Students.

[RogerS]

......I think they probably do the best they can - nobody wants to appear to be illiterate if they can help it.
........

How do you know that? An alternative view is that they don't care and/or are too lazy to even use the spelling checker.

 

[Anonymous]

For the interests of posting in forums, grammar seems to have fallen by the way side but this most probably generally accepted by other members.

However writing letters to a potential employer or a letter of complaint etc etc, it must be perfect in my opinion as it says a lot about you.

I wouldn't dream of writing a quote for work strewn with errors, as it would look very bad on me, therefore would probably cost me the work.

 

[big soft moose]

I wouldn't dream of writing a quote for work strewn with errors, as it would look very bad on me, therefore would probably cost me the work.

Dont you mean that you wouldn't dream of writing a quote, strewn with errors, for work (assuming its the quote that would have the errors and not the work :lol: )

and also "it would look very bad for you", or "reflect very badly on you"

 

[PeterBassett]

:lol:

 

[Jacob]

I wouldn't dream of writing a quote for work strewn with errors, as it would look very bad on me, therefore would probably cost me the work.

Dont you mean that you wouldn't dream of writing a quote, strewn with errors, for work ....

But you would if that was the best you could do and couldn't get anybody to check it for you. And a client who would reject a quote because of the bad spelling would be an silly person (assuming the quote is for woodwork and not proof reading!)

I don't know why you all find this thread so interesting - I suppose you all enjoy tut-tutting away disapprovingly.

 

[Pvt_Ryan]

I wouldn't dream of writing a quote for work strewn with errors, as it would look very bad on me, therefore would probably cost me the work.

Dont you mean that you wouldn't dream of writing a quote, strewn with errors, for work ....

But you would if that was the best you could do and couldn't get anybody to check it for you. And a client who would reject a quote because of the bad spelling would be an silly person (assuming the quote is for woodwork and not proof reading!)

I don't know why you all find this thread so interesting - I suppose you all enjoy tut-tutting away disapprovingly.

2 things:
1) The errors could cost you money, say 1000mm is £100 and you quote me for 1000m at £100. I accept the quote and pay up front, that is, as far as I know, legally binding (extreme example I know but it's just to emphasise the point).
2) If you have a computer there is NO excuse for spelling errors as both MS Word (non-free) and OpenOffice.org Writer (free) have spell checkers built in.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't dream of writing a quote for work strewn with errors, as it would look very bad on me, therefore would probably cost me the work.

Dont you mean that you wouldn't dream of writing a quote, strewn with errors, for work (assuming its the quote that would have the errors and not the work :lol: )

and also "it would look very bad for you", or "reflect very badly on you"

wat eva trev

 

[Max Power]

Mr Rim wrote:

"I don't know why you all find this thread so interesting - I suppose you all enjoy tut-tutting away disapprovingly."

You must find it quite interesting yourself as your about the main contributor :lol: :lol:

 

[big soft moose]

[
I don't know why you all find this thread so interesting.

Why do you find it interesting ?

 

[StevieB]

6 pages long and now I find it! I teach in higher education so have a slightly different perspective to most.

To educate a student costs quite alot of money. In the days of the state paying for education and handing out maintenance grants the entire cost of education was paid for by the state. At this time students numbers were low, with only a small percentage of the populous going to university. The conversion of polytechnics to universities in the 1990's led to increasing numbers of students able to go to 'University' and gain a degree. The old universities had more prestige than the newer polys which became universities and higher entrance requirements. Over the last 15 years or so this distinction has been blurred somewhat, student numbers have expanded massively and government introduced targets for the number of people it wanted to go on to higher education - mentions of 50% of the population in fact. Clearly you cannot expand student numbers without increasing the cost, and the state cannot continue to meet that cost. Thus student grants were abolished, fees were introduced, and have now been raised again to a notional 9k.

What is not mentioned so much in the news is that the state was and is still underwriting the cost of educating a student by giving a block grant to universities. The 3k students currently pay is not enough to cover the cost of their education. The rest is made up by the government contribution to universities. This is being stopped in the recently announced funding round, and students are paying more to cover the cost of their education. Universities are no better off, in fact most will be worse off, the money for educating a student now simply comes from a different source - the student and not the government. Government grants to universities have been cut by 80%, the remaining 20% has been redistributed to mainly STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) as these traditionally cost more than humanities degrees or arts degrees as the laboratory components of these are expensive. Graduates in these subjects are also in need by the economy so its a way of pump priming these subjects.

Students see this as having to pay alot for something they thought they were getting for less. What they are actually paying is a realistic price for their education. Will it make them think twice before embarking on a degree - I certainly hope so. Should 50% of people go to university - absolutely not. But as stated in this thread multiple times, a viable alternative needs to be provided either in terms of apprenticeships, vocational qualifications and so on. Too often a degree is seen as something to do to defer getting a job or making a career choice. You should do a degree because it leads to something you want. You shouldn't expect that having a degree gets you a job automatically. Will it exclude people from going to Uni - probably. But until now I don't think most students think properly about why they are doing a degree anyway so thats not always a negative.

Steve

 

[Digit]

I think that injects a state of reality and common sense into the debate. Thank you Steve, nicely explained.

Roy.

 

[Max Power]

Excellent Steve =D>

 

[RogerS]

t.
...okay, before someone points out that the writer could be dyslexic there are spell checkers available.

Roy.

