Of Course, We Could Just Kill All the Stupid People. That Would Improve Literacy, Too.
The push for simplified spelling persists.
I'm appalled. I have to say, as an English teacher, that this represents everything that I oppose. This is everything that in my life and work I stand against. The obvious satire of the article itself notwithstanding, the subject is nothing less than the decline of Western Civilization.
The idea of a top-down revision of official spelling--even if it could be done--really galls me. It's exactly the kind of thing would be championed by a President who once said that we have to ask ourselves the question--and I quote--"is our children educated?" I mean, I've always wanted to run the Boston marathon, but it's just so damn long. Oh, sure, I could train and all that. But why should I have to? Why not just change the marathon to suit the needs of an out-of-shape loser like me? I've always said that if I weren't teaching English, that I'd be a theoretical physicist. It's just that I'm not that good at math. But that shouldn't be a problem--we can always dumb down calculus as well.
Just watch as our nation excels at mediocrity!
All sarcasm aside, I'll be the first to tell you that not everyone can excel in every skill set. Math, as I've said, is not really my strong suit. Maybe it's just the way my brain works. Maybe it's that I wasn't taught math the right way, or at the right time: It's a simple and often-overlooked truth that the mill that is our educational system is based on arbitrarily arrived at, cookie-cutter models of indoctrinating certain skill sets at certain times in a student's life. It's one of those nature-nurture things.
I can tell you from experience that I can't reach every student every time. Sometimes they have to be ready. Since I'm teaching college-aged kids, sometimes I have to contend with years of poor teaching that my students bring with them, carrying it as they do their backpacks. There are many factors involved here.
The point is that whether you're a teacher or a student, education isn't for wimps.
I'm appalled. I have to say, as an English teacher, that this represents everything that I oppose. This is everything that in my life and work I stand against. The obvious satire of the article itself notwithstanding, the subject is nothing less than the decline of Western Civilization.
The idea of a top-down revision of official spelling--even if it could be done--really galls me. It's exactly the kind of thing would be championed by a President who once said that we have to ask ourselves the question--and I quote--"is our children educated?" I mean, I've always wanted to run the Boston marathon, but it's just so damn long. Oh, sure, I could train and all that. But why should I have to? Why not just change the marathon to suit the needs of an out-of-shape loser like me? I've always said that if I weren't teaching English, that I'd be a theoretical physicist. It's just that I'm not that good at math. But that shouldn't be a problem--we can always dumb down calculus as well.
Just watch as our nation excels at mediocrity!
All sarcasm aside, I'll be the first to tell you that not everyone can excel in every skill set. Math, as I've said, is not really my strong suit. Maybe it's just the way my brain works. Maybe it's that I wasn't taught math the right way, or at the right time: It's a simple and often-overlooked truth that the mill that is our educational system is based on arbitrarily arrived at, cookie-cutter models of indoctrinating certain skill sets at certain times in a student's life. It's one of those nature-nurture things.
I can tell you from experience that I can't reach every student every time. Sometimes they have to be ready. Since I'm teaching college-aged kids, sometimes I have to contend with years of poor teaching that my students bring with them, carrying it as they do their backpacks. There are many factors involved here.
The point is that whether you're a teacher or a student, education isn't for wimps.
posted by Drew at 10:02 AM
1 Comments:
Here, here!! Sure, English is complicated and perhaps not even the most logical or intuitive language, so why not just eliminate the things that stupid lazy people don't think are unnecessary! Makes sense to me ...
Seriously, I think it's one thing to use convenient BUT informal and colloquial short cuts for the purpose of jotting a text message or a quick email, which is where I think we're seeing the influx of words like "thru" or "nite". I do that too! But in the back of my head is a little voice whose always saying, "Yeah, but I know how to spell it for real, so it's okay." But to change the rules on a permenant and formal basis because of all the exceptions to the "i before e" rule is to consider something so sad that it's beyond appalling. Isn't it true that to compromise the very integrity of our mother tongue (which, by the way, is after all based in Latin and German) by re-standardizing how we spell our words would just be putting a band-aid over a broken bone? Is the education system in this country such a lost cause, that THIS is what it's come to?
Wait. Don't answer that!
I'm with you. If we have to readjust our language to suit this ridiculous argument, that means that I'll have to dumb myself down as well. No, I would rather sacrifie the stupid people than see that happen.
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