Standard english

[Anonymous]

By the time most children leave high school they have not mastered Standard english either in its spoken or written form, why?

 

[RonBee]

I don't know if that is true, so I cannot say why it is true.

8)

 

[Tdol]

Many will speak regional English. For instance, in the north of England it is common to say 'it were' instead of 'it was'. There is little uniformity in the language spoken and learned in the UK. ;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

By the time most children leave high school they have not mastered Standard english either in its spoken or written form, why?

I'm afraid that this is a sign of the times. In many places, the schools are terrible, the children don't show up, and the parents are missing or unconcerned. English is not the only area that is suffering, but it is one of the most noticeable.

 

[RonBee]

I'm afraid that this is a sign of the times. In many places, the schools are terrible, the children don't show up, and the parents are missing or unconcerned.

You might well be talking about the Saint Louis Public School System.

English is not the only area that is suffering, but it is one of the most noticeable.

How can they teach something they do not know? You are required to have a college degree to be a school principal, but there are at least two principals that I know of whose writing would not reveal that they are college-educated. Maybe that is why they are elementary school principals. Maybe the powers that be figure they don't need to know any more than the kids.

The certification requirement does not keep incompetents from being either principals or teachers, but it does keep good people out of both positions.

 

[RonBee]

What do you think?

 

[shane]

At one of the schools I teach English here, the head English teacher cannot speak English! :shock:

She always speaks to the foreigners in Chinese :?

 

[RonBee]

At one of the schools I teach English here, the head English teacher cannot speak English!

That is weird.

:roll:

 

[Tdol]

Does she actually teach any students? ;-)

 

[shane]

Does she actually teach any students? ;-)

Yes she does, but I suspect she teaches reading & writing; for which she need never speak :wink:

 

[Tdol]

She'd still have to know a bit of English. ;-)

 

[shane]

She'd still have to know a bit of English. ;-)

Maybe she has "guanxi" (connections) with the principal - guanxi will get you everywhere in China

 

[Tdol]

How do you say 'nepotism' in Chinese? ;-)

 

[shane]

How do you say 'nepotism' in Chinese? ;-)

Found it: It's "Qun Dai Guan Xi" :lol: 8)

 

[comicer]

At one of the schools I teach English here, the head English teacher cannot speak English! :shock:

She always speaks to the foreigners in Chinese :?

Shane, are you a foreigner teaching English in China? In which city/Province are you living?

 

[shane]

Shane, are you a foreigner teaching English in China? In which city/Province are you living?

Yes, I am English, living & working in dalian, Liaoning province.

 

[Tdol]

How do you say 'nepotism' in Chinese? ;-)

Found it: It's "Qun Dai Guan Xi" :lol: 8)

Thanks- I have a student who's doing a paper on management in China and wanted the word in English, so I want to impress him by checking if that was the word he had in mind. BTW- how hard is Chinese to learn? You hear people say it's the hardest language, etc; how long did it take you and how good is your, if you don't mind? ;-)

 

[RonBee]

Russian is a pretty hard language to learn. (I have been reading a book about Condoleezza Rice. She took Russian in college. She's multilingual.)