His text reads perfectly without any ambiguities.
He makes spelling mistakes but so what? I find it quite pleasing that it doesn't hold him back and he isn't going to be put off by being jeered at for his spelling.
Good luck to him!

Is this the same Grimsdale who, in a thread over on WWUK, in response to a post by Engineer One said

Punctuation and spacing a bit better but capital letters missing. Aim for 100 words max. Or I go cross eyed looking at it.

Here's the link

Perhaps the Oxford English Dictionary under their definition of 'hypocrite' should add ' troll' ?

 

[Jacob]

t.
...okay, before someone points out that the writer could be dyslexic there are spell checkers available.

Roy.

His text reads perfectly without any ambiguities.
He makes spelling mistakes but so what? I find it quite pleasing that it doesn't hold him back and he isn't going to be put off by being jeered at for his spelling.
Good luck to him!

Is this the same Grimsdale who, in a thread over on WWUK, in response to a post by Engineer One said

Punctuation and spacing a bit better but capital letters missing. Aim for 100 words max. Or I go cross eyed looking at it.

Here's the link

Perhaps the Oxford English Dictionary under their definition of 'hypocrite' should add ' troll' ?

:lol:
Yep was me. But I was being ironical . E1 has been a world-class long winded ranter, though he's gone a bit quiet lately. Hope he's OK.

 

[RogerS]

t.
...okay, before someone points out that the writer could be dyslexic there are spell checkers available.

Roy.

His text reads perfectly without any ambiguities.
He makes spelling mistakes but so what? I find it quite pleasing that it doesn't hold him back and he isn't going to be put off by being jeered at for his spelling.
Good luck to him!

Is this the same Grimsdale who, in a thread over on WWUK, in response to a post by Engineer One said

Punctuation and spacing a bit better but capital letters missing. Aim for 100 words max. Or I go cross eyed looking at it.

Here's the link

Perhaps the Oxford English Dictionary under their definition of 'hypocrite' should add ' troll' ?

:lol:
Yep was me. But I was being ironical . E1 has been a world-class long winded ranter, though he's gone a bit quiet lately. Hope he's OK.

ironical? Mmmmm....how convenient.

 

[Jacob]

.....
"I don't know why you all find this thread so interesting - .....

You must find it quite interesting yourself .....

Yes I do find these threads slightly compulsive.
I'm interested in the "whinge culture" typical of the Daily Mail (not alone).
In this thread for instance a lot of middle aged blokes who are probably fairly successful, are bemoaning having to pay for the meagre education of Florists and others. in fact any state provision for those they see as somehow lower than themselves - doing "lightweight degrees" etc etc.
It's a bit tragic IMHO.
They should be moaning about the real causes of the current economic problems; bankers and the world of unregulated finance.
Bankers bonuses are huge amounts of money even compared to the total cost of state education.

PS and the bankers must be laughing their heads off counting their bonuses and watching us fighting amongst ourselves, blaming florists, tightening our belts and preparing to bear our share of the burden!

 

[big soft moose]

t.
...okay, before someone points out that the writer could be dyslexic there are spell checkers available.

Roy.

His text reads perfectly without any ambiguities.
He makes spelling mistakes but so what? I find it quite pleasing that it doesn't hold him back and he isn't going to be put off by being jeered at for his spelling.
Good luck to him!

Is this the same Grimsdale who, in a thread over on WWUK, in response to a post by Engineer One said

Punctuation and spacing a bit better but capital letters missing. Aim for 100 words max. Or I go cross eyed looking at it.

Here's the link

Perhaps the Oxford English Dictionary under their definition of 'hypocrite' should add ' troll' ?

:lol:
Yep was me. But I was being ironical . E1 has been a world-class long winded ranter, though he's gone a bit quiet lately. Hope he's OK.

ironical? Mmmmm....how convenient.

also the word is ironic, not ironical :roll:

 

[Jacob]

.....
also the word is ironic, not ironical :roll:

ironical:
Comically antiquated variation on 'ironic' presently used most often to emphasise the unseriousness of a point. 'Ironical', like many nouns accepting the -ical adjectival suffix (e.g., poetical, hermetical, etc.) fell into disuse in favour of the shorter -ic form (e.g., poetic, hermetic, etc.) in Early Modern English. The anachronistic 'ironical' is therefore most commonly used in current speech to suggest the absurdity of an expression.
Speaker 1: That...that doesn't make much sense.
Speaker 2: Yes, one might even suspect, for example, that I was being ironical!

 

[Anonymous]

t.
...okay, before someone points out that the writer could be dyslexic there are spell checkers available.

Roy.

His text reads perfectly without any ambiguities.
He makes spelling mistakes but so what? I find it quite pleasing that it doesn't hold him back and he isn't going to be put off by being jeered at for his spelling.
Good luck to him!

Is this the same Grimsdale who, in a thread over on WWUK, in response to a post by Engineer One said

Punctuation and spacing a bit better but capital letters missing. Aim for 100 words max. Or I go cross eyed looking at it.

Here's the link

Perhaps the Oxford English Dictionary under their definition of 'hypocrite' should add ' troll' ?

:lol:
Yep was me. But I was being ironical . E1 has been a world-class long winded ranter, though he's gone a bit quiet lately. Hope he's OK.

ironical? Mmmmm....how convenient.

also the word is ironic, not ironical :roll:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ironical

 

[RogerS]

Aren't we in danger of floccinaucinihilipilification? :wink: