>

2/17/11

You Can Quote Me On That

r u tlkg 2 me? rly?...

"Are you talking to me? Really?"
Why, yes I am and I find your communication skills appalling. 

I work for a division of a large international education company and am not surprised that they are putting out curriculum for "tweens and teens" on how to communicate in standard English. It is a sorry statement on the public school system and parents, that Americans kids that are native English speakers, have to be taught how to communicate in full sentences and paragraphs with proper grammar and spelling. Especially using a designed curriculum external to what they should already be learning at home and in school.

What I have to say about the need for this could fill volumes. I'll spare you.

What I will comment on though is the adults I know under a certain age, especially the former public school educators I work with, who engage in this dots and dashes connection with others. To them it is perfectly acceptable, although not to any of their work peers, to only correspond in cryptic text messages and instant messaging. Don't ask them to actually read an email or listen to a voice mail either. They're not at all embarrassed about telling the rest of us, when asked if they got the important email or voice mail, with information too complex to send in the contemporary telegraph of text or instant messaging..."Oh...I never read email or listen to voice mail, I just delete them."

I'm willing to accept that as their choice long as they understand that it is also my choice not to engage in discourse with them if they are unwilling to respond in an adult manner. Any complaints to me about their being "left out of the loop" on important matters falls on deaf ears. I do not think it is unreasonable to expect people who work for an educational outfit, who have at a minimum underdergraduate degrees, to be articulate and use standard English sentence structures and make sense when they communicate.

Music Break

Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan...

Live 2011 Grammy Awards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HlUEnNMVaU


Mumford and Sons "The Cave"
The Avett Brothers "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promises"
Bob Dylan "Maggie's Farm"

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.