SAT English dropped again..

[Archdemonessa]

I read the english version of Harry Potter when I was five. I understood it completely. BUT, I can agree to that statement. I was grading the practice MAP tests, and the grammar part of it was horrid. I actually had some text talk in it.  

[Mira_Russ]

I think it all depends on a person's situation. For me, I've been reading since I was very young with my parents and my English teachers have almost always been very good, so learning mechanics and spelling was never difficult for me. It might be difficult for other kids who don't have those resources (especially kids in the inner city where there aren't libraries).

As for the first or second post of this topic... I don't think it's fair to pin America's poor grammar on today's English teachers because I know for a fact that mine have been nothing less than spectacular. We have to take into consideration that this is the generation where kids don't need books--they have TV, music, video games, and, of course, the Internet. I should also point out that the verbal portion of the SAT doesn't just test grammar skills and spelling but also reading comprehension. An English teacher can only do so much when students refuse to read in their spare time.  

[SilverBellsAbove]

Ugh. I feel for all of you. Currently I am in my sophomore year of high school and the situation isn't looking good at all for the world in my opinion.

I remind you all that I am enrolled in an ADVANCED English class. Basically it's the class that should have been in Honors, but couldn't fit it in their timetables.

But two words need be said: I despair.

We're two terms in and I have had SEVEN classes completely devoted to ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL grammar. To make things worse, it's the exact same class taught over again. No one cares about the material, so poor Mr. Dangel simply runs through it again and again and again until he hopes the class will pick it up via osmosis. I don't blame him for taking measures fit for single-cell life forms.

I compare it to staring at a sea of gray, grim-faced fish. None of them care or even comprehend what's being said. They all keep making the same mistakes over and over again (The comma forever is disgraced) and they refuse to correct anything; simply because they think that in five years they will rule the world like an army of celebrities without a care or want in the world. They really and truly believe that once the 'adults' are old, gray and out of the way they will all live like kings without any effort at all, much less any effort in terms of grammar.

The joke's on them once they have to write their college papers. I look forward to sitting back with an iced tea and my floppy straw hat, looking at them all scream in anguish and having a good laugh at their expense.  

[Radio Chaos]

That's aloof. I never thought english was a hard subject.  

[SilverBellsAbove]

It's not hard. They just don't care at all because they'll be celebrities in the end and never have to worry about anything.

That's today's youth. They think that there's going to be a golden path laid out for them because with technology the world's communications are their love slave. They can do whatever they want so they don't listen to anyone. They think others will listen to them because they hold the supreme power of the cell phone. When the day comes that reality knocks at their door, I will be there to laugh at their folly.

Or at least, some abide by that code of conduct anyway. I'm pretty sure everyone here cares, which is great because it's nice to have an intelligent conversation with people once in a while.

Argh! I sound so old! I'm the peer of all of those people! *bashes head on keyboard*