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11/28/2013 4:32:03 AM
6
English class in American schools...
In school, I have always found what is taught in English class to be rather unusual in correspondence to the students.
Where I live, the vast majority of kids in high school cannot speak proper English. They use slang, obscenities, and otherwise improper grammar constantly. The sad part is such is almost always due to ignorance and not an attempt to 'fit in'.
However, instead of addressing this, English teachers teach from a ridiculous curriculum that forces kids who cannot write a proper sentence to read Shakespeare and dissect poetry. Those kids of course fail tests and other assignments related to such.
Am I the only one that has noticed this?
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Solution: be white.
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Don't worry, we have the exact same situation over here. My 'English' Class consisted of about 5 people who could read and 25 mouthbreathers who all spent the hour swearing and throwing stuff at each other. If only we could just... shoot them all...
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1 ReplyStudying Shakespeare to learn English is like reading Journey to the West with the intention of learning Chinese. It's primarily literature, not mechanics. While there's certainly a heavy mechanical knowledge requirement in order to read literature in any given language, the learning goals of these classes focus more on elements of artistic composition. With that said, having students produce content themselves gives them a chance to practice their own articulation. On the flip-side, being asked to do so with the poetic undertones present in most North American English classrooms might also alienate some of the students. They're not likely to give it their all if they feel it's something they aren't interested in. I think that there's merit with traditional English classes, but I feel that "English" is a misnomer. "English Literature" is a much more accurate representation of what those classes tend to be about. To be fair, it's pretty darned hard to get kids (or anybody for that matter) excited about grammar.
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Well, you can always hope that they are amazingly intelligent in some other subject and that English is one of their few low areas.
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[quote]forces kids who cannot write a proper sentence to read Shakespeare and dissect poetry.[/quote] Because Shakespeare is a perfect teacher for modern English, and all poems follow proper grammar and all consist of words that you will actually use, not just ones that rhyme.
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[quote]In school... They use slang, obscenities, and otherwise improper grammar constantly. [/quote] What about outside of school, like around their parents? [quote]The sad part is such is almost always due to ignorance and not an attempt to 'fit in'. [/quote] But it is "to fit in". That's the only reason that people use slang in the first place.
