Good morning Oceans. I hope all is well with you.

Sat 04/21/07 07:45 AM
Good morning, Kat!

It seems like a not uncommon patterns among those who speak 'ghetto
Ebonics' is that they can also speak and understand 'normal' English.
They can switch easily between the two. So there may be less need of
learning how 'they' speak than you are suggesting.

My preference is for learning languages other than English, and
preferably languages spoken by significant populations...

French, Arabic, Urdu, Russian, German, Chinese, etc.

Whew! It's a long list!
Oceans


I wasn't even really talking about ebonics or ghetto. I was referring to
all kinds of strange talk among our young. The reversal of words and
language as we know it.

Jane, that is what we have also. No child left behind. They will run
them through at any cost, up until it is too late. I am talking about
high school. When they get there, they are clueless. I feel for them.

My young niece is in the 9th grade and she was one of those rushed
through. She is now taking classes in a special school in order to get
through High School. Her reading is very slow.

My nephew is also in the ninth grade, he can read well, but his words
are mispoken and his understanding is incorrect.

Neither one of these kids know anything about punctuation!?
I asked them about it one day (well several) and they didn't have a
clue. I was told that they didn't teach it because it wasn't used tha
much anumore? WHAT!!???No way! But, it is that way. I think it is very
important to at least use some of it. Not just periods.
Kat

* I really can spell, it's my fingers that can't.

Jane, I have Earth Abides and remember it as fondly as daVinci
describes. I'll see if I can find it. I have, literally, tens of
thousands of books, and have just begun pruning the collections back....

I love this thread! Lots of food for thought. It leaves me a bit
breathless trying to keep up with all the rich postings: I have Abras on
education to go, and daVinci's on the disappearing Arts.

Question for Abra: can you say about the focus of your book on
mathematics?

Happy weekend, all!

We don't use grammar much anymore?????
Makes me sad for the children. In this age of the keyboard, inability to
write (as distinct from speaking) MUST be viewed as a significant
disability....

Oceans

Lvslife I so agree with you on people not knowing the true meaning of
words.

I once had a you lady tell me.

'I am gona make wild COMPASIONATE love to you'

Yikes!

I wanted to believe she and meant PASIONATE but eithe way the moment was
ruined.

all I could think of was... oh no a pity ****.

LOL, AB!

I wonder what is the strangest misuse of a word I've ever heard?

"Aggravate" misuesed as 'irritate' instead of 'make worse' still bugs
me. Sigh....

Oceans

How about someone stating "it is my considered opinion...'.

while quoting someone else?

How can it be their considered anything?

Well, AB, it is my unconsidered opinion that um, uh, well, y'know. I
mean, I'm just trying to be honest.



Oceans

Thank you Oceans...

I needed that.

Oceans, I just stopped by to say hi. Grammar? I have poor grammar, but
I got myself a education. They didn't teach good grammar in the
school I went to in KY but there are more important things than grammar
to me. I never could stand people who are so anal about it that they
attack other people because of the way they spell or write. I have seen
it done many times in forums, especially in political forums, usually
when they are losing a debate to a person who doesn't have the same
strength in speaking or writing English as they do. And in my opinion
attacking is the worse offense.

I had a very cool, liberal English instructor in college and I guess my
grammar wasn't that bad, I did get A's but I think he was more into the
substance than the form. Or maybe my grammar just wasn't that bad but I
have been attacked and have witnessed other people be attacked by smug
people who in my opinion like to feel superior about something when they
may lack strength or information in other areas.

And I do know that an is before a vowel...like it would be an education,
but I don't always do it right and I don't really care.

Hi, I'm back. Forgive me if I don't respond to each of you
individually, too much while I was gone. A couple question came up
that I'd like to respond to.


Do you think it is at all possible to reinvigorate these Americans with
curiosity and a desire to learn?

If you are talking about kids, I think we can. I don't pretend to have
the answer as to how, but I think there has to be a way to show kids,
from an early age that the world is open and available to them. This
used to be something that parents taught thier children. They looked up
to their parents, were amazed at their ability to know things, wanted to
be like them.
even in school, the teachers knew everything and they were kind and took
time with each student. No kid EVER felt slighted because one student
got more time than another.
Today, most kids have parents who work, or only one parent that has
more than one job. There is no one around to look up to except their
peers. No one around who they can marvel at, who not only knows
everything, from their point of view, but who give them time, shows them
individual attention.
Most seniors in high school, today, don't even have a clue as to how
much money it takes to live.
My son in his second year of college, very gifted in language, had
been studying Japanese for 5 years. Though he'd be a teacher. When he
changed colleges and majors this year I asked why? He said he didn't
think he wanted to be a teacher. this kid is not clueless, however, he
had absolutely no idea of the job possibilities that his major offered.
That's when I started talking to other young adults in college. They
know what they're intrested in, but haven't a clue how or in what
profession they could use it.
There are so many job opportunities in the world today, that the
parents, the shcool counselors, even the teachers haven't a clue. How
can they prepare students, get them going in the right direction if they
can't offer some valuable reason to continue their educaton?

Oh, I had another question to respond to.


Can we create a culture in which linguistic diversity is a highly-prized
norm? If not, those societies that do hold this value are sure to
overtake ours.

I have just recently enrolled in college, start in the fall. I was
amazed at the number of older adults, 40, 50 & 60's that are going to
college for the first time. Have spoken with many, and they are going
to have a tough time as their reading, writing and comprehension skills
are very poor. The differnce between them now and when they were 18 is,
they want to learn now and they understand the hard work that will take.
Why do they understand now, because they can no longer make a living
with the minimal job skills they have. They are motivated because they
want a better life, because they want to be able to retire at some
point.
This brings us back to the first qustion I just replied to. How do
we motivate? Let them see the real world. Give them vast numbers of
jobs that they might want to persue. Give them information about these
jobs, where they might live, would they travel, could they travel, what
kind of hours, what is the general pay, and then what are the skills
required to procure such a job.
Ask a child today what they want to be when they grow up and the
highest percentage of them will probably give you the same answeres that
we gave 30 years ago, only the number one answer these day indead of
Doctor is "professional xxxxball". They need direction and they need to
have something to strive for, to have a reason to keep an interest in
school, in learning.

Hi, sweeti! Great to see you in the forums! Keep bringing that
passion, impeccable instinct and intellect, will you?

It seems to me that you are unusually eloquent, so the issue of formal
education probably hasn't ever arisen for you. And yeah, a brutish
retreat to grammatical minutiae (sp?) to put someone else down is just
dumb -- says a lot more about the attacker than the attacked! There is
a brand of academic who uses his/her specialized lingo to imply that
have special knowledge and that the rest of we peons should shut up and
bathe in their erudite glow.

Fortunately, JustSayHi folks aren't taken in by that nonsense, right?

Political threads above and below, for your entertainment, Brenda!

Oceans

Hi, Redy!

Interesting comments. I was thinking more of adults, in wondering if we
can reinvigorate an attraction to learning.

I like the threads here in JustSayHi: by far the majority of posts are
thoughtful, questing. Of course, we do get the occassional rant and
insult-laden diatribe, but people do then seem to just ignore that stuff
and the real conversation continues.... Nice!

Oceans

Scatterbrain -- is that a grandkid I discern?


Oceans