SouthArk's Suggestions For Effective Posting (Grammar/Spelling Counts)

onzedge · 11-13-2013, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthArk370Z

Just had lunch with my Dad and he says the niece is complaining about how many of the students can't write. I thanked him for making me get a good education.

Chuck33079 · 11-13-2013, 01:15 PM

Being able to write well has been very helpful my entire life. I don't understand why it's not emphasized more today. Hell, I made a lot of money in college writing other people's papers.

dAvenue · 11-13-2013, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

I think writing skills are underemphasized in schools these days since it's all about passing the standardized tests so the school can get funded.

my wife is a high school math teacher and tells me all about it. their #1 complaint is prepping students for State tests. it takes most of their time away from teaching fundamentals. good material is skipped over because it's not on the State's curriculum.

4r3s · 11-13-2013, 01:25 PM

I think I used a strong word in calling them idiots. Maybe lazy is a better term.

waaaasabi · 11-13-2013, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthArk370Z

Just had lunch with my Dad and he says the niece is complaining about how many of the students can't write. I thanked him for making me get a good education.

Effective writing is a lot more difficult than people think; it requires forethought, a robust grasp on the tools of language, and an understanding of the socio-cultural norms of the audience. A good education may help in some facets of a person's writing ability, but at the higher education levels (college and above), where specialization is prominent, I don't think there's much correlation between education and writing ability. I went to an Ivy League school (not a backdoor humblebrag, I swear) with some of the brightest people in the country, and many of them couldn't write for sh*t.

As for hoping for any sort of writing standards on any forum, online or otherwise, it's a futile exercise. As long as someone can get their point across somewhat well, then they're golden in my book.

Chuck33079 · 11-13-2013, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dAvenue

my wife is a high school math teacher and tells me all about it. their #1 complaint is prepping students for State tests. it takes most of their time away from teaching fundamentals. good material is skipped over because it's not on the State's curriculum.

Yep. I hear teachers venting about it every weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by waaaasabi

As for hoping for any sort of writing standards on any forum, online or otherwise, it's a futile exercise. As long as someone can get their point across somewhat well, then they're golden in my book.

That's the issue. A lot of our members can't even manage that and get pissy when we point out that we could help them better if they didnt write like a complete retard.

SouthArk370Z · 11-13-2013, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4r3s

I think I used a strong word in calling them idiots. Maybe lazy is a better term.

I didn't take it literally; I thought you were being hyperbolic. But, yeah, most could write much better if they only made the effort.

As far as I can tell, many younger people can and do write well. It's just that the few bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.

Parents: Encourage your kids to read. A lot. They will at least learn what looks/sounds right even if they don't know why.

spryor · 11-13-2013, 02:56 PM

SouthArk370Z,

Do NOT take this personal. Just charge it to my head, not my heart. I am just expressing my thoughts in a mild mattered way.

We all appreciate your suggestions, but this is not an on-line English 101 college course. We all have different educational backgrounds. It is not all that crucial, ease up and have some fun communicating your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions about automobiles.

I am getting off the subject a little bit here but needs to be mentioned. I found this article to be quite interesting. Although it was not peer-reviewed or originated from a scholarly academic journal, I found it to be a fairly easy to read, well-written article in reference to college-educated people that cannot find jobs in their fields. Getting a college degree (doctorate, graduate, bachelors, or associates) is not what it used to be. If anything, it will cost you a lot of money and possibly little return value on your investment. Of course, there are always rules to the exception. Do not get me wrong, I still believe that people in this country and elsewhere should still get the basics of an education in order to be able to maneuver and survive in this capitalist society. If an individual can get a college degree and not have to take pay it back through a student loan, then they are well ahead of the job market game!

In summary, back to the introductory topic, SouthArk370Z, ease up on individuals that are not as well-versed as you are when it comes down to expressing or conveying their thoughts on electronic paper.

Regards,

spryor

P.S. Based on your username, I am not sure if you are from southern Arkansas. If you are, I found the following educational attainment statistics forecasting the percentage of jobs requiring a college degree through 2018 to be quite interesting for your state, compiled by Georgetown University.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthArk370Z

These are just my suggestions and are not endorsed by this site or anybody else.

When writing anything, you need to "write to your audience." If your writings are meant for young children, you need to use simple concepts/vocabulary and thoroughly explain any new concepts/words. If you're writing your [professional paper, thesis, or]doctoral dissertation, you want to use as many "big words" as possible and you can assume the reader is familiar with advanced concepts and words [discourse community]. Forum posts fall somewhere in-between.

The main thing you want to do is write so that the forums members will understand what you mean. This is the foundation of everything that follows. If people can't understand what you are typing, you are wasting your time and Internet resources.

In order for all parties to understand each other, they must use a common language. On this site, that's English. I don't think "foreign" language posts are forbidden on this site but you severely limit your audience if you don't use English.

No one here expects perfection but at least try to use something close to proper English. Many members, who could be very helpful, just don't have the time and/or inclination to decipher poor English. They will ignore your post and move on to something that is not so much work to understand. As long as your comments are easy to understand, few will complain (too much) but grammar and spelling do count if you want others to understand you.

