Question about badly written English in an English speaking country?

Question

I returned from a trip abroad about two months ago to a country which is primarily English speaking. A few people from this country have emailed me really badly written emails Here is an email received a couple of days ago from a guy I met over there: "...in general my news is good but i need your picture if you want can send me let me to give you the greetting from my familly and i will try to send you my picture after to get a good nuture where you was here. thank very much ;sincerely yours and try to give me your face or picture". What is that all about?

Answer 1

I'm a magazine sub-editor, so it's my job to have perfect grammar. I'm also really anal about it, so this kind of bad grammar really bugs me. You could blame it on the school system, which is not pulling it's weight, but is allowing students to graduate who probably couldn't pass primary school English exams.

But also remember that people take a different approach to emailing. Just like another immediate form of communication, text messaging, people often pay far less attention to their grammar and spelling than they would with, say, letters or written pieces.

Either way, the author of your above example seriously needs a crash course in the common clauses and comma construction (forgive the alliteration).

Answer 2

Someone asked a similar question on here recently, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. I think they were asking about English in Uganda, because they'd also got an email from someone whose English looked a bit strange. I think the gist of the replies was that English either isn't the first language there, or English has evolved so much there that it has a different grammar and spelling. Personally, I'd say it wasn't their first language.

Answer 3

You said it yourself, primarily English speaking. This doesn't mean it's their official language, or that they don't use a creole. Then when they try to speak in just English, they have to muddle through it.

You cannot even expect English to be the same in one country, let alone in different countries or over the ocean.

Heck, take Canada for instance, we're primarily English speakers, however there's Quebec, where you can live without knowing a word of it, and in other parts you can live without knowing either language(say for instance if you live in an area rich in immigrants from your mother country). So while it can be said that Canada is primarily English speaking, it doesn't mean that everyone will speak English well.

Answer 4

For one people who can otherwise speak or write often to not do so in an email. They seem to think that run on sentences, bad spelling, capataliztion and the use of punctation are not necessary in an email.

Though this is the case here the sentence structure and word pacing are not of a native english speaker. Though I may be wrong and it could be anything the sentence pacing is suggestive of an African. In fact it is almost a mirror of a Nigerian scam letter.

Answer 5

I have lived here all my life and raised by a foreign mother who is soooo particular about correct spelling and grammer yet I could never understand how people can be such prudes! I mean, how well do YOU think you would do in a foreign country with a foreign language? English is hard to learn and a pretty confusing language at that! I am just happy if I can understand them. I say "good for you!" I couldn't do as well as half of my relatives! I still can't speak my mom's home language! Of course my dad said "You are in Canada now! You will only speak English!" So it wasn't like I was taught :(

Maybe my views are only different because I would LOVE to be bilingual! I am envious! People who get mad at bilinguals are self-absorbed! People who just want English spoken properly, well, they are like my mom. True, it is easier to understand when spoken properly but with today's slang ... it is harder and harder all the time for foreigners to learn!

By the way, is it grammer or grammar? Sorry but it is amazing I spell as well as I do considering I am dyslexic! I have my mom to thank for how well I do ;) So maybe that is part of it? Schooling and parents??

Answer 6

Unfortunately some English-speakers are still relatively uneducated in the areas of English and grammar. I just read a question on this very site that literally went "What truns yall on?" It's sad. English-speaking schools are trying to teach advanced math (which most won't use in life) to children that can't spell or pronounce words with more than five letters. I don't understand it.

Answer 7

Well, I did make some sense of it after reading it twice but let's consider the 'questions' asked on this site?

English is not my first language but, like others, I have had to learn it. I found it necessary to learn English at the age of 8, having spoken nothing other than my Mother tongue before.

It was hard work but necessity being the Mother of invention, I made it and worked all my adult life in employment meeting people of all classes, ethnic backgrounds, creeds and income brackets.

Everyone who lives in Britain should have a caveat in their admission documentation to show that their command of the English language is sufficient to pass a grade in the subject not just 'Where DSS', something I was asked on the street some 30 years ago.


Good on you! I hope my grammar and punctuation meets with your approbation.

P.S. I hope the contributor who is a journalist meant 'banal'.

Answer 8

You keep asking this question and I have refrained from answering because it should be obvious that being able to speak a language well does not necessarily mean that one can write it well or, indeed, at all. I could, for example, cite the example of a Haitian gentleman I know who can speak Creole, French and English and who is completely illiterate. It isn't his fault that his family was too poor for him to attend school. Why, therefore, are you so shocked at the standard of English of a Ugandan who may not have had your educational privileges?

Answer 9

mmmmm...could be a scam too.....be careful with your reply if you did not do the following .....meet his family...ask for his photo...have a relationship or really good friendship with this guy... (If you say no, to anyone of the above, then delete and block his emails coming to you)..... I know English differs in different countries but that email was suggestive of a NON speaking English person....It was not written by an English speaking person writing poor English............be careful.

Answer 10

The reason some countries speak English as a primary language is that when Britain had it's empire, they insisted that the natives be taught to speak English as their primary language. India for example, although they have now reverted to Punjabi as their primary language, they used to be made to teach English as their primary language. The same applies to some French colonies. The Ivory Coast for example has French as their native tongue.
It is comparable to Britons speaking French. The grammar is completely different. Another reason could be that he might be dyslexic. Or as already mentioned bad schooling.
Why don't you ask him. As diplomatically as you can, mention that his grammar is a bit confusing. Is there a reason for this?

Answer 11

There are far too many words in English that don't make sense, such as "receipt". I would suggest that is the main problem in the English language