This might sound like an unnecessary criticism but some of you gentlemen are shocking at spelling and grammar.
I know its a high tech world these days and we are all pushed for time, but if youre going to type it, at least learn how to spell it.
The foreign guys are generally better than the ones who use English as a first language. And yes Im looking at you buddy !
At least make some effort to use the proper verbs, nouns and pronouns where necessary to clearly define the techniques and materials you are using, and correctly using Capitals for example, will clearly define the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse,
I have no desire to play grammar/spelling cop on the 'net. The one glaring thing I noticed when I first got 'net access about 13 years ago was that most Americans don’t know their native language. It’s sad. Pathetic, even.
I pissed my high school education away, all I wanted to do was surf and build boards, but as I grew older I realized what a mistake I had made (the wasting school part).
From then on it was try my best to at least seem like I was literate, I go over my postings and when I’ve totally overlooked some grammatical error, I’m bummed with myself, as they say, “the whole world is watching”.
My old man was an officer in the Air Force, he looked at me like I was the village idiot, in the end, he saw I had seen the error in my ways
Your third sentence is cumbersome and needs editing for the sake of clarity. I would describe it as a ‘run on’ sentence. May I suggest you break it into 2 sentences?
At least make some effort to use the proper verbs, nouns, and pronouns where necessary to clearly define the techniques and materials you are using. For example, correct use of capitals will clearly define the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
Just offering my suggestion since we are being such nit picky little bitches this morning… Mike
Foreigner’s point of view: this, unfortunately, seems to be a worldwide problem. Since the beginning, we have tried to maintain some basic grammar and avoid SMS-type writing on our french web-site “Shaperoom.net” but it seems to be a never-ending battle. Phonetical writing can only lead to complete ignorance of your language’s roots and how can you understand the meaning of a word once it’s not related to anything anymore? As a foreigner, one of the most frequent error I’ve noticed is the use of “their” instead of “there” or even “they’re”…
And I do agree with you on punctuation, too, DrStrange. When I was a kid, we had this French teacher who kept telling us how important it was. He used to illustrate this with a guy writing a letter to his insurance company:
“The car in front of me suddenly stopped. I pulled on the brakes as usual. They didn’t work.” as compared to:
“The car in front of me suddenly stopped. I pulled on the brakes. As usual, they didn’t work…”
The English language is a complicated one to say the least. What with speling, tense, and grammar, it can get confusing. Take for instance the following.
“One life to live. vs Metallica live.”
“Read chapter 2. vs He read chapter 2. vs She wore a red dress.”
I will always remember something my brother told me…“You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.” Which is wrong since we all know that pencils are made with graphite.
I try to write to a reasonable standard, but sometimes a typo slips through (I quit trying to use the site's spellcheck after sending one too many posts to lalaland). I catch some of them and edit, but once someone responds...
The guys who are posting in a second language impress the hell out of me. balsa and wouter come to mind. I feel like a stupid gringo compared to people who speak four or five languages and can write in several. I speak a little Spanish but could fly to the moon sooner than I could write a sways post en espanol.
But then there's characters like huie - butchering language, spelling, and syntax is part and parcel of his posts. It just wouldn't be the same if he ''fixed'' everything.
If accuracy is important, it is the fifth sentence and/or fourth paragraph.
[quote="$1"]
As a foreigner, **one of the most frequent error I've noticed** is the use of "their" instead of "there" or even "they're"...
[/quote]
"Another common error" would be less ambiguous (one ... most error) and more streamlined -- that you are a foreigner is unrelated to correct word usage by those who use English as their principal language. Remember, contractions are improper grammar too.
All of this can get anal quickly. I would rather see quick posts with some grammatical shortcomings than see no responses at all.
You learn quickly if the first thing you do in the morning is checking sways if there is something new to talk about.
And for every non enlish speaking person in the world with an internet connection, english is a basic knowledge. It’s like using the mouse of your pc. Everything is english in the world of the internet. Or maybe it is just that nothing is dutch in that world.
French is handy when surfing in france and you hear some kids talking: “Go back to your country, fils de put” and then you respond (in french): “Is it me you’re talking to?”. Then they shut up quickly!
The slang or lingo in some posts, can be a bit challenging to decipher. Does everybody communicate in perpetual euphemisms and metaphors in the English speaking countries of Southern Hemisphere?
Beyond that, at least most folks here can spell “stoked” correctly. There’s quite a few “stocked” surfers in the SurferMag Forum.
Tempera and Tempura is a different story here on Sways.
