So….we were chatting today at work about the importance of spelling and grammar.

The conclusion was it a nice to have but not a big deal anymore – being able to do your job and get the most out of a computer was much more important. Especially since the diversity of native languages in the work place.

BTW this was with discussion among senior managers at a huge multi-national employing in excess of 15k people in the UK.

What do you think?

It depends, I’m poor at both but have improved in my adulthood as have dyslexia. Back when I was at school there was little support apart from being stuck in the thicky class and being taking out of lessons to read books from infant school. Not being able to read wasn’t a problem so they couldn’t understand why that didn’t work.

I was embarrassed for years by it but in my mid twenties learnt to live with it and have tried to concur it since, it still comes through time to time making somethings I write unreadable. So it depends to what extent it is, a few grammar mistakes and the odd spelling Ok but at times it can be so bad it makes to hard to read.

Edit: see there’s a few in there, I can spot them quicker now use to take me ages I had to read things several times.

Grammar? My grammars bad. Her lumbago is playing up again.

What do you think?

Depends on what the job is.

If it ain’t your native language you’ve no complaint.

Really depends…

I know people who’ll still make judgements based on spelling/grammar so it can affect you even if it doesn’t really effect how good you are at your job.

(yes, I know 🙂 )

What do you think?

Depends on what the job is.

Accounting and Controlling in our case.

I must admit, it still grates with me a little when I see spelling mistakes on formal documents. It’s hard not to take it as a sign that the person concerned simply can’t be bothered to proof-read text, and is unconcerned about how this reflects on them. The arrival of semi-reliable spell-checkers makes it even easier and quicker to proof-read for most people.

Don’t mind it that much on a forum post, as it’s clearly a less formal method of communication, unless the meaning is completely mangled as a result.

I know people who’ll still make judgements based on spelling/grammar so it can affect you even if it doesn’t really effect how good you are at your job.

He’ll be along soon.

Here you go Drac

The conclusion was it a nice to have

How do you feel about spelling/typing skillz?

ericemel – Member

Accounting and Controlling in our case.

Do you need grammar for that?

The arrival of semi-reliable spell-checkers makes it even easier and quicker to proof-read for most people.

I agree spellcheckers has made it easier for me to proofread.

Depends completely on the job, and what kind of interaction you have with other people (clients in particular).

There’s also a trade/profession divide, I would expect a lawyer or doctor to use perfect (if illegible) English, I wouldn’t be so concerned about it from a builder or mechanic.

Most reasonable people would make allowances for foreign speakers, though there would of course be limits.

No allowances will be made, however, for CV’s and cover letters!

The arrival of semi-reliable spell-checkers makes it even easier and quicker to proof-read for most people

I disagree: Spell-checkers have become a replacement for proof-reading but have the significant floor that they ignore context so if yaw word is typed incorrectly but is itself a word, it won’t be pict up.

I once saw a presentation someone gave for which their job was literally on the line, where throughout the slides the word “asses” appeared where “assess” should have been. He was shortly thereafter “exploring new opportunities”

No allowances will be made, however, for CV’s and cover letters!

+1

I am poor at both, it irritates me, I try my best, what more can I do.

Read what I write & not how I have written it.

Plenty of people underestimate just how ambiguous or nonsensical written work can be if it’s not punctuated well or written in proper sentences etc. How much this matters depends on the circumstances, I guess. I’m sure we’ve all seen emails/letters/communications/journalism etc that we’ve had to ask for clarification on because they weren’t well written, and it’s not always just because the piece was written in haste.

I try not to let it bother me too much – it used to once, but with the increase in informal, abbreviated writing as communication via email, text messages, forums, twitter etc., I’ve become a lot more relaxed about it. I enjoy seeing how wound up others become about it.

I try to make any estimates or communications to clients as grammatically correct as possible and re-read a few times for spelling mistakes. However, sometimes, I’ll open up an old estimate in order to prepare an invoice and see something really stupid on there. Which goes to show of course, how difficult it is to proof-read your own stuff.

Should the past tense of “text” (the verb) be “text” or “texted”? I’m all for the latter but it seems most people use the former.

I disagree: Spell-checkers have become a replacement for proof-reading but have the significant floor that they ignore context so if yaw word is typed incorrectly but is itself a word, it won’t be pict up.

You’re correct, of course. I meant it makes it easier and quicker for people who are actually trying to proof-read, rather than just hitting spellcheck followed by return a couple of dozen times, believing this will spirit away their mistakes without the need for them to even be involved in the process.

The trouble with temporal analysis of the importance and quality of spelling and grammar now, compared to x number of years ago, is that far more is written down and then read these days. This forum is just one example. Thus, poor spelling and grammar is more obvious today. Maybe.

