Morans Protest Spelling Bee

[Fushigi na Renamon]

Yes, because the English language is TOO HARD and everyone in the world should degenerate into lolspeak or something. Things like this make me very sad for the future of humanity. I am disgusted and ashamed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/...ng_bee_protest

PS: Morans is on purpose. Sarcasm, people!!!

[Czechs Mex]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

It don't see it going anywhere, but that's actually kind of neat that they're protesting this. English is pretty hard to pick up for non-native English speakers, simply because we have so many exceptions to all our rules.

In Spain, they do not have spelling bees. Everything is spelled phonetically, so there wouldn't really be a point.

[d2king10]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

Wow, what a great thing to protest.....

*insert facepalm*

[Jamos]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

I know, man. What they should be protesting is numbers. Burn in hell, 34!

[The_Real_Crunk]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

[Czechs Mex]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

Four peaceful protesters ... represented the American Literacy Council and the London-based Spelling Society

The Spelling Society is an international organisation, based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1908 as the Simplified Spelling Society and celebrated its Centenary Conference at Coventry University in June 2008. Its aims are to raise awareness of the problems caused by the irregularity of English spelling, and to seek remedies to improve literacy, including spelling reform. The Society publishes leaflets, newsletters, journals, books and bulletins. Its spokespersons feature regularly on TV, radio and in print.
The Society considers that the fundamental justification for any changes to traditional English spelling is that it will improve literacy and reduce learning costs. In addition to being faster for children and foreign students to learn, reform must not place unnecessary obstacles in the way of those already familiar with traditional spelling.


Aims

The Society's main priority at present is to draw attention to the economic and social costs of traditional spelling, with the object of opening up minds to the possibility and desirability of some change. On this matter, the Society believes that recent research, together with the continuing concern of governments in the English-speaking world (ESW) about literacy rates, strengthens its position. In particular it points to evidence that children throughout the ESW take up to three years longer to learn to read and write than children speaking other major Indo-European languages[1][2] It quotes evidence that dyslexia is less of a problem in countries such as Italy, which have a highly phonemic spelling system compared with English.[3] (English spelling has the unique disadvantage among Indo-European systems of having letter patterns that represent more than one sound and sounds that can be represented by more than one letter pattern – the so-called "spelling double whammy".)[4] Finally, it points to a recent study[5] by the KPMG Foundation that estimates the total costs to the public purse to age 37 arising from failure to read in the primary school years at £1.73 billion to £2.05 billion a year.

It's a more than a little unfair to dismiss these protesters as flag-waving rednecks who want to change the language because "reading is for suckers." It sounds like they have some reasonable points about a crazy language's effects on literacy.

If you look at their motivation, I don't see what there is to be disgusted or ashamed about.

[Hrafn]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

On one hand, our language is crazy. On the other, it does seem like they could find something more constructive to do with their time. All the injustices in the world, and this is what they are fighting for?

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

As an aside to this topic, I always find it vastly amusing when supremely-advanced science fiction races come in contact with English-speaking Earth and make a comment to the effect of "lol your language is so easy compared to ours" when English is one of the most contrary and difficult languages to learn correctly.

[Hrafn]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

As an aside to this topic, I always find it vastly amusing when supremely-advanced science fiction races come in contact with English-speaking Earth and make a comment to the effect of "lol your language is so easy compared to ours" when English is one of the most contrary and difficult languages to learn correctly.

Well, if they mastered interstellar travel, one assumes it's relatively simpler to remember i before e and the proper use of the word y'all.

[IamPinhead]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

Maybe if the damned foreigners stopped tryin' to get into our country illegal like dey wouldn't have dis problum!

But really now, the English language isn't all that difficult. Now, if we really wanted kids to be growing hair on their linguistic chests, we'd be teaching them Korean. After all, who here wasn't tired of hearing the North Koreans call you an American pig in Korean and not understanding it on Delta mode in Crysis?

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

Well, if they mastered interstellar travel, one assumes it's relatively simpler to remember i before e and the proper use of the word y'all.

