American Education System In Decline?

[Entropyutd]

One thing that really irritates me is when (usually) American posters use THEN when they mean THAN.
Why is this?

Is it a sign of a failing education system?
Are you even aware it is incorrect?
Is it somehow "in" or "cool" to be this stupid?

I am not picking on anyone, but it is mainly Americans who do this and I would really be genuinely interested to know why it is suddenly acceptable to just use whatever word you think fits a sentence.

 

[Bretty]

The American education system has always been a joke.

In Canada, if your kid is bright you send them to a Canadian University. If your kid is not a hugely clever person and you don't want to risk a bad GPA you send them to the US. True story.

Also didn't Texas just release their own history text book which is to be taught to all junior schools. Besides the fact that a lot of the information in that text book is wrong or just plane lies.

But stupid people don't fight Gov't.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Wow... People do a common grammatical mistake and you blame the American Education System?

Seriously?

That's not only a very harsh and unfair generalization, but a very arrogant one as well. "Oh, I've seen Americans make mistakes, that means AMERICA SUCKS!".

I'm not protecting the American Education System, but your reasoning behind thinking it's declining is... well, it's not very good.

 

[FalloutJack]

Not all American posters are like this.

*Waves*

Hello, I'm from Pittsburgh!

*Clears throat*

Anyway, there's a consortium of people who just don't give a damn about the spelling of things online, followed by those who make typos. Don't fault the typo people. Mistakes happen. Of course, I would be the first to agree that education is down. Just not MINE. A graduate of two colleges (community and university) am I.

 

[Julianking93]

Education system falling?

Dude, it's already at the bottom.

But in all seriousness, you can't just say that one common grammatical error means "OMG AMERIKA SUCCKKS!!!"

 

[Flames66]

This error annoys me. I don't know why people do it. When I see it it makes me take the poster a lot less seriously.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Wow... People do a common grammatical mistake and you blame the American Education System?

Seriously?

That's not only a very harsh and unfair generalization, but a very arrogant one as well. "Oh, I've seen Americans make mistakes, that means AMERICA SUCKS!".

I'm not protecting the American Education System, but your reasoning behind thinking it's declining is... well, it's not very good.

Definitely gotta side with you here. I mean hell I make mistakes fairly often, be it laziness, tiredness, or just a plain typo, but it doesn't mean that suddenly everyone from England sucks at English.

 

[De Ronneman]

EVERY nation has this. In Holland it's the difference between "hen" and "hun", basically "them" and "their" respectively.

It is proven by some study some years ago, I forgot the details, but on average, the IQ of Americans is 8 points lower than the average 100.

You can't stop languagelittering. It just happens. Let it go. Doesn't mean everyone does it wrong.

My guess is you're British. They're the language purists of the English language if you ask me.

[sub]See, I can generalise too![/sub]

 

[Cherry Cola]

Wow... People do a common grammatical mistake and you blame the American Education System?

Seriously?

That's not only a very harsh and unfair generalization, but a very arrogant one as well. "Oh, I've seen Americans make mistakes, that means AMERICA SUCKS!".

I'm not protecting the American Education System, but your reasoning behind thinking it's declining is... well, it's not very good.

Definitely gotta side with you here. I mean hell I make mistakes fairly often, be it laziness, tiredness, or just a plain typo, but it doesn't mean that suddenly everyone from England sucks at English.

[sub][sub][sub]Yes it does... [/sub][/sub][/sub]


I didn't say anything!

*runs away*

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

Well, although the OP's logic is sound and his evidence compelling, I would argue that the common errors he is referring to are what I would call "easy mistakes."

 

[Hazy]

Yay for generalizations?

Seriously though, I'm thinking this is much less of an issue than you're making it out to be.
People on the internet, whether they choose to willingly disregard it or not, do seem to confuse than with then - I am not disputing this.
Though, I'll be hard-pressed to believe that a simple spelling error is really this big of a deal.

But in all seriousness, you can't just say that one common grammatical error means "OMG AMERIKA SUCCKKS!!!"

I'll have to agree with Julian on this one, as always.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Wow... People do a common grammatical mistake and you blame the American Education System?

Seriously?

That's not only a very harsh and unfair generalization, but a very arrogant one as well. "Oh, I've seen Americans make mistakes, that means AMERICA SUCKS!".

