why do americans spell so badly?

Question

it's horrible when people can't write things well. why do you go to schools then??????

I'm not talking about spelling errors in YR, i mean, in general... and yes, not all americans spell badly.

Answer 1

Like it or don't, I would say America is one of the most un-educated nations. The reason? Simply because people just don't care to learn.

Answer 2

Wow, I think those are totally ignorant , narrow minded views- did an American recently piss you off? It's a shame people just point out a WHOLE nation as having a specific problem. I think it's a worldwide issue, and America is not the only sufferer. I'm sure you will find them in ANY country. Maybe it's not bad spelling- maybe bad typing? We are only human too (though often mistaken for super hero figures) and capable- like everyone else of mistakes. Maybe if it bothers you soooo much you should become a teacher and right our terrible wrongs. Am I offended? Yeah, just a little if you can't tell... I just hate when people stereotype and generalize other groups of people for no real reason and with no real proof... Jealousy? ha ha ha... maybe you are. Don't hate baby... Not everyone can rule the world.

Answer 3

Why did you go to school and not learn proper English and grammar. The word "why" was a sentence beginning and therefore, should have been capitalized. Also, American, is used as naming a person, or a group of people, and therefore, it becomes a proper noun, so it should have been capitalized also. The word "it's" is the beginning of a sentence, also and should be capitalized. You need two spaces inbetween sentences when typing correctly, and there shouldn't be a period between "well" and "why." However, if there were, "why," once again, would mark the beginning of a sentence and would be capitalized. Last, and certainly not least, you only need one question mark, as 6 was a little outrageous. Did you think you were putting more question emphasis on the sentence with 6 of them?

Answer 4

I don't think it is an American thing, I think it is related to the English language itself, and plagues ALL who speak and write in English (native speakers--British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, etc, etc. and second language speakers alike), and has to do with the fact of how words have come into English from all other languages, and the spellings have often been kept from those original languages, rather than standardized to a regular phonetic system (as in Spanish)....and there is also the fact that some people are just lazy and either don't learn the correct way to spell or don't check themselves.

Answer 5

First of all, it's Americans with a capital A (proper noun), capitalize the I in It's the W in why (you're beginning an statement in the first and a query in the second), and one question mark at the end please. And don't use interrobangs (?!) -- one punctuation mark per sentence end.

Second, many teachers are atrocious spellers and the school system is run by people who are more interested in structure than education.

Third, and lastly, kids are bored out of their minds in these mind-numbing classes and their parents barely know how to do the work, even if they were around to take over where the school leaves off. Americans have been indoctrinated to give authority to educators who don't deserve it, therefore we receive the education we fight for. No fight, no education.

Which is why I teach my own child through a home education program in my region.

Answer 6

In my opnion, it's the advancement of computers...Even then, people will still spell poorly and that is the adnvancement of laziness. Personally, I spell when it comes to taking notes. As I take notes, the only important thing is that I can read it. When I write and essay, or basically anything else that other people read, I will write correctly (hopefully).

Another answer could be that we are not worse at spelling, it is just that communication is so advanced that we see so much more writting from everyone that we finally catch these errors. Years ago (before computers), people probably spelt just as bad as they do today, it's just that no one saw it.

...I could be wrong, it's just a theory.

Answer 7

Americans write and spell just fine, thank you. I haven't seen any spelling bee aces on the BBC lately...but we have plenty in America. Americans are busy....we are constantly running to work, to school, to pick up kids. We dont' use mass transit as much, and are driving in traffic, trying to always get things done....two or three things at once. So yes, we don't have the time to double and triple check our spelling on a silly yahoo answers website that is for entertainment. We aren't getting graded here are we?

Further, do you actually mean to say that everyone out there who spells like poop is American? I think not. There are bad spellers everywhere. Like I said, it's yahoo for god's sake. Chill out.

Answer 8

English is one of few languages that isn't pronounced as it's spelled. Everything in the English language has an exception. Americans, and other English speakers, have to memorize how to pronounce things, spell things, and differentiate words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. For example:

Were, We're/Where, Wear (All sound very similar)
Book, Snoop (No rule to differentiate how to pronounce "oo" or spell the two if verbally asked)
Tear, Tear (Saline from one's eye, or ripping paper?...You'd have to read it in context)

It's not an easy language, it's only wide-spread. Other languages, such as Spanish, Turkish, and Portuguese (I've had a lot of exposure to all), are much different in nature. And my international friends would certainly agree. Their ability to spell English words in comparison to my ability to spell Spanish, Turkish or Portuguese words also reflects my point.

I hope this helps with your contemplation.

Answer 9

I must agree with you. Some aren't well educated in the English language. Those correct spellings of the words you have there btw, are spelled that way in UK. Yea, some are lazy, some don't like the letter u I guess.

Answer 10

Well, you have bad sentence structure. You can't even capitalize your letters. You are also stereotyping. You assume anyone that spells something incorrectly is an American. There are no indicators of ones nationality from the answer screen, and I highly doubt that you have gone through and checked the profile of anyone that has ever had a word spelled incorrectly.

Answer 11

there is so many other things on people's minds these days that no one takes the time out to really push spelling in school anymore. beside that english is a difficult language to learn to spell. think of words like thought and pneumonic .. people sound words out and would wonder why we would say it one way and spell it clearly with extra letters. plus people are used to typing on the internet. i mean the internet has its own language now and people tend to bring that with them where ever they go. sad but it's true.