“I mis yew like OMG cnt dzeal lolest!!! Boo cum buy me n ma galfwends pizza pwetty pweez mis yew luv yew
“Education is important, but biceps are importanter”
I am a typo Nazi. Yes I said it. I am a typo Nazi. I mentally correct people as they talk and I am constantly editing text, be it an SMS, a Facebook status or a pamphlet in the bank, I am constantly correcting spelling mistakes and grammar.
I worry about these so called born frees. They can read and speak fluent English with a twang, but the poor babies cannot spell to save their lives.
When I was in school, we had comprehension and spelling tests every week. Sometimes we didn’t even know about the test, the teacher would just spring it on us.
The same applies to our parents. The very same bantu education that everybody looks down on taught our parents’ generation and generations before them how to not only read and write, but to spell properly.
The blame for our children’s poor spelling and grammar?
I suppose we could blame government. We could blame the ever-changing school curriculum that changes every two years or so, or we could blame the shortage of teachers and textbooks.
Blaming government is one way to go, but I say let’s go further. Let’s look at what happens when our children leave the classroom.
The kind of programming that our children are exposed to these days no longer focus on quality and teaching people something worthwhile, but are about living in the now and who wore it better.
Parents blame the media for influencing young people baldly, I blame the Kardashians. Everybody wants to either be or keep up with a Kardasian.
Why blame the Kardashians you ask? Young people aspire to be like them. Live like them, eat like them, dress like them and even sound like them.
Parents should stop leaving their children’s education up to schools and government and start being proactive in their children’s education.
It starts with small things like ensuring they read the community newspaper and watch programming that will enrich their minds.
And, of course, if little Lethabo sends you an SMS that reads, “mom cn u plz cum pck me up”, send her to her room with a dictionary immediately to think about her grammar crimes.
