Grammar test on forum signup

[FgNewbie]

for those concerned about spelling;
has anyone asked AFF heads if they can implement a spell checker ?

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

for those concerned about spelling;
has anyone asked AFF heads if they can implement a spell checker ?

Actually been asked a few times.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

I've got a plug-in for firefox, works pretty well too .... most of the time

[FgNewbie]

vztrt what was the response?

[vztrt]

Don't think it could be implemented.

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

There is a very big difference between those that just stuff up some words .... I do it often ..... and those who are just too bone lazy and use SMS. There have been a few warnings issued in extreme cases as it really does my head in!

This sums it up well - if you're going to post at least put a little effort into making it readable.

Originally Posted by vztrt

Interesting that I knew an engineer that worked making weapons for the defence force (electronics boards for the guidance systems) yet was absolutely horrible with his spelling.

Good point... the greatest man ever was illiterate.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Perhaps with russellw and cs123 migrating everything over to the new server this might be able to be implemented with the upgrade?

Sure it's not of paramount importance compared to other things (I.e more bandwidth) but it'd be handy to have

[Geez Louise]

Spell check would be great with the new upgrade.

[Landau Stable]

There is no real way that you can test people and remove them based on their grammar and spelling. Usually you can spot the fat fingered mistakes, or where someone stopped mid sentence, and started again half way through, repeating themselves or similar. You can see it as a genuine mistake. It does grate on me to a certain degree though when even basic words are wrong, and there is no use of punctation. Unlike a pub with a bunch of mates, writing requires a full stop at the end of a sentence. It is the equivalent to when your mate takes a deep breath and then continues. A question mark denotes your mate raising his voice in pitch to ask you something. All we have here is the letters in front of us. We don't have sound where we notice a different pitch or pause at the end of a sentence or body language or smiling, so it is a basic courtesy to those who read your post to clean it up a little. Not everyone knows all the big words. I get stuck on some of them too at times, but everyone should know the basics. Disabilities aside, it does reflect on intelligence to a degree. Even though you may be a genius in your chosen field, writing is one of the most common and basic forms of communication to the outside world, and if you can't be bothered to learn to communicate clearly with the rest of the world, then it shows laziness, and that lack of intelligence. Having said that, although i will cringe at some of the people who post with hideous spelling, i wouldn't want to see them removed. More than anything i want to give them a gentle nudge and remind them that their writing is a reflection on how the world views them, and that a bit more effort might see them held in a better regard, which i would hope is something they actually deserve. After all, they may be a heck of a lot smarter and it would be evident in a conversation, but since this forum is all about the written text, it would be a shame for them to be considered otherwise, when it can be avoided with a bit of basic training.

[FgNewbie]

Landau, does the basics include using paragraphs and would lack of them also reflect on intelligence ?

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Perhaps not a lack of intelligence, but the lack of a working 'enter' key?

[FgNewbie]

Originally Posted by grandpa_spec_au

Perhaps not a lack of intelligence, but the lack of a working 'enter' key?

Oh no! Can we contend with keyboard disabilities

I was only referring to something in the middle of the post somewhere

And for those that don't like all the smiley crap

[grandpa_spec_F6]

Well after a read through the whole thread, I do believe that in the infamous words of Mr Hardware I shall say:

"Please excuse me while I go and grow a heart"

I did not intend to insult/offend/exclude minority groups, and I feel people have taken this as the whole point of my post, my apologies if I've offended anyone as it was not my intention.

At the time it never even occurred to me, I was just a little fed up with the poor sentence structure of people who (to my knowledge at the time) could have made the effort to make it half legible.

Mad Maxine (with her wise words of wisdom) showed the flip side of the coin and also why such a system wouldn't work, as others have pointed out, some people are just better working on cars than on a keyboard.

For those telling me to 'get over it', I'm over it now, you can put down the pitch forks

I don't hate everyone, not really, just politicians.

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

And for those that don't like all the smiley crap

I <3 Smilies too

[Landau Stable]

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

Landau, does the basics include using paragraphs and would lack of them also reflect on intelligence ?

Take a closer look at where i begin a sentence with the word disabilities. Although it had a paragraph when i was writing it here in the narrow screen where we type, due to the way it has widened the borders on my answer, it would appear as though i wrote the whole lot in one block and did not press ENTER
If that's all you have to discredit me when i try to put an intelligent view forward, please try harder next time.

[FgNewbie]

Landau by no means was I trying to discredit you as there was valid comment made in part.

After 142 posts, it would be fair to believe that you know the basics of creating a post on this forum. Keeping that in mind, I would respectfully suggest re-reading your own post before referring to other's intelligence.

While agreeing that people make mistakes and/or don't know better, I would suggest that it doesn't necessarily have to relate to their level of intelligence as suggested by yourself which is what I took exception to.

You are correct, it does appear that you wrote it all in one block.

[FgNewbie]

G'pa just saw it, thanks

[Springfield_Johny]

Originally Posted by DJR David

3- Explain the difference between weather and whether


thanks!!!!

You forgot wether

[protd]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

A self-righteous candidate.

No not at all, a example of someone who can't spell worth a damn and yet still manages to get through life quite well.

If you think that thats being self righteous thats fine by me, i call it sticking up for my right to be on a forum because of my poor spelling

[ltd]

Originally Posted by vztrt

lol, the point I was trying to make that some people are good at spelling and grammar and some are not. Doesn't mean all that much about their intelligence. Funny enough I just remembered of a mate from high school, really good at spelling but thick as a brick.

Theeerrss da old wyves tayl dat peepl roolly bad wif speeling compemsayt wif derr prowess in bed!!!!

