why do some native English speakers mess up the grammar and spelling of their own language?

Question

It's understandable if one isn't a native English speaker though. Although British kids as young as 8 seem to have a full grasp of grammar and proper usage. Why?

Is it with the quality of American English education or the level of education per se? People get defensive and bark back about not being English majors or this is not a university. But without malice, I'm talking about bungling up even simple, basic grade school grammar.

I reiterate, it's SOME, not all. Only objective answers please.

here are some common examples(and a lot of them couldn't even identify what are mistakes)
-grammer
-ain't nobody right letters no more
-compaired
-disorientated
-childrens do learn(c/o Bush himself, well...as expected)
- ten year anniversary
- don't take it personal (very common)
- she sings good
- their not invited
-with regards to
-were did you go
-he don't like that ....and a myriad of others to many to mention
-

Answer 1

Right

Let's get Chaucer right out of the curriculum. He couldn't spell worth a hoot. Take this from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales:

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,...

1) Aprill, March, Zephirus, and Ram are not capitalized
2) He spells "sweet" two different ways: soote & sweete
3) "Perced" and "bathed" are incorrectly marked for past perfect without the y- prefix as in "yronne"

In just a few lines, Chaucer has shown his utter disregard for English spelling and grammar. No wonder our children can't spell these days with such a lousy role model of proper spelling and grammar

Answer 2

Written English is actually quite difficult. Spelling is a bee-atch, really. I live in Helsinki now, and my friends can't believe we actually had Spelling Class when I was a kid, because written Finnish looks exactly as it is spoken; there are no silent letters or multiple pronunciations like hard and soft "c."

Spelling is probably quite difficult for a lot of kids to learn. Having said that, I weep in a most doleful manner over my little brothers' essays, in which their tenuous grasp of their own langugage is painfully evident. Honestly. Education's just not doing it anymore. And I don't agree with the implied sentiment that all British children have the Queen's English.

Having said that, perhaps our culture is drifting away from the written word, and perhaps English grammar and usage will simply morph into something quite different to what we now regard as standard usage. Languages evolve, and there's not a whole lot you can do about that.

And probably another factor is laziness, resulting from a total lack of consequences. There was a time when writing poorly might affect your chances of impressing someone. Nowadays the status quo on the Internet is quite the opposite. Mind you, it's not as though 100 years ago everyone was writing letters every day with perfect grammar.

PS lol "upequitus"

Answer 3

I remember Wizard Magazine reported the same, years ago :) Even more, they were surprised how foreign readers writing to them were used to use a far more correct English language than English native speakers from home (the US). I think the reason basically is foreign people tend to learn a sort of "official English" (that's what any school or course is supposed to do); an American person lives inside an English speaking society where the daily language is "bastardized", so they get used to talk that way. Foreign students who study English outside of an English speaking country are somehow "protected" by that. As for your reply to Vangom: the difference between a phonetic and a non-phonetic language is in a phonetic language there always are very specific rules about how to spell letters or group or letters; so it's true in a phonetic language you may face the same letter spelled differently or different letters spelt the same way, but all this IS regulated by rules: for instance in Italian "c" sound is English "ch" when followed by "i" or "e" while have English "k" when followed by a, o, u or h; so there "c" sound have the same spell as "q" sound, but there's no way an Italian speaker can spell "c" the wrong way, since we can follow a rule. Now in English, for instance, can you tell me according to which rule the "oo" sound in "room" and "door" are completely different...?

Answer 4

It is far from correct to say that British children have an excellent understanding of the rules, building blocks and spelling of their language. In fact, I believe that we British make many mistakes with our own language.

Part of the cause is the British education system. I am British and was born in the '70s. Not once during my school education was I taught anything more advanced than very basic English grammar. Instead emphasis was placed on "creative writing". As a result you will find a lot of people from my generation who spell badly, use incorrect phrases and have a very poor grasp of grammar, particularly when using apostrophes and differentiating between there, their and they're.

Moving away from Britain and English we will find that every language is used in different ways by its speakers. The percentage of speakers who use their language the 'correct' way depends on many factors and not just the quality of education within their country. For example, colloquial 'incorrect' usage such as "ain't" may be accepted over time as correct usage as the language evolves.

I am guilty of cringing at some people's mistakes but I would not call myself an expert on English grammar so who am I to complain?

Let's not waste time correcting people or lecturing to them. Life is like this and if you are happy with your own use of your own language that is all that matters.

Answer 5

It's true but it's not limited to English. Young people everywhere have grasped the minimum effort method to get their message across and pay no attention to spelling or grammar. It's a shame but it's also down to a relaxed approach by teachers on this matter. I see this all the time in Spanish children where msn messages are becoming standard writing at school too and though teachers try to correct it, it's taking a very negative toll.

Answer 6

Because native speakers are waiting for us, non native speakers to get their jobs.
Jokes aside, who has better credentials? A native English speaker with a degree who doesn't know well his own language or a non native with the same degree who can write correct English AND knows AT LEAST another language at a NATIVE level?

But don't worry. This same question could be asked in the Spanish section, just changing "Why do some native English speakers... " for "Why do some native Spanish speakers..."
The problem is EVERYWHERE.

Answer 7

A lot of it is from what they hear. If people do not hear proper English being spoken in the home, they cannot be expected to learn it. Once the improper English is ingrained, it is hard to unlearn it once in school.

In Britain, more people have excellent English skills, and thus teach their children by speaking properly. But, on the other hand, I am sure there are quite a few people who do not speak properly.

I have read many articles from teachers who complain that they actually have to teach their students to speak English so that they can teach them. The students come to school speaking whatever slang is in vogue at the time and the students do not know proper English. This makes it very hard for them to teach. For these teachers, it's teaching a second language first.

Parents need to model proper English in the home so that their children can learn to speak properly. I know that raising my children I became very conscious of how I speak, and I did model proper language skills. My children are grown now, but they have good language skills, a large vocabulary, and the ability to express themselves in a way that everyone understands.

Answer 8

Because the school system has been taken over by silly educational fads over the last 20 years and grammar and spelling are not taught in primary schools anymore.
We used to learn all this in grade 5, 6 and 7. Now they do not teach it at all , not even in high school.

Answer 9

Ignorance and laziness. Unfortunately, many young people believe that grammer and spelling is not important, especially when writing online. Hopefully once they get into the business world (if anyone will hire them) they will realize that being well spoken is one important factor in being a well-respected professional.
It drives me crazy too! I wish they would have some pride in how they speak (and how they type).

Answer 10

What is wrong with "with regards to "?

EDIT: I think you can use that in standard English as well. The only problem could be that regards can be also understood as best wishes, but the context clarifies the matter. I have seen it used in Business English.