The youth of today and their lack of language skills

[Aristes]

Hey, rat bastard, the bottom line is I use at the end of the day with alarming regularity. Every other sentence, just about.

[HoonDing]

Young people here often use English idioms in their native speech, like "never mind", "by the way", etc. It's a bit bothersome, that, probably caused by videogames & TV.

 

That said, being forced to speak three different languages each day, I'm beginning to mix languages myself. I figure one of these days I'll wake up speaking Esperanto.

[Gorgon]

I do that all the time, also cursing in English has very few negative connotations, among Danish people at least no matter how vile it is if it's said in English it loses most of it's semantic load.

 

As long as it doesn't stop you from learning your mother tounge properly I don't see the need to play language police. It's much more preferable to be naturally curious than to be conservative about language use, just IMHO.

[Gorgon]

Depends on how you pronounce historic.

 

I clearly enunciate the 'h' and would say "a historic." But many people have a silent 'h' and would effectively say -istoric.

I hear 'an historic' quite often on the news. More often than the correct usage I'd say. Some people get confused when historic is used premodifying a noun, but it still isn't 'an historic occasion'.

[Aristes]

Actually, I see a lot of confusion and or individuality in the use of the ariticle before any h word. Sometimes it's undoubtedly an affectation, but... what the hell? The important thing is to convey the idea in the first place. If you do that, then it really doesn't matte. However, the better you are able to articulate your ideas, the better folks will accept them. For that reason, the youngsters who run around with some sort of language deficiency will shore up those shortcomings and improve their presentation. It's just how it works.

[Nihilus5078]

What the hell is with this ****. I dont know what age area you are refering to but I happen to be a teen (sort of youth I guess) and use my English very well.

[Aristes]

You get a pass. You're from Minnesota. Seriously, dude, chill out. If you're not one of the folks who has a hard time understanding when to use slang and when to use more formal speech and/or writing, why sweat it?

[Darth InSidious]

For myself, I am intent upon archaism sufficient as to maintain the status quo for the next century.

[Walsingham]

I was raised in a truly archaic style. As in "Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put. "

[Tigranes]

What the hell is with this ****. I dont know what age area you are refering to but I happen to be a teen (sort of youth I guess) and use my English very well.

 

Okay, but that doesn't really change anything, does it.

 

Wals, think about it this way. For many people, it is now socially acceptable, economically viable and 'normal' to spend most of your teenage years not reading or writing anything beyond what you do at school (which is, by the way, roughly 1/3-1/2 of what you'd have done, both in difficulty and quantity).

[Trenitay]

You're all very mean to the youth of today. I was going to say you were wrong, but really many are a bit lacking in the literacy department.

[Pidesco]

Says the guy named "awsomeness."

[Guest The Architect]

What the hell is with this ****. I dont know what age area you are refering to but I happen to be a teen (sort of youth I guess) and use my English very well.

 

Not quite as well as you think on the internet at least, pal.

 

Anyway, sure I agree language use and social etiquette quality appear to be declining generation by generation, but, that doesn't mean we're getting dumber and dumber, there's a difference between interpersonal/social/emotional intelligence and general intelligence, but how **** the former has become is a cause for concern, but I'm pretty sure statistically public/private school grades are generally better now than they were decades ago, but that could just be because of a possible decline of the quality of education provided nowadays, but we know more now than we did back then, so no, I doubt that.

Edited July 4, 2009 by The Architect

[alanschu]

What the hell is with this ****. I dont know what age area you are refering to but I happen to be a teen (sort of youth I guess) and use my English very well.

 

Okay, but that doesn't really change anything, does it.

 

Wals, think about it this way. For many people, it is now socially acceptable, economically viable and 'normal' to spend most of your teenage years not reading or writing anything beyond what you do at school (which is, by the way, roughly 1/3-1/2 of what you'd have done, both in difficulty and quantity).

 

 

What are you trying to say?

 

 

Jerk!

[Walsingham]

Well, I'm not sure I did much more than read what I had to at school. ...Actually, on reflection thats a total lie. I'd usually have about two other books on the go, and of course we got taken to debates, and family dinners were always rather highbrow.

 

I really do stand by my earlier comment that schools do not offer enough protection for anyone who stands out. We had bullying, but on the whole we got tremendous support from staff, who could and did remove boys who were (in retrospect) very mild bullies. As a consequence we had scads of free intellectuals - and I mean far above my standard. Friends who teach government schools say that they have no power or time to devote to this, and as a consequence there is an exaggerated tendency for kids to dumb themselves down to fit in with the lowest common (aggressive) denominator.

[Tigranes]

We had bullying, but on the whole we got tremendous support from staff, who could and did remove boys who were (in retrospect) very mild bullies.

