Party Vibe

@MrsRobinson 589296 wrote:

On a forum like this with so many nationalities it’s really hard always writing the right words and spelling them correct. On top of that use the right grammar and punctuations.
It’s really not easy when English isn’t your first language.

@Izbeckistani 589307 wrote:

Of course, but I’m not talking about on this forum.
This happens a lot with English born and bred people.

English is a Germanic language that has common roots with DE,NL,DK,NO and SE but there are often big differences in grammar.

All languages have regional dialects and changes in usage (the Germans and Dutch have revised the spellings of their language 3 times since the last century. I have noticed more and more languages just using English loanwords for new items (especially high tech) and languages do evolve but I have noticed “dumbing down” in other languages; especially with younger people across Europe who often only learn and use a subset of their main language along with basic English. This is highly influenced by the Internet, and even more so by increaseing use of smaller devices which may not have physical keyboards; making writing anything “long” too much of a chore for many people

there may be times when this is advantageous (such as on tech sites with a multicultural crowd) but what has also happened is word structures and grammar elements that were intended to convey a sense of gravitas or respect to the content are being eliminated; and folk worldwide are losing their attention span to read larger bits of content. It is this dumbing down which is the most dangerous thing rather than evolving or changing word meanings. (I noticed this when I was on the BBC news website and realised that its becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish Newsbeat (for teens / young adults) and Newsround (for primary school kids) articles as they are now all written in exactly the same style with the big font / less words.

The BBC claim it makes these articles more responsive for smartphone users (even thought the rest of the site has worked fine with mobile devices for over a decade) – but its just a font change and reduction in article length.

Even their modern tech research papers(when written by new graduate staff) aren’t as detailed as they once were… I compared a 1970s paper about FM receiving antennas with a modern one about a hybrid hardware/software device used to enhance a youth radio show using social media. The first paper contained full details of how to build the entire antenna which are still valid today once you’ve converted the measurements to metric; but the more recent one (written by a much younger engineer) was really vague about the actual equipment used. I was surprised to see it put up as a research paper (as the gadget merely used off the shelf equipment apart from its custom housing) – it would have been better as an item on Blue Peter TBH).

IMO the UK decline in language skills predates the Internet / mobile phones – it started in the late 80s/early 90s when they changed the teaching in high schools.

In the 80s you got two types of English teacher; one concentrated on grammar/spelling and the other (often a less strict/more arty type) taught the reading and writing of English literature; he/she particularly encouraged the reading of books for pleasure or private learning as well as the ones you “have to read for school”; the one I had in 1987 tipped off me and some friends about the local anarchist bookshop 🙂

this is now crammed into one GCSE along with a shit load of other tests/exams in high school; which stresses out students and teachers to the point they can lose the desire to learn or teach well; or to read anything long/complex. Round here I encounter plenty of young people who struggle with their native language and but have real problems communicating/expressing themselves especially in a work/business environment – yet I would not say any of these young people are “stupid”; its whatever is going on in the schools round here which is fucked up.