Text-speak is frowned on by many members on this site - heavily frowned on in the tech sections - use it at your own risk.

If you start a topic, make the title meaningful. "I Need Help" is NOT a good title. "Need Help Reinstalling Throttle Bodies" works much better. Eschew abbreviations in the title*. Eg, don't use TBs for Throttle Bodies in the previous example. If you are asking a question, put a question mark somewhere in the title. I'm not sure how many characters you can use in the title but you have lots of room - make use of it.

Post new threads in the appropriate section of the site. Are-you-going-to-some-event posts do not belong in the tech forums and VVEL discussions shouldn't be in the social forums. Sometimes it's difficult to decide which is the most appropriate forum to post in - try to get close. Put a post about fuel injection in one of the Engine & Drivetrain sections (depending on the subject, it could go in FI or tuning, pick the one you think fits best; Exhaust is probably not applicable), not Wheels & Tires.

If you are asking for help, be as complete and as precise as you can. Explain the symptoms and give step-by-step details on what you have already tried and the results. If you are having problems understanding something you have read somewhere, include a link(s) to the source.

I'll add more as I think of it or if other members make suggestions I like.

* (Abbreviations are OK in comments. You may want to spell out the term the first time you use it and add the abbreviation in parentheses after. Eg, ... Throttle Body (TB) ...)

SouthArk370Z · 11-13-2013, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spryor

SouthArk370Z,

Do NOT take this personal. Just charge it to my head, not my heart. I am just expressing my thoughts in a mild mattered way.

We all appreciate your suggestions, but this is not an on-line English 101 college course. We all have different educational backgrounds. It is not all that crucial, ease up and have some fun communicating your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions about automobiles. ...

No offense taken. Not sure why you thought I might take it personal.

No one is asking for perfection; only that it be understandable. I assault the King's English on a regular basis so I don't think I can expect better from others. But I at least make an effort to write so that Joe Average can read what I type and make some sense of it. I may not always succeed, but I try.

They are just my suggestions. Feel free to reject them, in part or in whole, if you don't agree with them. Or tell me what you think should be said and, if I agree, I'll make some edits to the OP.

JARblue · 11-13-2013, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spryor

I am just expressing my thoughts in a mild mannered way.

Might as well turn this into a grammar/spelling nazi thread

fzgood · 11-13-2013, 03:43 PM

As a 20-something product of public schools I appreciate this thread. I hate viewing anything written like a reminder scribbled on a wrinkled napkin.

onzedge · 11-13-2013, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue

Might as well turn this thread in a grammar/spelling nazi thread

Keep going -- I count 7 errors in Mr. Spryor's post and that was based on a quick scan. It cracks me up when people try to elucidate the finer points of English usage and grammar for us poor simpletons and then slaughter the very language in the attempt.

Chuck33079 · 11-13-2013, 03:54 PM

Southark- "Please make your posts understandable"
spryor- "This isn't English class, college degrees aren't worth much anyway, Arkansas sucks."

Did I follow that correctly? It seems like I missed a step somewhere. Or someone completely missed the point of the first post.

JARblue · 11-13-2013, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

Keep going -- I count 7 errors in Mr. Spryor's post and that was based on a quick scan. It cracks me up when people try to elucidate the finer points of English usage and grammar for us poor simpletons and then slaughter the very language in the attempt.

I stopped counting... In the first few sentences, I found an incorrect idiom, incorrect usage of a hyphen, missing punctuation, and a run-on sentence

JARblue · 11-13-2013, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

Southark- "Please make your posts understandable"
spryor- "This isn't English class, college degrees aren't worth much anyway, Arkansas sucks."

Did I follow that correctly? It seems like I missed a step somewhere. Or someone completely missed the point of the first post.

11-13-2013, 01:15 PM	#47 (permalink)
Chuck33079 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 12,265 Drives: 2011 370ztt Rep Power: 29538	Being able to write well has been very helpful my entire life. I don't understand why it's not emphasized more today. Hell, I made a lot of money in college writing other people's papers. __________________ 2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

11-13-2013, 03:54 PM	#58 (permalink)
Chuck33079 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 12,265 Drives: 2011 370ztt Rep Power: 29538	Southark- "Please make your posts understandable" spryor- "This isn't English class, college degrees aren't worth much anyway, Arkansas sucks." Did I follow that correctly? It seems like I missed a step somewhere. Or someone completely missed the point of the first post. onzedge, JARblue, Elan and 1 others like this. __________________ 2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

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11-13-2013, 01:25 PM	#49 (permalink)
4r3s A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: MD Posts: 2,077 Drives: Touring 370z Rep Power: 24	I think I used a strong word in calling them idiots. Maybe lazy is a better term.

11-13-2013, 03:43 PM	#56 (permalink)
fzgood Base Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 136 Drives: '13 370z 6MT TS PW Rep Power: 25	As a 20-something product of public schools I appreciate this thread. I hate viewing anything written like a reminder scribbled on a wrinkled napkin.