I past NCEA Inglish

What has happened to the standard of English spoken and written nowadays? I am often perturbed by the misuse of words and grammer. I see it on memos and reports I have to read for my job and I see and hear it on television and radio.

I may not have a perfect use of the Enlgish language but I am thankful I was educated at a very good school. I appreciate not everyone is privvy to a quality education but surely English or a very good command can be taught in the schools. It must be, surely. Though, if it is, what goes wrong? When one learns a foreign language you have to get everything right in terms of pronunciation, annunciation, sentence structure and the like. Why is English any different? Bring back Latin and make it compulsory.

I am appalled at the lack of correct spelling used in important documents. Even in this day and age of having automatic spellcheckers available I still see substandard documentation. If a spell check is not available there is still that old fashioned thing called a dictionary.

Some of my pet peeves are ....

[there] mixed up with [their]
[then] and [than]
[your] and [you're]
[its] confused with [it's] and vice versa

Most of these examples are not merely spelling errors and more like misuse of the words.

In terms of the spoken language the ignorance is all invasive especially when you see many of those on television misuse the language. This medium more than most influences the way we speak to (and with) one another. It is this medium that has the greatest responsibility to ensure that English is spoken properly.

Take these for example ....

[should of] instead of [should have]
substitute [would], [could] for [should] for the same result
[so], [and] and [but] used incorrectly
[good] is used instead of [well]
not adding [ly] to adverbs
the use of apostrophes to indicate a plural form

Sportspeople (and commentators) are some of the biggest infringers in the misuse of language. I cringe when I hear people say 'I played good' instead of 'I played well' or 'he should of passed it quick' rather than 'he should have passed it quickly'.

I regularly take my friends to task about this much to their annoyance. Call me picky but really the spoken language is quite beautiful when used properly.

Is it laziness, convenience, lack of education, invasive technology, society? Probably all of the above. I am sure this happens in English speaking countries the world over and my expectations are the exception rather than the rule.