A Question of Grammar....................

[Dago]

I am very worried now, it seems that all of my posts will annoy the other members of this forum. I DO preview and read what I have written and if it looks right to me then I hit the 'post' button. I would like to apologise now for all future mistakes unless they are intended[;-)]

best regards

[IMG]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g130/dago49/Dago3.jpg[/IMG]

[Tresco]

[quote user="ali-cat"]I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this!!  I thought I was either just weird or paranoid (& I just checked "paranoid" in the dictionary!!)[/quote]

I do it too, Ali and Coops.

Along with others here, I find it very hard work to read a long post with no paragraphs.

It irks me when there are no capitals too, but missing, or misplaced commas are the worst thing as far as understanding the intent of the writer goes. The placing of commas really can change the whole meaning of a post, and can (and indeed, has) lead to misunderstandings here on LF.

It really doesn't bother me if someone points out an error I've made though. In fact I appreciate it.

That said, please don't all jump at once.[;-)]

[Dick Smith]

A contributor to one of the WW1 discussion lists I subscribe to includes this as part of his signature:

This e.mail message is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and are in no way to be considered flaws or defects.

But then, that isn't what we are discussing, really, is it?

[Tresco]

I'm just 'bumping' this back up to its rightful place.

It went down the 'active' list due to me correcting my own post. [:D]

[Clair]

I have no problems whatsoever with spelling mistakes. I simply wish to be able to focus on the content of the post or message without struggling through lack of capitals, punctuation or spaces.

If you wish to share your point of view, it makes sense to make it "available" to your audience so that they can understand it. For instance, the French government realised they would reach a wider audience for a French view of world events by diffusing France24 in French, English and soon Arabic.

The basic starting point, if you want to ensure your post is at least read, is to make it legible by using capitals, commas, spaces and paragraphs.

Whether your point is understood is another matter altogether... [:P]

[Thibault]

Why should the desire to see reasonably written and punctuated standard English be regarded as elitist?  I have never understood this accusation which is quite commonly used if any comments about the use of English are made.

[powerdesal]

I second your sentiments about spelling, mistakes are all part of life's rich tapestry. Punctuation is another matter, in my view its the written equivalent of good manners. Pity mine is not as it should be. [:(]

[Cat]

Sadly a common trick used by internet t r o l l s* is to deliberately post in badly written and punctuated English, in an attempt to goad people into argument.  Due to this I am sometimes wary of posts that are really, really badly written, especially if they seem to have been deliberately written in that style. 

We all make the odd typo, especially when replying at speed or in a stream-of-consciousness, and not everyone is an ace with the written word, but spell checkers are readily available nowadays for those that care to use them, and the odd punctuation mark is (as  Powerdesal has just posted) a courtesy to the reader.

It depends, as Clair suggested, how well we wish to be understood.

(* t r o l l  deliberately written with spaces to avoid inviting the species to the table, as the little blighters search for the term "internet you-know-what" on Google to find new playmates). 

[Missy]

[quote user="TWINKLE"]

At last someone who understands me!!!

From the day my daughter was born up until she was about 61/2 years old (she's nearly 8 now) I spoke only English to her.  Not a single French word - my husband's French, and he spoke no English at all to her so as not to confuse her.   When she started CP class at school (standard 1 in Britain I think)  she started asking me to stop speaking English to her,  when I'd reply that it was important  that she didn't forget how to speak it, she'd just say that she was fine and didn't need to learn anymore. 

Her school friends were coming to play and  sleep over at the weekends and it was getting a bit unnatural.  The reason I first spoke English to her in the first place was because it felt like the most perfectly natural thing to do - even though I'd already been living here and speaking French fluently for 10 years.  It didn't feel natural anymore and I could feel her really starting to resent it - so I stopped.

I researched it a bit and apparently it's a natural process concerning mixed languages parents and their bi-lingual children.  We talked about it in depth here on another thread not long ago.

[/quote]

I had the same problem but in reverse ! I spoke French to my kids when small, their English father and all his family spoke in English. Then they started school and that was in Welsh!.... No one in this household knows a word of Welsh despite having lived here since 1850!! I learnt some to be able to understand my neighbours and some of my colleagues at work but nothing fluent just pidgin....

Son developped a mild form of dislexia then on.... fortunately caught on time and has the odd 'failure' but doing OK in his field of work and has to learn Russian and Armenian for his work. He admits that it is a struggle at times for the written stuff but speech wise he is doing fine....

Daughter point blank refused to speak to the French side of the family for a very long time to the point of being rude to my parents. They would engaged conversation with her in simple French with a few words of English they gathered (My father walks around with a mini French-English dictionary in his pockets) Daughter would charge at them in Welsh! .... We would get these long welsh tirades out of that little mouth and my Mother's face!!!  I have to this day not decided if it was sadeness, amazement, amusement or anger! that her grand-daughter would behave so........   Now this little monster, armed with her French GCSE, few more lessons here and there and my occasional help,  is about to go to France next month and teach in a primary school!! for 5 weeks.... and I don't think that it will be in English or in Welsh that she will conduct her classes..... I would love to be a map/picture/poster on the classroom wall......  and my mobile will be red hot! for the panic 'Mummy help! How do you say this or that!' cries ..... Remind me to switch it off!....

[TWINKLE]

[quote user="Missy"]We would get these long welsh tirades out of that little mouth and my Mother's face!!!  I have to this day not decided if it was sadeness, amazement, amusement or anger! that her grand-daughter would behave so........ [/quote]

I remember going home to Wales a while back and my mother taking my daughter out for the day.  She must must have been about three at the time and my mother was delighted with her.She was a real doll, with blonde cork screw curls and big brown eyes and a gorgeous turned -up nose.  She understood absolutely everything my mother said to her and this was just lovely for my mother to be able to communicate with her French born grand-daughter.  She was only 3, but could respond with small sentences in English and I knew that leaving them together for the day would not be a problem for either of them.

My mother needed to pop into the market in the town and at one point,  my little girl dallied a bit and when she looked to see what she was doing, she saw my daughter beaming back at her and holding a china animal of some sort that she'd picked up from one of the counters.  My mother gently took it off her and explained that she had to put it back,  as it was very fragile and very expensive.  My daughters beaming face changed to something in a scene from the Excorsist and she berated my poor mother for about 30 seconds in machine gun fast French! 

My mother laughed about it when she told me later - she's reared 4 girl monsters and so is experienced in this sort of behaviour.  She said that none of the words my daughter fired at her sounded like anything she'd ever learned from her French BBC course 'Ensemble' in the 70's.  She was quite amused by it[:)]