[ltd]

Originally Posted by protd

No not at all, a example of someone who can't spell worth a damn and yet still manages to get through life quite well.

If you think that thats being self righteous thats fine by me, i call it sticking up for my right to be on a forum because of my poor spelling

Look guys, to ban someone for poor spelling or grammer is really over the top. Plenty of people are very mechanically minded and are a true asset to the forums with their technical knowledge, humour, assistance etc.
All in all, it's quite a good collection of minds here and messing with it will upset the balance we have. After all, we don't want to agree with everyone all the time, otherwise it would be a really boring forum to be on.

Ban text speak by all means; it's the epitome of laziness. As to what the OP posted, I think if people read back what they have written as it's written (i.e. no punctuation means continual reading), then they may themselves insert the necessary grammatical corrections. Until then

[|||]

Often poor spelling indicates that the person either can't read well or chooses not to read. You can't get "book smart" without knowing the rules of grammar.

So, if someone types like a monkey but has great advice on how to build a house I'll listen to what they say. If someone types like a monkey but is telling me that global warming is a myth I'll dismiss what they say because they don't have the skills to understand research on such a topic.

[Mr Hardware]

I always enjoy your posts, PipePipePipe.

[geckoGT]

Looks like this has progressed a little out of control. I can understand the OP's frustration as I have come across many posts here that due to spelling become too hard to read. Sure the odd spelling mistake is ok but when it is every third word it becomes too hard to read and I don't bother, which is a shame because they may have something worthwhile to say.

I think a test is not the right way to go, it is not the place of this forum to assess the literacy of the members.

I do have some other ideas though.

I used to use MS Word to type my responses and then cut and paste it in when I used MS Internet Explorer. That works well as it has a built in spell check which you could use before you post.

The other option is to use a plug in on Firefox which will spell check as you type.

The last option is to use Apple Safari (which I use now) which also spell checks as you type. Mistakes get underlined in red and you just right click on it and select the correct word. The only problem is you have to remember it suggests the US spelling and we use an S where it will recommend a Z.

I have no problem with people that genuinely have trouble spelling and on the odd occasion I might point out the correct spelling of the word. I don't do this to put them down or make them feel bad, it is just to help them out.

The ones I hate are those that can spell but can not be bothered. Those that use some form of modern slang spelling for certain words or text type on forums. It does my head in trying to read it. When the cause of my difficulty reading a post is because someone else is bone lazy, that annoys me.

[Legit290]

Originally Posted by protd

No not at all, a example of someone who can't spell worth a damn and yet still manages to get through life quite well.

If you think that thats being self righteous thats fine by me, i call it sticking up for my right to be on a forum because of my poor spelling

I didn't join this forum to learn English. I need help with practical stuff, not grammar. If you can spell modular that's a bonus...if you can make it go harder for me, then we're talking!


The Lithuanian guy that used to tune my XT 20yrs ago couldn't even speak english let alone write. The only thing i could understand when he spoke was " Healthy motor!!""
RIP George

[sarrge2001]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

The two methods I use to assist people are:

- lead by example
- inform them when they make a mistake

Those who choose not to pay attention or accept constructive criticism are either ignorant or self-righteous.

Gee, lucky you're always right then

[Fled74]

English isn't my first language but even I can spot people's spelling and grammatical mistakes.
While I agree that it can be annoying and frustrating, I also find it annoying when others jump in to correct the mistakes (probably because they beat me to it ).
I try not to let it get to me because I didn't join the forum to teach English.

[BTTB]

I've always found that if I don't like the way something is written...

I don't read it.

[Fled74]

Originally Posted by GTWORKS

I've always found that if I don't like the way something is written...

I don't read it.

But I like your avatar, so I'll just sit and stare at it for a while.

[Bud Bud]

Originally Posted by |||

Often poor spelling indicates that the person either can't read well or chooses not to read. You can't get "book smart" without knowing the rules of grammar.

So, if someone types like a monkey but has great advice on how to build a house I'll listen to what they say. If someone types like a monkey but is telling me that global warming is a myth I'll dismiss what they say because they don't have the skills to understand research on such a topic.

I like to think that my spelling and grandma (sic) are reasonably coherent (whether it is in print or presented orally) for everyday use, but, global warming imho is just a load of man made badly conceived hot air (pun intended) that will only end up ultimately costing us more in taxes in years to come as the tax on fossil fuels diminishes through natural attrition.

You do not need to be a good speller to work that one out me thinks!

And that is the problem, some people think that poor spellers do not actually have a good opinion or can't make a good point or can't make a positive contribution on a public forum like this (and that is all this is, a public forum) because they think they are dummies because they can't spell or look things up, lll's comment about global warming is a case in point. After all, nobody here is writing the next piece of legislation to be presented to parliament next week are they?

Bud Bud

[RG]

Originally Posted by ltd

Look guys, to ban someone for poor spelling or grammer is really over the top. Plenty of people are very mechanically minded and are a true asset to the forums with their technical knowledge, humour, assistance etc.
All in all, it's quite a good collection of minds here and messing with it will upset the balance we have. After all, we don't want to agree with everyone all the time, otherwise it would be a really boring forum to be on.

Ban text speak by all means; it's the epitome of laziness. As to what the OP posted, I think if people read back what they have written as it's written (i.e. no punctuation means continual reading), then they may themselves insert the necessary grammatical corrections. Until then

This man speaks the truth.

Oh to be perfect and have the ability to be able to judge others on their lack of English skills in such a manner as has been done here.

No wonder I hardly venture onto AFF anymore.