English

That is so funny. I've got to send it to my friends! I've tried to shorten some words when I text(which I don't do much of) and usually go back and change it because it just seems so lazy and incorrect. My mom was very strict about proper grammer and so am I with my kids. They may use the new texting way of spelling and grammer, but will most definitely learn correct grammer and punctuation, too. I might add my kids will know how to look up a word in a dictionary, the book not the web dictionary, and know how to find a book in the library using the call letters.

My son tried using the text lingo.
I put a quick stop to it.
I was griping about it and a friend who is a teacher said that she was going crazy with kids turning in their homework using the digit 2 for to, two, or too. Or using the digit 4 for for or four. It was getting to the point that they didn't know the difference.
I told my son that I didn't care how "cute" or "cool" it was, if he couldn't write things correctly, he wasn't going to do it at all.
The thing that sent me over the edge is that he was sending an e-mail in response to a very proper message from an elderly relative and I was not having it. Not at all.

He is 16 and spells things out properly because I have made it a habit for him to do so.
That goes for schoolwork, facebook, casual notes to his friends.
It makes me sad to see the English language go right out the window. Frankly, I have a hard time understanding some of the shortcuts.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it in some situations, but I prefer to attempt proper verbiage and spelling.
Just to keep my mind sharp at my age if nothing else.

Just my opinion.

No, technology has nothing to do with it, it's simply a matter of a quality education.
If you know your history then you know that the printing press and moving pictures were both a source of much controversy and dismay re the future of the written word in general.
Sometimes posters on this site seem to have little or a very poor education, or maybe their English is actually a second language, and I try to be sensitive to that.
Our public schools start writer's workshop kindergarten. By the end of first grade many kids are writing amazing stories. Of course at this age spelling and grammar have yet to be fine tuned but the kids make huge strides by the time they reach about third/fourth grade. By high school their writing is INCREDIBLE, and I am talking about my own kids who are only B/C average students, the A and AP students are even more amazing. It also helps that they are typing rather than physically writing because they can get so much more detail and information to press in less time. I wish I had had the internet/computer at my disposal as a student, I mean, WOW, what a difference that would have made! Of course, I'm sure I would have also suffered the inevitable distractions, lol, but seriously, what REALLY matters is the environment in which you are raised and what your peers and mentors expect of you. My kids are fortunate to live in an environment of high expectations and I am grateful that they have the ability to express themselves intelligently and coherently :)

I don't know if it's texting as much as laziness. I saw a post on Pinterest te other day that I love! It said "b-e-f-o-r-e not b4, we speak English, not bingo." :)

I think kids are taught to just express themselves and not necessarily focus on spelling correctly. There's too much reliance on spell check with computers and other devices.

I know we have a LOT of ESL moms on this board, and a handful of dyslexic ones.

Whenever I see the
runonsentancefromhellanditsnotoneofmyownandIcanbarelyreadit I just thank my lucky stars I'm not dyslexic! I'd hate for everything I read to be that challenging!!

My writing on this board is abominable, and I'm not ESL, either. It's three fold:

- First off... there are no italics. So I use capslock for italic.

- Secondly... this is just stream of consciousness on my end. In no small part, because of the teensy, tiny, window. If I can't see my entire piece, I can't edit it quickly. If I can't edit quickly, I don't edit or barely edit. Actually, that's one of the reasons I'm on here so much. It takes very little effort on my part! In other venues I edit, reedit, think about it, delete, or just have to close my eyes and brazenly hit send (i HATE not having an editor when I'm actually writing). Here? I can just type and post.

- Thirdly... I don't consider this writing. On other boards, with a way to search and save/catalogue old posts, which have decent windows to type in, preview before sending, etc... I take more time. And this certainly isn't writing for publication or review (yes, I do know the rules for 'and' and 'but', I choose to break them on a fairly regular basis). Someone MIGHT recongize my voice on here compared with elsewhere (other boards or published) but I rather doubt it.

My (9yo) son uses MANY types of writing. He can write in txt, 1337, and proper English. We haven't done cursive, as yet, though plan to. It's a 2e thing... if I held him back to the level his handwriting was capable of, we'd be a couple years behind, instead of a couple years ahead.

HAH!!! This is a HUGE pet peeve for me! I really, REALLY can't stand seeing things with improper capitalization. How much extra time does it take to hold down the shift key? In my world, it takes no extra time at all...but then again, I learned to type. I'm not sure they're teaching typing so much anymore, now that apparently you can do it with two thumbs.

I am teaching my six year old to type...don't own a cell phone...so I am really not worried about my own. But for the rest of them? Yes, I really am. I think it's a tragedy, really. Language is such a legacy, such an art...and we're just throwing it away for so called "convenience." No one is so important that they can't take time to capitalize.

I truly don't believe that texting is what is affecting our children's ability to write. Writing has been terrible for many, many years before texting was widely popular. Punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, fragments, run-ons, improper abbreviations, improper word usage etc. They were all around before texting.

My honest belief is that our poor writing skills (as a society) stem from a lack of real READING, not a lack of writing practice.

If we want our children to write better, we ABSOLUTELY MUST force them to read, read, read.

Many well loved and respected art/fashion/decor type blogs type in all lowercase letters. It is an indie fashion trend that is gaining momentum... especially when done in an old type font.

