Gender again. Sorry!

[bobzmyunkle]

Brilliant, two replies, two personal snipes.

Do either of you have an opinion on the state of the education system?

Yes, I know that would be on topic, but indulge me just this once.

Remind me what the topic is please.
Ain't the Daily Mail marvellous?
The English education system's crap?

 

[classic33]

Not really, but if you and others had any idea of the blood, sweat and tears involved in producing papers such as the Daily Mail you wouldn't be quite so quick to slag them off.

It does dismay me when I see the generally poor standard of spelling and grammar on this forum and others, because it indicates a failed education system.

Which wouldn't be so bad if that system was cheap, but we pay a great deal for it.

Lots of teachers regularly moan about low pay, yet they are turning out generations of children who can barely read or write.

I'd double their money - if they could double the standard of the pupils.

The thing is the school system isn't really there for the kids any more, boy or girl. They are there as a business, showing that their "results" are better than those of similar institutions. Making them more attractive to send kids to. Helping the school make more money from the sale of uniforms and other items required for their school.

The exam system is there, currently, for the schools, not the pupils. Be they "outstanding" or in "special measures". They can no longer issue the results of the exams, so many are failing to teach even the basics. And you may have noticed the backlash against modern technology in the classrooms these days. Banning mobile phones and tablets is back on the agenda, because of this. Computers that correct your spelling, leaving you with less to concentrate on getting right. This continues into the workplace, where simply working out the change to return after a sale cannot be worked out without the aid of a computer.

 

[classic33]

Brilliant, two replies, two personal snipes.

Do either of you have an opinion on the state of the education system?

Yes, I know that would be on topic, but indulge me just this once.

Education on topic, in this thread!

 

[newfhouse]

Brilliant, two replies, two personal snipes.

Not from me, despite your quoting my post. Unless you’re a Nazi admin assistant, of course.

 

[Pale Rider]

Education on topic, in this thread!

Well, it applies to both, sorry, all genders.

For goodness sake. I type a lot of this up on a tablet computer which has predictive text which occasionally types things I didn't ask it to and gets things wrong and I fail to notice and sometimes distracted and/or can't be arsed, don't always proof read. I am sometimes wrong and sometimes the tech is clumsy. But let's get real, we're on a forum with double digit members, none are paid to post and we can expect our reach to impact very minimally. You defend journalists by essentially claiming stress as a cause of errors but have been educated (one would imagine) to a higher standard than myself, are experienced and are paid handsomely for it with their real names and faces attached to it and naturally, with much greater reach than this forum will ever attract. If the poor use of the English language bothers you that much (I suspect it really doesn't) then you would surely be dismayed at those who might attract a readership in their hundreds of thousands and maybe more, spreading the vile disease of illiteracy.

I agree with what you say about the forum, but it is a cross section of society so indicative of educational standards.

Yes, it's very small, but the same applies to our bigger brother across the road, and the handful of other forums I've looked at.

I am dismayed to see so many people lack basic grammar and spelling skills, which I put down to poor education.

Not long before I retired I started to see basic errors in court documents and paperwork.

Time was you wouldn't even get an interview for a job in the Court Service if your written English wasn't exemplary.

I see similar examples in other documents from other sources.

Anyone can say 'so what' about any topic, but I would like to see an improvement in the general standard of written English.

 

[Deleted member 121]

I am dismayed to see so many people lack basic grammar and spelling skills, which I put down to poor education.

Well, it isn't always that. Even you admitted that a stressful environment can lead to errors. There can be many reasons for it, poor education being just one.

 

[Unkraut]

Well, it applies to both, sorry, all genders.

Well I suppose when it comes to grammatical gender you can say all ...

 

[AuroraSaab]

British Rowing policy update here:

https://www.britishrowing.org/2023/...ompetition-eligibility-policy-and-procedures/

In brief, they have moved to a protected Women's category, and an Open category, as in other sports. Doesn't apply to recreational rowing. That's most of the major sports now following the science.

The standard of English on the forum is more likely due to rushing, using your phone, not proof reading, rather than poor education.

 

[Pale Rider]

The standard of English on the forum is more likely due to rushing, using your phone, not proof reading, rather than poor education.

I'd like to believe that, but as I said earlier, my wider experience of the written word suggests otherwise.

You can often grade mistakes, for example, using lead instead of led or their instead of there or would of instead of would have is clearly not a typo, literal, or fat finger foul up, the writer simply lacks the knowledge to use the correct spelling or form.

On t'other hand, using a conjunction twice or missing out a word does not indicate a lack of knowledge.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Well, it applies to both, sorry, all genders.



I agree with what you say about the forum, but it is a cross section of society so indicative of educational standards.

Yes, it's very small, but the same applies to our bigger brother across the road, and the handful of other forums I've looked at.

I am dismayed to see so many people lack basic grammar and spelling skills, which I put down to poor education.

Not long before I retired I started to see basic errors in court documents and paperwork.

Time was you wouldn't even get an interview for a job in the Court Service if your written English wasn't exemplary.

I see similar examples in other documents from other sources.

