I could read that no probs!

Sorry Kickstart must be just you

When someone makes the odd typo or their fingers overtake their brains it's one thing, but when someone goes through a post in total text talk (which I don't get btw and I'm 16 ) or just doesn't bother it is very annoying. Sometimes you have to concentrate so hard on whats being said that you actually miss the message (try figuring that one out ). Sorry, but the internet is not a mobile phone and you don't have a maximum of 299 characters to get the idea over. One mustn't speed post, we're not in a race!!

I was homeschooled (now in my second year of Swiss public school, the biggest waste of time in my life so far), and my mother drilled every bit of grammar possible into my head. We were always required to speak properly, I can remember my mother correcting "ain't"s and other examples of bad grammar as far back as my memory goes.

Gaz Webber, I love reading. It's my one joy apart from dogs and this place, and sadly you're right. I have children in my class who actually brag about never having read a whole book. When they say things like that and look at me like *I* am the mad one it cuts you right to your heart. When I'm on the bus I always have at least one book on me (no e-books because I'm not allowed a mobile phone ) and right now I'm in the middle of Ayn Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness", Darwin's "Origin of Species" and one of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books.

Just a small comment from one of "The New Generation" that actually gets scared when she looks at her generation and shakes her head at the hopelessness of it all.

me me me, i find the standard of grammar, spelling and basic vocabulary appalling.

This is a source of sadness to me, too - I was a bit of a whizz at English when I was at school, apparently, and I try to keep it up.

I think that a lot of the deterioration has come about through television: even the once-perfect newsreaders come out with some glaring errors, but we accept them because we think that a TV company will always be right (BBC please note!).

I was horrified once by an ex-girlfriend who was a teacher, when she had to ask me how to spell "truly" - she was convinced that there should be an "e" in it. If our teachers can't spell, what hope is there for the kids?

Yes, languages evolve, if they didn't, we would still be speaking Chaucerian English, but take a hard look - they tend to evolve to make the easier, lazier constructions correct, thus cementing the error in place.

People do tend to type as they talk, which is why we see so much of my pet hate - "I would of" instead of "I would have" : they sound much the same, but are very different. Split infinitives bug me, too - the only one I've ever accepted was in Star Trek - "To boldly go" (which should, of course, be "to go boldly").

The purpose of any language is to communicate thought as clearly as possible. If it is mis-used, the clarity is lost (and this may well be why fights break out on some boards - people just don't understand what has been posted.

Textspeak is, of course, the epitomy of laziness and , IMO (!) has no place on a forum. There's also a misapprehension that, somehow, textspeak is "cool".

English has become one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, and it seems to me that it is sad that we Brits can't even speak it correctly! Dyslexia is something else altogether: it is an inherent inability, and not caused either by laziness or ignorance. Typing speed is not an excuse, in my book - what is the point of being able to type fast if the result is gibberish? To misquote "Treebeard" in the "Lord of the Rings", "If a thing is worth saying, it may take a long time to say!". Not the exact words, sorry, but you get my drift! "Baroom!"

Snorri
(self-confessed pedant)

Snorri, would you believe that over here we (well, not me ) must learn the "proper" form of english - "British" english. I wasn't believed when I said to my teacher that the so-called "British English" was nonexistant and no one talks like that. I was laughed at

Nah
Y'see Me, right, I'm all *What EVAR*, 'cos, y'know, it's all, yeah, no use izzit? Cos, right, when I leave skool, yeah?, I'm gonna go straight to McDonalds, right? and all I'll need, yeah?, is to be able ter say *D'ya want fries withit?*, Right?
I mean, I'm like *LOLZ*, 'cuz, like, I speak english proper, dunnI?
And that's phat, 'cos, I'm heavy with that, it's bitchin' an' that. So 'nuf 'spect and that, and I gonna hang with my homeys. 'cos, like they phear my l337 sk11lz and that. WIKKID!

I'm so sorry!
I have no idea what happened then. I've been working all day with a couple of morons, whose combined IQ would be equalled, if not surpassed, by a glass of tepid salt water. I think they may have somehow affected me.
I have no idea what the above means, but it is roughly what I have been subjected to for the last eight hours.
I may just take a few tablets and lie down...

In a darkened room, I hope! You sound in a right state!

Yes it is a bug-bear.

Schools don't always help though. I've seen this myself looking at my neices homework, there were tons of spelling mistakes left uncorrected, how will she learn if they do not correct her?

Ozzysmum you are so right. My 15 year old daughter cannot understand when I try to explain why it is that English homework should be written in English and legible. I am scared for her future, often work which include English is marked with no correction to spellings, punctuation and the use of capital letters.

I do wonder what will happen to the English language