 

Based on what I've seen at school, I don't even know how staff or the institution can detect or effectively protect from subtle bullying. And it's not even like I ever went to particularly bad schools.

[Walsingham]

I mean there was subtle bullying. But as soon as it got to the point where someone was being seriuosly affected then it got dealt with, by and large... I mean... actually OK there were a couple of cases of it being mores serious, but they did eventually get handled.

[Nihilus5078]

You get a pass. You're from Minnesota. Seriously, dude, chill out. If you're not one of the folks who has a hard time understanding when to use slang and when to use more formal speech and/or writing, why sweat it?

 

Dont take this the wrong way but would it have been any different if I were from say New York or California? People who tIPe LYke DiS are the people you must be refering to, I dont type like that, I happen to use the english language like how it was designed to be used and I type like a ****ing human. However, look at retards like Lil Wayne and Soulja Boy, who plague the english language.

[Hell Kitty]

I mean there was subtle bullying.

 

What do you mean by "subtle bullying"? I mean a student getting verbally taunted by a bully every day might be more subtle than a student getting beaten up once, but it'll probably have a more devastating effect.

[Aristes]

I was joking with you Nihilus. I'm originally from Nevada and my family rags on California all the time. Rat Bastards!

[Walsingham]

I mean the subtle collective bullying by the group, mainly. Exclusion, mocking. Can't expel a whole year. On the other hand there's a limit to what you can expect from lads in their teens. I don't lose sleep over it. I took my share and did my share. Might as well lose sleep over how cold it is in Russia.

 

However, persistent persecution of one boy, trashing his kit, never letting him speak, hitting him regularly. That wasn't tolerated for long once it became known. A big part of that of course is good prefects. If the prefects went bad it became a lot harder.

 

~~~

 

Back on topic I'm not averse to people customising the language a little. In my opinion it's one of the beauties of English that it does get bent and misused. I dated a couple of girls from Yorkshire and I still love the little turns of phrase. When I taught English I tried to get my students to make the language their own.

 

However, as I say, I am averse to customising for the purpose of dumbing down. Of excluding or showing up. So I suppose on reflection I also get annoyed when it is toned UP for the same purpose. As I did when Lord of the Flies started quoting Latin. On balance I regard the Queen's English as a useful standard. Anyone can use it, unlike patois or street slang. It doesn't change so you can't get caught out or excluded.

[213374U]

Huh. What's this about the "youth"? Is it any more serious with young people than it is with older folk?

 

 

Wals does bring up a good point, that of standards. I don't know about English, but I know for a fact that, in Spanish, certain errors (eggcorns, malapropisms, metatheses...), and borrowed English expressions which do have a translation are being integrated into the standard, as defined by the academics responsible for establishing said standard. Whether that's a good thing or not, I can't say... but it looks to me like an effort to justify and institutionalize ignorance.

 

 

When I taught English I tried to get my students to make the language their own.

What iteration of Walsingham was that? What's the current one? Edited July 4, 2009 by 213374U

[Walsingham]

Huh. What's this about the "youth"? Is it any more serious with young people than it is with older folk?

 

 

Wals does bring up a good point, that of standards. I don't know about English, but I know for a fact that, in Spanish, certain errors (eggcorns, malapropisms, metatheses...), and borrowed English expressions which do have a translation are being integrated into the standard, as defined by the academics responsible for establishing said standard. Whether that's a good thing or not, I can't say... but it looks to me like an effort to justify and institutionalize ignorance.

 

 

When I taught English I tried to get my students to make the language their own.

What iteration of Walsingham was that? What's the current one?

 

Caesar was all things to all men. I have been a few things to a bunch of people.

 

I taught English for a year a long while back.

[theslug]

I would have been honored to have Walsingham as my english teacher.

 

Such a thing can never last though and I completely understand your position Wals. It was just too much of a liability when so many hot underaged chicks were throwing themselves at you. To turn down such a mountain of tail takes some real guts and a hell of a lot of pent of self hate but I commend you. You're a better man than I.

 

I actually entertained the idea of teaching English in Japan for a year once I graduated but I don't think that's such a great idea anymore.

[Walsingham]

Such a thing can never last though and I completely understand your position Wals. It was just too much of a liability when so many hot underaged chicks were throwing themselves at you. To turn down such a mountain of tail takes some real guts and a hell of a lot of pent of self hate but I commend you. You're a better man than I.

 

I was much younger and prettier in those days, but nevertheless I made it very clear I wasn't going to date anyone from my school. Interestingly this provoked a perfect storm of notes, flowers, and general adulation. I think teenage girls need someone safe to adore, and clearly it deosn't much matter who that is.