It was much better when only the monks had access to writing materials. 🙂

I think changing technology has also exposed professionals, and those who we probably thought were all spot-on with the written word turn out to be as fallible as the rest of us – it was the “girls” in the typing pool and the secretaries who actually put the apostrophe’s in the right places and made sure the words were speled rite.

Since professionals got keyboards on their desks and started producing their own documents, quality control has been defenestrated.

You shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the teaching profession never mind fifteen year old girls, if you can’t spell, read or write to the capability of an educated Victorian ten year old, which puts a lot of them out of work.

I make an effort here. My texts and FB would prolly be unreadable by most people. As long as what your saying make sense then it doesn’t bother me.

I think it matters.
But then I write stuff for a living.

Er … There’s no apostrophe in CVs. I think it matters. Can you tell? 😉

The conclusion was it a nice to have but not a big deal anymore . . .

Is that making any sense to anyone else?

You shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the teaching profession never mind fifteen year old girls, if you can’t spell, read or write to the capability of an educated Victorian ten year old, which puts a lot of them out of work.

You only want to aim that low?
They far exceed this but then again your knowledge of teaching [ is about 10% of your contempt for them so perhaps bluster on.

As long as what your saying make sense then it doesn’t bother me.

this
Sometimes i fail. I do find it amusing how upset some folk get about it and this encourages me.

Is that making any sense to anyone else?

Yeah but then I my kids play a lot of Mario games.

The conclusion was it a nice to have but not a big deal anymore . . .
Is that making any sense to anyone else?

What is hard about that?
It matters less now than it used to[ no big deal anymore], however, it is still a useful skill to have an it would be useful [ nice] to have it

Personally it grates, although since I started using an iPhone and iPad to write to forums and other places my spelling skillz have atrophied somewhat, as the auto-correct is so good. It can bite you in the ass, though, when you’re doing something quickly and miss-spell a word that auto-corrects into the wrong word! 😳
Having spent many years in print, publishing and graphics, spelling correctly is absolutely vital, I used to spend hours proof-reading galleys, then proof-reading the finished pages, then checking the final pages after the client has checked them has left me with an obsessive eye for spelling errors in printed work.
A very close friend of mine who I have regular iMessage conversations with is a dreadful speller, despite being in a very high-power civil service job involving the military, and somehow manages to bypass iOS’s excellent auto correct, which means there are often messages I have to query, because the meaning is totally opaque to me, rendering comprehension almost impossible.
Go, as they say, figure… 😀

I think it’s important. Poor grammar/spelling basically says “I can’t be bothered”. Obviously nobody’s perfect and everybody makes typos now and again but stuff like your/you’re isn’t that hard to get right so I don’t really see any excuse for getting it wrong other than laziness.

It doesn’t matter everywhere, but if your work is judged by what you write rather than how well you use your hands then it’s worth making an effort IMO.

your/you’re isn’t that hard to get right so I don’t really see any excuse for getting it wrong other than laziness.

In my case it’s dyslexia.

I would refuse to respond to a colleague’s emails when I worked with him if they contained txt speak.

I’m a copywriter. It’s pretty important to my job.

Er … There’s no apostrophe in CVs. I think it matters. Can you tell?

Learn something everyday, although a quick google seems to indicate it’s more of a general guideline than a hard-and-fast rule.

I try to be accurate, concise and clear. I slip up sometimes and find criticism helpful and try not to be over sensitive about it.

There’s mistakes, dyslexia and pure laziness when it comes to spelling and grammar. I hate only one of them – which do we think it is?

On a forum like this one it doesn’t really matter if someone forgets to punctuate a contraction but a failure to include a full stop or a comma where one is needed is inexcusable.
On an official document it’s imperative it has exactly zero mistakes otherwise it makes me think i shouldn’t take it seriously.

I am dyslexic, and have found it has not stopped me too much. I applied to become a special police constable, but was told my spelling and grammar was not up to the standards required. I also applied to become a paramedic but again poor spelling. It did not stop me whist i was in the army. passed all my welding quals easy got my coding. found a job as clock engineer, luckily the boss said “your dyslexic aren’t you?” “yes sir, i am” boss “that’s great, dyslexics make the best horological engineers. You hired”

but i would love to be able to spell and more importantly punctuate.

I am dyslexic, and have found it has not stopped me too much. I applied to become a special police constable, but was told my spelling and grammar was not up to the standards required.

dyslexia is a recognised condition that prospective employers are not allowed to discriminate against and should, by law, provide reasonable adjustments to accommodate sufferers

http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/the-disability-discrimination-act-(dda)