A quick English lesson

Hi ElicBxn, Gosh! what an English lesson, I think that was great, as I am from the UK, I inderstand all this, but there are lots of youngsters that cannot spell the right words, I don't understand that as some of them are still in edcation and that really bugs me, don't they get english lessons or don't they spelling lessons? let alone people other country trying their best to write English here and I feel very humble for that. Tamara

hi elic! well thank you for sharing. i wonder if that will really benefit the non-english writing/speaking group here. anyway, thank you for the effort. i just hope this topic doesn't get deleted. hehe take care and God bless you! :-)

Good lesson to share. My mom, a former English professor would love you for this I'm sure. : )

I do know that this is true...Some are people who are not in their primary language and it is hard for them...Also I would like to say that i have seen old letters,from years back,for instance my grandfather....I read some of my grandfathers old letters that he had written to my Mom who has since passed at the age of 89 years old....In these letters,i noticed that a lot of words such as "sight" was spelled "site",which is incorrect,however thats how the older folks back then wrote,and some were supposs to be educated,so that tells me that even some of the teachers back then wrote & spelled things wrong..Its sad bit it is true...My grandfather had a beautiful handwriting but many words were incorrect....I also have a friend that calls a "sink" like a kitchen sink,she calls it a "zink"...which in this period of time is wrong,but many oldsters use that term in speaking of a "sink"...So i do know that some words have been corrected and is spelled differently that they use to be....By the way this is a very interesting discussion...

I am more amused than annoyed by that type of error. Yes, I do know the difference, and I use the proper spelling of the words. I am a terrible speller and have to look up the correct spelling of many words. ROFL, the trouble is you usually have to be able to spell the word correctly to find it in the dictionary. If after a couple of sentences I can't understand the grammar of a post easily I just skip it. And I just skip all in 'text speak', with those I find I am so involved in figuring out what each abrev. means that I miss the whole line of thought, lol. By the way, did you know y'all is singular??? The plural form is 'all y'all'.

I am like you. Do you know what word I see written incorrectly, many times over, even by business professionals? Lose! They will write, "How do you loose 10 lbs." I just want to scream, "IT IS LOSE!!!! GET IT?!!!" LOL Even when I was learning another language, I tried very hard to do it correctly. I am amazed at the rules we learned in school that kids do not learn now, like I before E, except after C, or when to use "a" before a consonant or "an" before a vowel sound or say "the" (tha) or "the" (thee) the same way. I know that I have caught myself typing it incorrectly, and I try my best to catch it, as grammar check does not always do it, especially when I am writing fast.

The English language is one of the hardest to learn. It doesn't always follow the formula of sentence structure like the Romance languages do which are based on Latin. And you are right because there are a lot of words that sound the same, but have different meanings.I still remember a class discussion in high school about lie down, lay down etc. Such fun. LOL!

Hi ElicBxn, Wow. This is a very interesting topic. I understand what you're getting at here, as I've seen a lot of this also. As for my spelling, I try my best not to misspell a lot of words. I use Firefox, so the spell check comes in handy. As a matter of fact, I challenge myself when I've incorrectly spelled a word. I keep trying to get it right, without actually using the spell check. It's a good teaching tool as well. When I do see things written the way you've mentioned, I often think that the individual just hasn't taken the time to reread what they've written. I 'usually' do so, before I hit the post button. I've caught myself many times, using the wrong version of there, for instance. I'm often typing along, and the 'wrong there' just flows from my fingertips, if you know what I mean. Then when I go back, I discover my error, and am able to correct it before I post. For many here, speed is of the essence, as they're trying to get in as many posts as possible. It's just the way they do things. I'm a reader, so I like to look through the discussions, and take my time in answering, but that's just me. The English language is so complex as you've mentioned, that it can be mind boggling. Another good example is, 'to too and two.' I mean really, did 'we' have to make it all so difficult? Just my thoughts here. I 'still' aspire to be a published writer someday. I was taking an actual writing course awhile back, which I've never completed. I learned pretty quickly from my tutor, that if anybody is going to write professionally, there is zero tolerance for any type of errors. These include spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This is for those who actually hope to have a book, article, short story, poem, etc., published. Very daunting. Anyway, I hope my ramblings have made sense to you here. I really think that each individual views the whole myLotting experience differently. Everyone has their own reason for being here. Thanks again. Take care.

I am supposed to be fluent in the language and there are many times I have to stop and think whether or not it is supposed to be a certain word spelled a certain way or just regular words with their spelling. I do make mistakes myself, too bad we don't have spell check in MyLot, I could sure use it.

The words that kill me are: quit quite quiet I've had to reread sentences because instead of quit your job, they have quite your job or quit the job, but they meant it was quite the job. And nobody seems to ever write that it was really quiet at their house, it was quit or quite at their house. Here and there = places

this is true. i guess it can be a bit confusing for some since these words sound the same :) thank you for sharing these tips! also, i think sms or text and LOLspeak language has something to do with the deterioration in spelling. i think most people know the differences in the examples that you have just shared but prefer using shorter words to express how the feel. i am sometimes guilty of this because i use the expression LOL a lot :) haha!

Thank You Very Very Much & You Doing great Work but I think You give him Lesson Likes & have a nice day.

I don't know bout other countries but where i came from, English is taught from 1st grade up to 2nd year in college. and it's all mandatory. it's in our law. so here, we study English language for 12 years.

English is difficult for me... As a chinese,I have learnt it for nearly 10 years.But I'm still not good at it.Many people say Chinese is the most difficult language in the world.I think it is because they are not chinese,as I am not English or other English speaking countries.

hi elic! well thank you for sharing. i wonder if that will really benefit the non-english writing/speaking group here. anyway, thank you for the effort. i just hope this topic doesn't get deleted. hehe take care and God bless you! :-)

Join the club. I, too, am dismayed by misuse of words by supposedly native speakers of English, but when they don't bother to teach spelling in schools anymore... In fact, they stopped teaching it when my youngest sister was in school, and she's a grandma now! Why, back when I was a young'un... we even lost marks on a history exam if there was a spelling mistake!

Hello, ElicBxn. I do not have English as my native language. I was born in Brazil, and I live in Brazil. I have never had a real contact with a foreigner. But it doesn't mean I shouldn't know how to write things. I try my hardest not to make any mistakes, and I am always studying, searching the meaning of words and trying to find out the way they are spelled. I believe that, no matter where you are from, you should do this too (not you, but everybody). Some mistakes that are usually seen is the difference between "THAN" and "THEN". Than is used in comparative sentences. "I am rather fly a kite than drink some water.". "I am taller than you.". Then has another meaning. It may have a similar meaning to "so". "Then, I started doing this.". Then is used to mean something like "at that time". "I was fishing. At that time, I found her.". "I was fishing. Then, I found her". People should not confuse than and then. But we are all learners, even if English is your native language. There is no problem in making mistakes, as long as you are allowing to learn how to fix them. Respectfully, Munhozmib.

You forgot to too two

I KNOW the difference between these words. I believe many people here do too. I also know that I have accidentally typed the incorrect word in many of these cases, not because I DO NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE but rather because I ACCIDENTALLY TYPE THE INCORRECT WORD. Please be forgiving to fallible humans such as myself! You realize now, that people such as my editor husband, will now be watching your responses like a hawk!Good luck!

Thanks for the lesson. I think some English speaking people just type or write them that way because they are faster to write or type. That they actually do know the difference. Don't forget that there are younger mylotters also that may not know the difference. You only have to be 16 to join. Non-English speaking mylotters are still learning our language so I think we all just need to be patient. It isn't their fault if they don't know.