Memories

[CBFalconer]

Don't worry about your English Ranjeet. Some might make an issue out
of it but it's good enough for the (tolerant) majority of us. English
is not my native language either and there are many more like that
here.

You may notice I didn't criticize his English, just the obviously
careless spelling and typos. A spelling checker will catch most of
those. Just looking twice will do the same, if not better.

 

[Keith Thompson]

Warning: The following is at best marginally topical. I'm posting
this because it's relevant to the way people post to this newsgroup.

You may notice I didn't criticize his English, just the obviously
careless spelling and typos. A spelling checker will catch most of
those.
Agreed.

Just looking twice will do the same, if not better.

Not necessarily. I've found that some people are much better at
spelling words correctly, and at recognizing misspelled words, than
others -- and that the ability doesn't correlate well with general
intelligence or even facility with language. I happen to have the
knack myself, and I rarely use spell checkers. (Most of my
misspellings are typos; if I take the time to re-read what I've
written, I catch most or all of them.) Other people, as smart as I
am, have as much difficulty with correct spelling as I have with
legible handwriting.

I would imagine that coming to English from another language with more
consistent spelling (i.e., from any language other than English) just
makes things even more difficult.

I encourage everyone to make reasonable efforts to use correct
spelling and grammar, but I'm not going to complain about errors too
loudly unless they actually make an article significantly difficult to
read. (The "u" and "r" abbreviations fall into this category.)

 

[Chris Croughton]

Warning: The following is at best marginally topical. I'm posting
this because it's relevant to the way people post to this newsgroup.



Not necessarily. I've found that some people are much better at
spelling words correctly, and at recognizing misspelled words, than
others -- and that the ability doesn't correlate well with general
intelligence or even facility with language.

Most people are bad at noticing their own mistakes, unlees they leave it
for a long time before checking, because they know what they meant to
write. I do check emails and Usenet posts, but often find when I see
them come back (quoted or from a news server) that I've made typos which
I just couldn't see when I originally checked.

I happen to have the
knack myself, and I rarely use spell checkers.

I don't use spell checkers, I find that they don't catch my worst
mistakes ('thinkos', where the word typed is a real word but not the
correct one, it's amazing how many books get into print with 'that' and
'than' mixed up) and they distract me from the meaning with words which
are perfectly valid but not in the checker's dictionary.

(Most of my misspellings are typos; if I take the time to re-read what
I've written, I catch most or all of them.) Other people, as smart as
I am, have as much difficulty with correct spelling as I have with
legible handwriting.

I have several friends who are dyslexic. Let no one dare to say that
they aren't as 'smart' or 'intelligent' as me...

I would imagine that coming to English from another language with more
consistent spelling (i.e., from any language other than English) just
makes things even more difficult.

Is English provably the most inconsistent language for spelling? I can
believe it, I just haven't seen proof.

I encourage everyone to make reasonable efforts to use correct
spelling and grammar, but I'm not going to complain about errors too
loudly unless they actually make an article significantly difficult to
read. (The "u" and "r" abbreviations fall into this category.)

Indeed. If the writer appears to be saying something different from
what they mean (as in the recent example) then a friendly suggestion on
the lines of "I'm not sure what you mean here, in English we would say X
to mean ..." may be in order, and most people writing in a language in
which they are not completely fluent will be glad of the help.

(Personally I find it hard to read most sentences which end with a
preposition, but usually I don't say anything unless it really doesn't
make sense to me.)

Chris C