<p>I guess we should all just agree to disagree ?</p>
<p>of course, i am just stating my opinion, i am not asking acceptance of mine opinion nor am I trying to undermining yours.</p>
<p>English grammar is important in any professional/formal environment, that's a given. But IS THE CC BOARD A FORMAL ENVIRONMENT? that;s the question.</p>
<p>Look...</p>
<p>Individuals did not create the acronyms such as "LOL" or shortened terms such as "thx" because they look funny; they were created because individuals were too lazy to type the entire phrase/word. There is no such rule of formality or informality; informality is merely holding a "de facto rule" on our systems of communication because of laziness.</p>
<p>Not meaning to add to the current topic actually, however, it was interesting how "grammar" was introduced just because one person noted that a difficult teacher has raised her awareness of her own grammatical errors and shortcomings.</p>
<p>Coming from the other side, no English teacher in their own right would overly stress grammar. It's important, don't get me wrong, but it was always impressed upon me that are other things of equal importance that must be included within a composition to make it effective (as I am sure you all know....).</p>
<p>Frankly, it is either laziness or ignorance that keeps people from using proper grammar in such "informal" places, such as bulletin boards, or IM. Nothing ever changes in that regard. I decided years ago to just get used to it. </p>
<p>Bottom line: I think it's great to see students not taking the easy way out and understanding that our public schools did not always do the best job in making us into effective writers and communicators, and also realizing that with a great instructor and a little motivation you can strengthen your own writing voice.</p>
<p>btw....Berkely looks alot at your essay for your admission so you should get to those essay writin skills asap</p>
<p>nspeds & calipharius, if you are truly interested in the consequences that incorrect grammar imposes upon society, you should read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss. It is a series of essays that discuss the modern, laissez-fair approach to punctuation. They are also very funny.</p>
<p>I did forget to note one thing...
my teacher also happaned to be a editor for some periodicals or whatever...and a book writer herself. So yes, grammar to her was very very very very very....important. Grammar to me, well, hell...I was never taught grammar in an official matter, as my english teachers never stressed the importance of grammar.</p>
<p>It amazed me at how..this one international student got an A in the class, but his sentences were very...blunt, very structural, very BLEH. Comparing his paper with another students paper..where his sentences flowed so elegently and used such big words...that I had trouble reading it...but he was the one getting a C, cuz his grammar was wrong. Ah...well, glad that class is over with.</p>
<p>Proper grammar, syntax, and usage are all necessary to articulate our speech. However, seeing that so many people just don't get it, it almost seems worthless to write in "perfect" English when so many people don't know the difference. AND (intentionally beginning with a conjunction) if you check out a grammar book from thirty years ago or even fifteen years ago, you'll notice that the rules have evolved so much that you'll be left thinking, W-T-F?!</p>
<p>
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However, seeing that so many people just don't get it, it almost seems worthless to write in "perfect" English when so many people don't know the difference.
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</p>
<p>It depends on your audience.</p>
<p>I agree. Obviously a business memo, a final thesis, and a love letter will all be quite different for their intended purposes/readers.</p>
<p>I do not intend to appeal to popularity in my writings; they have quite a narrow and specific audience, an audience that is apt to castigate if my grammar is incorrect.</p>