Anyone can say 'so what' about any topic, but I would like to see an improvement in the general standard of written English.

Please don’t take this as a personal snipe but, seeing as the thread has developed into a discussion of education standards, were you taught at school/university to use a written style that consists of short, one sentence paragraphs, or was that something you learned from your long career as a court reporter?

I only did English grammar to ‘O’ level standard but my English teacher would have clipped me round the ear if I ever tried writing a whole essay in that style, other than an occasional one sentence paragraph for effect.

In business bullet points are fine for emphasis but never a whole report.

 

[Deleted member 121]

I'd like to believe that, but as I said earlier, my wider experience of the written word suggests otherwise.

You can often grade mistakes, for example, using lead instead of led or their instead of there or would of instead of would have is clearly not a typo, literal, or fat finger foul up, the writer simply lacks the knowledge to use the correct spelling or form.

On t'other hand, using a conjunction twice or missing out a word does not indicate a lack of knowledge.

I know the fücking difference marra... But we are far communicating by the written word here where writing words down is a harder mistake to justify. We are using computing devices to communicate. I literally swipe my fat finger across the screen and words come out. If I was at my computer working I would check my work. I have been self employed for many many years, how the devil did I survive and pay taxes until now not knowing that lead is a metal and also something that can also be described as a dog walking aid among other things and led as in being led by the hand? You are coming across now as rather ridiculous frankly...

 

[Pale Rider]

Please don’t take this as a personal snipe but, seeing as the thread has developed into a discussion of education standards, were you taught at school/university to use a written style that consists of short, one sentence paragraphs, or was that something you learned from your long career as a court reporter?

I only did English grammar to ‘O’ level standard but my English teacher would have clipped me round the ear if I ever tried writing a whole essay in that style, other than an occasional one sentence paragraph for effect.

In business bullet points are fine for emphasis but never a whole report.

Newspaper style for news reports is, generally, one sentence, one paragraph.

Sentence length preferably under 20 words.

Features/comments is a bit looser - longer sentences allowed and mixing in the occasional short one can add impact.

Each publication will have its own style as well, so it's not possible to come up with a one size fits all.

My style is roughly mid-market tabloid because that's who I used to write for.

I can't remember what I was taught in school about style, although I suspect I and others in the class were largely left to it.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Which the Daily Flail would prefer we keep polluting...

To be fair it's a terribly written article, sadly i entered the twilight zone to read it. It seems that she was lead into a world of confusion notably by the fact that her boss would be very touchy touchy with her which at the age of 16 which lead her into an emotional roller coaster, that coupled with parents who worked long hours and clearly missed out on a lot of her development. Like she said in the article "We need to educate men to stop sexualising young girls."

But that is exactly the problem, you read that on the ''detransition'' reddit etc. etc. so the Tldr of my point her is that girl needed mental help, help to process an event that happened to her (Her boss being touchy touchy) but instead she was talked into something else. and when the obvious conclusion comes that it isn't they way she wanted to go you get the whole trans ideology peanuts after that poor victim. (note the trans ideology not trans gender there is an difference)

Sexualising is an different discussion but it doesn't stop by men ''stopping with it'' it starts with enforcing certain borders, like an adult keeping his dirty hand off an child. because teenagers have the right to show and feel sexy if they want to, they shouldn't be mate to feel there something wrong with them.

I would add, there are many things in life that get people doing things they regret when they young and full of confusion and new emotions, especially when certain things happen that shouldn't in a child's life. The important factor is ensuring a child has a good upbringing surrounded by understanding and forgiving people who can help them make sense of the world around them so they can make choices they will not regret later.

Agreed, but i would also like to add that when i child turns to an clinic/doctor/etc. to indicate they are born in the wrong body, maybe they should take efforts to find out maybe more is going on? And are they doing that enough? no! across the board what tyou read is that they don't, whether it's their own (often anonymous) experiences on reddit or the uk goverments rapport on the Tavistock clinic. The message is the same, they do not provide they correct help.

 

[CXRAndy]

Now minor sports need to brought into line with sex. I think weightlifting is still allowing trans in women's events.

That is crazy because men have far superior explosive power than women.

World records men versus women.

In the 71kg women's category they are around 30kg less for clean n jerk and snatch lifts, compared to the 67kg mens weight category.

• Women 71kg category
• CJ 152kg
• Snatch 121kg

1. Men's 67kg category
2. CJ 188kg
3. Snatch 155kg

 

[AuroraSaab]

For those who say sports is never an even playing field and other things matter just as much as sex (which is a poor argument to do away with categories but anyway), weightlifting very much disproves this claim:

The 2016 Olympics in Rio had a Weightlifting - 69 kg class, the only identical weight class for both sexes. Both gold medalist - one man, one woman - were Chinese. Same coach, presumably same facilities to train, same access to nutrition, support, finances. Both 5'6. Both weighed 68.9 kg.

Woman's gold medalist lifted 261 kg.
Men's gold medalist lifted 352 kg.

It's purely ideological that men are allowed to compete in the female class.