phonics certainly have had an impact on the situation. Add to that Twitter and texting shorthand and it makes one wonder what the next generation will have to offer.

I know some non-English speaking adults who came to this country as a result of a job transfer. Their employer will often require they take English classes either here or in their own country. The problem is, they’re learning one kind of English in the classroom and another on the street, which can be quite confusing. While the same can be said of most American students, I can imagine this makes it more difficult for non-English speaking adults who are still trying to learn the rules. For those foreign transplants who learned English as part of their education growing up, how will they actually know what is right or wrong when so many of their American peers don’t seem to know either?

I encounter many cringe-worthy incorrect phrases throughout the day, and I do try to refrain from correcting anyone (depending on the person), but I will occasionally break out my red pen (literally) and correct some misspelled words on job sheets and in our telephone memo book. Snobby I know, but no one seems to care, or notice for that matter, and it does give me a sense of satisfaction!

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