Is grammar still important today ?
By topffer
@topffer (42156)
France
September 11, 2018 6:53am CST
Everything is measured today, and it has been measured that a curriculum vitae in French has an average 11 spelling and grammatical mistakes. Frankly I do not care if a roofer or a plumber does not know how to write his name, as long as he does a good job. But when I see a spam post in French here from an assignee in bankruptcy from Montréal having an average 2 grammatical mistakes per phrase and a style worth of an elementary school pupil (technical words mixed with popular expressions, clumsy repetitions), I understand why this guy, who speaks of himself at the third person like Julius Caesar, is hopeless at the point to look for clients on myLot !
I believe that there are a few professions where grammar is important, I recommended to this one to go back to school ! Would you trust a lawyer doing several grammatical mistakes in a letter ?
23 people like this
21 responses
@changjiangzhibin89 (16498)
• China
11 Sep 18
A lawyer that makes spelling and grammatical mistakes definitely scares away possible clients.The person who can't express themselves well can never be a competent lawyer.
4 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16498)
• China
12 Sep 18
@topffer So do I ! No way should I trust them.
2 people like this
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
11 Sep 18
I was shocked a few years ago when I read in a newspaper an announcement of a private university with bad orthography. And nowadays, the people in the media don´t know how to use verbs when they talk.
Years ago, I taught at the university and had to warn my students that I would not grade their papers if their grammar and orthography were too bad. I added that I was no Champollion and found out that the name did not mean anything to them. They had been born in the era of Super Mario.
3 people like this
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
11 Sep 18
@topffer When I was at school, ages ago, every 13 year old child had to know about Champollion and the Rosetta stone. Now children of my grandchildren´s age are mostly illiterate.
3 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
11 Sep 18
As long as you were not teaching Egyptology you were not responsible...
A college professor friend has decided to not correct anymore the grammar of his PhD students. Many students are believing that a spell checker is enough and have forgotten basic grammatical rules...
3 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
11 Sep 18
@marguicha We still teach Champollion and the Rosetta stone, maybe because Champollion was French. Joking, History is taught correctly, with the same number of hours/week than 50 years ago, it is not the case for everything.
3 people like this
@much2say (53699)
• Los Angeles, California
11 Sep 18
For someone like a lawyer, proper language is essential - a definite job requirement, I would think! Spelling counts too. Writing is an art, but it has technical components too . . . it's sad if certain formalities are going out the door.
3 people like this
@allknowing (130088)
• India
11 Sep 18
Reading something that has no spelling mistakes and good grammar is like listening to music that has no false notes.
3 people like this
@Mike197602 (15489)
• United Kingdom
11 Sep 18
If a shop has signage which has spelling mistakes in I avoid it.
There is a recruitment consultants up the road by me and they always make mistakes in their adverts...I'd never dream of using them.
3 people like this
@Mike197602 (15489)
• United Kingdom
11 Sep 18
@myklj999 I make the odd mistake here and there but never when it counts like on a cv or something.
Quite of ten I've written hear instead of here and things like that.
3 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36858)
• Pamplona, Spain
17 Sep 18
Depends on how I see the Lawyer himself.
He might well have a problem like dyslexia or something like that and still be a good lawyer even so.
2 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36858)
• Pamplona, Spain
17 Sep 18
@topffer
I can see what you mean and if a good lawyer does have those kind of problems perhaps there would be someone to help him.
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
17 Sep 18
In the past we had two different kinds of lawyers, the "avocat" who was the lawyer speaking in court, and the "avoué" who was preparing the trial and was doing most of writing. The two professions have been merged, the name "avoué" has been kept in appeal courts because an avoué to an appeal court pays for his cabinet like a notary, and the state would have had to give them damages, but both avocats and avoués are doing the same job today, and they have both to write a lot... A lawyer can be a very good technician but doing a lot of grammatical mistakes is a handicap.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137251)
• United States
23 Sep 18
@lovinangelsinstead21 The lawyer would need a very competent secretary, if that were the case.
1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12440)
• Italy
11 Sep 18
That's a high amount of mistakes.
Language is mainly about communication, but bad grammar sounds like noise to me: I might understand what the author means, but it hurts.
Well, scammers typically send emails with a very poor English (or even French), I wouldn't trust a lawyer with similar skills. Grammar isn't that difficult, come on people.
3 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
11 Sep 18
I never correct grammar in a French forum, but I did an exception for this one and corrected... partly his first phrase. He is part of these people thinking that a spell checker is enough to proofread a text : there was no obvious spelling mistake (there was 1, due to an incorrect use of an alternate spelling), but not a phrase without gross grammatical errors (agreement of genders, of plurals...).
Yes, for a lawyer, bad grammar hurts.
3 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
17 Sep 18
@Inlemay Yes, the main problem is at elementary school. The high school level has also lowered, not the college level, about half students are not reaching the second year, but if they were eliminating those doing grammatical mistakes, they would have to eliminate 30% more.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29232)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Sep 18
Not for a moment. I pay attention to grammar a lot. It reflects on his professional work.
2 people like this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
11 Sep 18
Not at all because that lawyer would surely be messing up my case.
2 people like this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32507)
• Calgary, Alberta
24 Sep 18
One of the best selling book of this generation have bad grammar. I think it is not a necessity anymore but your content have to be captivating enough to make people ignore the grammar.
1 person likes this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32507)
• Calgary, Alberta
24 Sep 18
@topffer I am didn't say you have. I just said that to be published as a novelist, profitable stories trumps grammar like those viral novels from Wattpad that are now published as books.
1 person likes this
@cherigucchi (14885)
• Philippines
12 Sep 18
In some non-English speaking countries, communicative competence is given more importance regardless of your grammar as long as the mistakes are not that erroneous. It means that as long as you understand each other in a conversation, its fine. But in written language grammar is given importance.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
13 Sep 18
It is true, the most important is to understand each other, or there would be no communication possible. Alright, you speak a language, I speak another one, but we can basically understand each other by speaking a third one and we do a deal. We need a contract, and we agree that it will be written in the third language that we both understand basically. Who will write the contract, you, me, or a professional knowing well this language ? I believe that we will opt for option #3.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18760)
• United States
11 Sep 18
I wouldn't. I'm always amazed when some professionals make grammar and spelling mistakes.
2 people like this
@Nickzter1331 (4231)
• Philippines
12 Sep 18
,,,grammar is still.important... especialy for some professions...
1 person likes this