Not only is text speak harming the way people speak and write, it is also handicapping the way people, especially the youth, are learning to act in face to face social situations.

So yes, while my spelling nor grammar is perfect, we do teach our children not to be sloppy or lazy in their writing/speaking.

Let me preface this by stating that I know my grammar and punctuation is very bad. I have an 8 year old daughter who has grammar that is appropriate for her age. She understands proper punctuation, with of course a few exceptions. I can completely understand your post and I do believe that everyone, generally speaking of course, has become quite accustomed to doing things the easy way. Focusing on proper punctuation and capitalization is not a primary concern, or so it would seem.

My older son texts so that I can barely figure out what it says. I have seen the funny books in book stores that make fun of what texting says, especially when family members are reading each other's texts.

My younger son doesn't text yet, but he plays online games, as does his brother, and they do the "short hand" with that as well.

That being said, they are both wonderful writers, and I mean wonderful. My younger son especially excels in creative writing. My older son writes college papers. And he's making good grades.

My older son has a lot of laughs over stuff like your quote above. Especially the signs with sentence structure that make you about wreck your car driving past them (especially when it's in front of a church.) We frequently look at stuff like that online and have many laughs.

Dawn

This is why I've insisted that both of my daughters learn cursive and use it to write thank you letters and greeting cards. It's appalling that cursive is no longer being taught in public schools (or in ours, in any case). My fourth grader has never had to write a book report in her academic career to date. Why can't people write? They've never been taught. It takes practice, correction, constructive criticism - but this is not a priority in public school curricula anymore. If I could quit my job and home school my children, I'd do it in a minute. It really worries me that they'll grow up knowing nothing because their education has been so lacking.

AH HAHA Thank you for that chuckle this morning.

My mother is a retired 8th grade English teacher. I also homeschool. I hate text speak and when I get messages that have letters instead of words I will text back with "huh?"

My son has a Driod, he will spell out every word correctly, he will also correct his friends texts and send them back. He does it to me too.

I try to come on here with correct capitalization and spelling but sometimes my fingers go faster than my brain and I don't reread as often as I should. If I come across a post with textspeak or that is too grammatically innaccurate, I just don't read it.

It is frustrating when it goes beyond the occasional typo and starts to be difficult to understand. Yes, it seems that the level of written English seen online can be pretty low. I am not worried about my own kids though--my husband writes and edits for a living so poor writing would strongly discouraged. I do feel for children who do not have adults around them that can read and write well in English. They are at a real disadvantage educationally.

I don't even know where to start! I am appalled that my 6th grade daughter's penmanship is atrocious (they no longer have any penmanship lessons in school) and that she barely knows how to spell any words. When I brought it up to her Intermediate school's principal, he had some song and dance about the kids learning the same words over and over because those words are the hard words (like there, their, and they're). All right, got it. But come on! Kids don't know anything about writing, spelling, or even putting together a sentence anymore!

I would hate to be the university professors in a few years who will need to read and try to figure out what the kids have written in their papers. I majored in history, German, and Spanish, and I can tell you that if you don't know/understand the structure of English and a sentence, you will have a hard time passing any foreign language class at uni. In our Spanish class, we had to know the different parts of the sentence structure--noun, verb, adjective, adverb--as well as past-perfect, future-perfect, genitives, accusatory, etc. One girl was in tears, trying to figure out how to diagram a Spanish sentence. She's never learned in school how to diagram a sentence (Oh, I remember very well diagraming those *&#(! sentences!) and here she was, at university without a single idea of where to even begin. Since she'd never diagramed a sentence in English, the Spanish teacher had to take her aside and first teach her how to diagram a sentence in English, then in Spanish.

I am a SAHM who also works out of the house. I am a content editor for a e-publisher and also proofread for a small publishing house. Thankfully I know English and the structure of a sentence and can help my daughter learn what she's obviously not learning in school. But I am appalled that, at the age of 11 years old, she still doesn't know much. I remember that stuff literally being drilled into our heads when I was in school!

My daughter has a keen interest in writing fiction, and I'm using that interest to help her restructure her sentences and work on spelling and punctuation.

Another example where the punctuation makes all the difference: "Eats, shoots, and leaves" or "Eats shoots and leaves." If anyone needs help figuring out the difference between the two, contact me.

I tend to be a spelling/grammar Nazi..... however, I do realize that people may have learning disabilities that have hampered their writing ability.

I work in a Middle School and see so many poor writing examples, it worries me about the future.

My son, however, has noticed that when he is typing/communicating online, that people look at him differently since he can type well. He takes the time to type carefully.

I am planning on raising my son proper grammar in his writing and speech. I figured it might be the only thing, along w/proper manners, that will separate him from the others should he ever apply for a job or loan.

Please please please make sure your children have and use proper grammar. My husband often hires many college grads. He says its pathetic how most of them, as smart as they are, have no manners and and are unable to write a proper email of acknowledgent to confirm an interview or send thanks for an interview (if they even do so). He says some of the correspondence he gets from these young professionals looks like our 6 yr old wrote them.

Your peeve is Capitalization, my peeve is a lot is two words!!!!!! It is a lot not alot. This drives me nuts. My children are well aware of proper writing techniques.