I'm not protecting the American Education System, but your reasoning behind thinking it's declining is... well, it's not very good.

Definitely gotta side with you here. I mean hell I make mistakes fairly often, be it laziness, tiredness, or just a plain typo, but it doesn't mean that suddenly everyone from England sucks at English.

[sub][sub][sub]Yes it does... [/sub][/sub][/sub]


I didn't say anything!

*runs away*

I'm not angry, on the contrary, i'm quite flattered that you think I personally am worthy of representing the whole of England.

 

[Baron Von Evil Satan]

I hardly think confusing Then and Than is a basis for saying the entire education system is fucked (don't get me wrong, it is, but still...).

If you'd like to insult a country please find a better reason to next time.

*rides off on his steed, scoffing apple pie with one hand, and punching terrorists with the other*

 

[Entropyutd]

Education system falling?

Dude, it's already at the bottom.

But in all seriousness, you can't just say that one common grammatical error means "OMG AMERIKA SUCCKKS!!!"

This is not American bashing. I know your education system is now below some 3rd world countries.
And please do not give me the common grammatical error bullshit, this is a new phenomenon.
Hence me asking, is it somehow cool to be dumb? or is there a real issue here, because it now seems the norm to accept Then instead of Than.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Wow... People do a common grammatical mistake and you blame the American Education System?

Seriously?

That's not only a very harsh and unfair generalization, but a very arrogant one as well. "Oh, I've seen Americans make mistakes, that means AMERICA SUCKS!".

I'm not protecting the American Education System, but your reasoning behind thinking it's declining is... well, it's not very good.

Definitely gotta side with you here. I mean hell I make mistakes fairly often, be it laziness, tiredness, or just a plain typo, but it doesn't mean that suddenly everyone from England sucks at English.

[sub][sub][sub]Yes it does... [/sub][/sub][/sub]


I didn't say anything!

*runs away*

I'm not angry, on the contrary, i'm quite flattered that you think I personally am worthy of representing the whole of England.

The rest of England isn't.

Oh, you know me. Always saying nice things to people.

 

[Hazy]

Education system falling?

Dude, it's already at the bottom.

But in all seriousness, you can't just say that one common grammatical error means "OMG AMERIKA SUCCKKS!!!"

And please do not give me the common grammatical error bullshit, this is a new phenomenon.
Hence me asking, is it somehow cool to be dumb? or is there a real issue here, because it now seems the norm to accept Then instead of Than.

Julian's point was that the issue isn't exclusively an American one. I've seen people confusing 'then' and 'than,' regardless of their nationality.

[sub][sub]And your O in the third sentence is in dire need of being capitalized - while we're on the topic of grammar.[/sub][/sub]

 

[Mr. Grey]

I've always thought video games held the key to teaching children. Heck that's how my school taught me basic math in Elementary. They needed something to captivate us so they'd take us down to the computer room and have us play video games to learn English and Math. Those two are the only ones that I remember at present.

Heck, one teacher in Middle School - or was it High School? - let us play the Oregon Trail for our history lesson. And... call me crazy... but we actually got a good grade out of it because it kept our minds fresh on the target. Granted he'd have us read out of the textbook also, but he kept us interested by letting us play the game.

I don't know, I just think games can be a very effective medium to teach kids to teenagers all about what they need to know. Especially since our problem are the ones who don't care to learn, so I say let's make them want to learn.

Then again there's probably a huge flaw with my logic. I just honestly believe it may hold the key to the current predicament that is any country's educational system. Should it be failing of course.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Yes, simple grammar mistakes make the entire population of the country dumbasses! If were one of the worlds greatest super powers and were stupid, what does that make you?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Yes, simple grammar mistakes make the entire population of the country dumbasses! If were one of the worlds greatest super powers and were stupid, what does that make you?

Large Army =/= Smart nation, but yes, I agree, a lack of correct grammatical application also does not equal a dumb nation.

 

[kickyourass]

I'm not afraid to admit that our education system sucks balls most of the time, but a simple grammar mistake is a horribly petty reason to think the ENTIRE system sucks and a sure sign of a Grammer Nazi. I personally would target the fully grown adults who don't know how many sides a Triangle has as a starting point.