Here's something you might be interested in.
The dumbing down of America is again illustrated by Jay Leno. He does a segment called Jay Walking, asking questions of people on the street. It is amazing/appalling what people do not know. Then he will pick 3 of the people and invite them to play Battle of the Jay Walk All Stars. It is played like Jeopardy. This last 'episode' consisted of many questions about American history. One girl did not know LBJ, even when Jay gave her the initials. Whoopi Goldberg was a guest that night. When she came out she asked Jay if that (the contestants) was real. She appeared to be somewhat shocked at what those 3 people did not know. The American education system was called into question. I haven't got a clue about what schools are like today. I do know a few teachers who are good, prepared teachers who love their jobs. There have been several movies about teaching problems and the past several years the problem of teachers and students having 'affairs' has hit the news. I cannot fathom that situation in the schools I attended.
Another problem is computers. There is the computer speak of the nerds. This is innocuous because most of these people are pretty darn smart (without much common sense). The problem lies in the shorthand used in chatting. Often, I haven't got a clue what someone has said!! This gets carried over into real life as texting has become the most important part of many lives. The English language is abused to the point that the texters believe what they write is the correct spelling. Here are 2 examples:
"i think that er has been great to watch for all the year it like we are losing part of are family"
"the reader is read by san diegans that if they went by his criticism they wouldnt even go, so think about it. thank you"
The first one is misuse of a couple words. The second one I do not get at all. I believe this was in relation to a movie review. There are millions of people who do not even realize the spelling or usage is wrong. I recently started to watch a movie where the actor is frozen, in a military experiment. He is to be awakened but a storm destroys the holding area and the base is deserted. As he surveys the area, there are mountains of trash everywhere and a newspaper shows the date way in the future. After speaking to some folks, he understands he may be the smartest feller on the planet. People were just plain stupid. The movie was pretty bad & I turned it off. The scenario, however is a possibility. Wake up and READ. Learn things on your own, instead of playing those mind numbing video/computer games. Be more careful and do not make mistakes such as the word 'are' in place of the proper 'our'.
One other thing, I am still hearing telephone recordings, 'press 1 for English'. Today it was Mercy Hospital. I get angry when I hear that. I should not have to press anything for English. The part about pressing ocho for Spanish is fine and that is all they need.
So long
The dumbing down of America is again illustrated by Jay Leno. He does a segment called Jay Walking, asking questions of people on the street. It is amazing/appalling what people do not know. Then he will pick 3 of the people and invite them to play Battle of the Jay Walk All Stars. It is played like Jeopardy. This last 'episode' consisted of many questions about American history. One girl did not know LBJ, even when Jay gave her the initials. Whoopi Goldberg was a guest that night. When she came out she asked Jay if that (the contestants) was real. She appeared to be somewhat shocked at what those 3 people did not know. The American education system was called into question. I haven't got a clue about what schools are like today. I do know a few teachers who are good, prepared teachers who love their jobs. There have been several movies about teaching problems and the past several years the problem of teachers and students having 'affairs' has hit the news. I cannot fathom that situation in the schools I attended.
Another problem is computers. There is the computer speak of the nerds. This is innocuous because most of these people are pretty darn smart (without much common sense). The problem lies in the shorthand used in chatting. Often, I haven't got a clue what someone has said!! This gets carried over into real life as texting has become the most important part of many lives. The English language is abused to the point that the texters believe what they write is the correct spelling. Here are 2 examples:
"i think that er has been great to watch for all the year it like we are losing part of are family"
"the reader is read by san diegans that if they went by his criticism they wouldnt even go, so think about it. thank you"
The first one is misuse of a couple words. The second one I do not get at all. I believe this was in relation to a movie review. There are millions of people who do not even realize the spelling or usage is wrong. I recently started to watch a movie where the actor is frozen, in a military experiment. He is to be awakened but a storm destroys the holding area and the base is deserted. As he surveys the area, there are mountains of trash everywhere and a newspaper shows the date way in the future. After speaking to some folks, he understands he may be the smartest feller on the planet. People were just plain stupid. The movie was pretty bad & I turned it off. The scenario, however is a possibility. Wake up and READ. Learn things on your own, instead of playing those mind numbing video/computer games. Be more careful and do not make mistakes such as the word 'are' in place of the proper 'our'.
One other thing, I am still hearing telephone recordings, 'press 1 for English'. Today it was Mercy Hospital. I get angry when I hear that. I should not have to press anything for English. The part about pressing ocho for Spanish is fine and that is all they need.
So long