Saturday, March 3, 2012

March 4th: National Grammar Day

     Now I'm sure that every one of you is just thrilled to know that Mar. 4 is National Grammar Day. I had never heard of it until yesterday. National Grammar Day was established in 2008 so it only took me four years to find out about it.


     Many bloggers from time to time make comments about their writing ability and specifically with relation to grammar. People know that there  is a grammar which is made up of rules for correct writing. People will say a remember taking grammar in school but I can't remember any of it. I remember taking a grammar quiz in teachers' college and it showed I didn't know the difference between a noun and a verb. I got sentenced to remedial grammar and couldn't get out until I passed the test. 


     Sadly, I think there are potentially many excellent bloggers out there who do not blog because they are concerned about the grammar thing.


     I applaud all bloggers I follow for their willingness to write! That is the key goal ...to write. Some bloggers write as they talk and their posts have an interesting flavor. For these blogs if they changed their style I probably wouldn't follow them. Other bloggers are more aware of some rules but also like to use an informal style which will be more appealing to the reader. A few blogs are written quite accurately when it comes to grammar.


      I have two grammar police on my blog. It's been a long time since they've done anything with my writing. It was always surprising how much editing they did. So I thank Jock Mckenzie for supplying me with help. Jock has written a novel Dealing with Dymans. MK is my daughter and she's a real stickler. I can learn a lot form her. She is also an excellent writer. My third adviser is Brian T. Kline and he is an excellent writer. He has very tightly controlled and logical writing. One of his jobs was to turn engineering language to regular language so sales people could describe their products. But with all this help I still like to write in an informal style. 


   Basic grammar is very simple. It's right or wrong stuff. For people to get grammar it has to be applied. You have to apply grammar to your own writing as you write or look at it after you've written. Grammar is easy to teach but it's difficult to teach well. Sadly today grammar is rarely taught. I still wish I had a basic grammar text in the house. Wait a minute , couldn't I find all the grammar explained on the net


    So to all my followers "Happy Grammar Day" or whatever appropriate thing you're supposed to say. 

17 comments:

  1. My oldest daughter has an English degree. So she is a big critic. No matter how many times I proof read a post, she can go right to an error and laugh. So I no longer invite her to read my post--that's not true. She never writes because it takes her too long to compose the perfect piece. Communication is the goal of writing. Proper grammar seems to limit misunderstandings. But at some point one has to just go with it and do the best you can.

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  2. And a Happy Grammar Day to you too!

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  3. I didn't know that about March 4th. Grammar comes easy to some people and hard to others. I think if you are a prolific reader, it helps. Happy Grammar Day, Red.

    I had to write in a very boring style all during my working years, making sure that nothing of ME leaked through the pages and when I began blogging, it took a while for me to loosen up. :-)

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    1. I'll bet you're a real pro with grammar? When I marked kids papers I looked for things they did rather than what they didn't do. After all those papers I still have to concentrate when I check my stuff.

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  4. I've been a spelling-and-grammar geek since grade school, but until now, I never knew there was a day held in its honour!

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  5. You said :Sadly, I think there are potentially many excellent bloggers out there who do not blog because they are concerned about the grammar thing."
    I think sadly there are many ho have no clue!!!!

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  6. I agree that most adults have no clue about grammar. They have a vague thing in their head that grammar is important. I think grammar is one of those many things we try to teach kids and their brains are not ready for it. I won't let teachers off the hook either. A much better job of teaching grammar could be done. Here, they've stopped teaching grammar altogether.

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  7. Well, Happy Grammar Day, a day late!!! And Happy National Pi day a week early! When I read someone's blog, I like to imagine their voice. I think writing should embody the author's voice, therefore I believe you are correct, we write the way we talk. And sometimes I talk (and write) like I ain't got a bit of learnin! Fun, fun...

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  8. You bring up a good point. We write in first person or third person. That makes a great difference. I catch myself switching between first and third in the same piece of writing. But some of my favorite blogs are those written in the vernacular.
    Now I'm going to have to look up the Pi thing. Anyway Happy Pi to you ,

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  9. Ahh fun to know there's a grammar day. I tend to just write without too much thought.. focus being on photos .. not words.

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  10. The writing you do with pictures is quite often poetic which goes well with your pictures.

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  11. I like this concept of grammar day. It used to be fun when we had grammar lessons in school.

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  12. You must have had an excellent grammar teacher. Most teachers don't do a good job of teaching grammar.

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  13. I adore my gentle readers who can gently point out mistakes! I worked hard teaching grammar but type too quickly some days!
    A boyfriend called it Jennlexia.
    Sigh.

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  14. Now did I gently point out a mistake? I hope I wouldn't be that rude. My typing is just plane poor! Good thing that all mistakes come up red these days.

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  15. Grammar..I could use a few lessons..for sure. I must write like I talk..so I am not likely to change. My Daughter has her MFA in English..she just shakes her head at me sometimes:)

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  16. Your daughter can shake her head but you always tell an excellent story and you have a very popular blog. Writing is about saying something important. Writing like you talk "ain't" all bad!

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