> Those whose first language is English should be taught to use it correctly.
> Just as those whose first language is Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Albanian
> or even Norwegian should be taught to use their native language correctly.
And the written language change according to it, after some time (and this time
is a buffer towards silly changes). On should think that the bigger distance
there is between the spoken and written language , the more spelling errors
there will be, but this isn't the case. I know french a bit, both the spoken
and the written, and I must say that there exists an enormous distance, and
still all french people know how to spell! The reason must be the educational
system maintaining focus on written language, perhaps thinking that some of the
french identity lies within the language!
English on the other hand, has no identity embedded at all! Everybody on the
planet writes english, ranging from the complete illiterates to the talented
writers. And the english language has its own spelling ways. However, one of
the primary objectives of using english (and extremely so on the internet), is
the communicative side of it, getting through with your message. In other
words, focus on content, not on form. This creates a entirely different
approach towards language. People use english as a tool, not as something
valuable in itself.
I try to the best of my abilities to write as correctly as I can, as I am
taught to do this, and because I think that language is more than just
communicating one statment from on person to another... But, you have to
realize as well that it can require a not subordinate amount of effort for the
non-native english writers to maintain correct language and spelling. Luckily,
I think I have sufficient knowledge of english (thanks to the norwegian
educational system) to express myself without putting in a great effort.
I have noticed the same phenomenon here in Norway, younger people of higher
education cannot write correctly, neither spelling nor grammar, and there is a
growing worry here in Norway, people just can't speak or write our language
properly.
But I still think you have a real chore when you're trying to fight for correct
spelling on the internet, there are so many here with limited knowledge of the
english language. But it might help if those whose first language is english
would stop writing "your" instead of "you're" simply because they don't bother
to find that ' on the keyboard...
Some people take lightly on spelling and grammar, others don't.
And, at times, I would appreciate very much feedback on faults, particularly on
grammar, from the native english speakers, I really would. But most people on
the internet seem reluctant to do this.
---Asgeir---