The point is merely to suggest that our vastly-contrary language with all its special exceptions to all its rules can be analyzed and emulated perfectly in a matter of minutes. And I find it amusing because it's a great testament to how arrogant we are as humans when - if there are space-traveling species out there - we really still know nothing.

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

the protesting reasons are bunk. i have little doubt that we all will be eclipsed by people from current 2nd world countries simply because they ***** less and work harder.

like seriously, the english language is hard but its not unmasterable, and for sure its doable by children and even people from other countries. it isnt meant to be something easy for the brain dead or lazy, and i really dont care about enlightening people whom have no interest or care to put in an honest effort. language is historic, and people find ways of communicating unofficially (texting lingo, local dialect, acronyms). to try to change it now to make it more "sellable" to the disinclined is idiotic.

maybe those people should look at the real factors effecting literacy, because its definitely not the harshness of the english language. hell, even i butcher it royally yet still learned enough to be semi coherent.

i am reminded of a movie i once saw where the future was changed so that no one understood regular english as it was all short forms. our society is already moving quickly to accept these lazy forms and to move away from formality other then to conduct business. i dont think something so silly as a few illogical word formations is really the roadblock to literacy, but perhaps an unwillingness to learn itself because "its too hard."

we deserve every bit of this economic failure if we cant summon enough motivation to make a real difference and not whine that its too hard.

[Fushigi na Renamon]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

I understand that English is one of the hardest languages to learn on the planet, if not the hardest, but it seems kind of silly to demand to change it just because they're of the opinion that it's too difficult. Maybe I'm hopping on the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" wagon here, but I have many friends from other countries who have had no problem learning English and are great at speaking and writing it.

Conversely, being a government employee, I've had a lot of exposure to the other end of the spectrum, too, where people just can't understand and struggle to speak well. Hell, I've had a client who started crying because he was so frustrated about his situation combined with the language barrier. (Just so you know, someone sat down with him for a lengthy amount of time, figured out the trouble, and he left happy.)

seriously, the english language is hard but its not unmasterable, and for sure its doable by children and even people from other countries. it isnt meant to be something easy for the brain dead or lazy, and i really dont care about enlightening people whom have no interest or care to put in an honest effort. language is historic, and people find ways of communicating unofficially (texting lingo, local dialect, acronyms). to try to change it now to make it more "sellable" to the disinclined is idiotic.

I actually agree with this somewhat, although I'm not saying that I think all people who can't speak english are braindead or lazy. There are some people who have learning disabilities, or who just don't have a flair for languages. My Mom, for example, grew up in a Ukrainian household and didn't pick up a word of the language, because she's just not good at it. That's not to say she's a stupid person, just not adept at learning other languages, you know?

Anyway. It's nice that they're protesting nicely and without violence, but I still think that their cause is incredibly silly. If anything like this ever came to fruition, I would probably move to another country that does not speak English at all. >_>;

[orius]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

On one hand, these people should get a life. The National Spelling Bee encourages education and literacy, you know, things in which America can be sorely lacking at times. There are other issues that this energy is better spent on.

OTOH, calls for spelling reforms in the language have been going on for centuries. Just look up some information on Noah Webster (you know, the dictionary guy), and he was hardly the first. The problem is that written modern English took its spelling standards from several different dialects that were extant when Middle English was still in use and the printing press was first introduced. That's why some of the illogic persists in word derived from older English roots. Words from latin or Greek or other borrowings tend to be far more consistant. Then there's the Great Vowel Shift that occured after the spelling of modern English was set which changed how English sounded.

Languages evolve. In time, some of the more illogical spelling patterns might shift. Keep in mind that English spelling was set at a time when many people were illiterate and those who could read may have handled the inconsistancies better. Now that modern societies have far more widespread literacy than in the past, there's more concern to make spelling and writing easier to use. Just read this article, English isn't the only language mentioned (but it has a section all to itself unlike all the other languages listed).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_reform

[Asch the Bloody]

Re: Morans Protest Spelling Bee

If anything like this ever came to fruition, I would probably move to another country that does not speak English at all. >_>;

Don't you mean "frooishun?"