Is english pointless? (1 Viewer)

[Gangels]

Has anyone realised lately how bad people are treating the language. Im one to use shitloads of slang but basic grammar has been forgotten. Year 12's can hardly fukin read, Juniors are asking wat the fuk a book is and all we do now is analyse every goddamn sentence Shakespeare ever wrote.

Does anyone think English is a useful subject anymore?

 

[speedie]

shut up

 

[sam04u]

I agree.. 100%... its like education has been lost.
English especially for that matter.... its being raped... anyone who goes to an average school could tell you that..

And it is repeated.. over and over again... see by reading these boards i learnt that people who aren't neccesarily "gifted" can do well if they work hard. But some of these kids are missing the "basics" and therefore its too late for them.

Its like from year 7... they're judged and put into classes based on their "behaviour"... instead of intelligence.... which isnt properly examined.... then they're in classes with disruptive "fucktards" who make it impossible for them to learn. I dont think i learnt much of anything in year.. besides how to operate some science equipment... which we weren't aloud to do because of the "fucktarts" Luckily i make it my own personal endeavour to revise the little we learnt on australian civics....

So it's like a cycle forms.. where kids don't LEARN the basic grammar you're talking about.. or forget it during useless periods of history and p.e where no one learns anything anyway.

 

[luscious-llama]

Has anyone realised lately how bad people are treating the language. Im one to use shitloads of slang but basic grammar has been forgotten. Year 12's can hardly fukin read, Juniors are asking wat the fuk a book is and all we do now is analyse every goddamn sentence Shakespeare ever wrote.

Does anyone think English is a useful subject anymore?

It's useful to me.
I like it alot.
Just not advanced or junior school english.
I like all the interesting EE1 and EE2 bits to it.

 

[hopeles5ly]

Has anyone realised lately how bad people are treating the language. Im one to use shitloads of slang but basic grammar has been forgotten. Year 12's can hardly fukin read, Juniors are asking wat the fuk a book is and all we do now is analyse every goddamn sentence Shakespeare ever wrote.

Does anyone think English is a useful subject anymore?

i love english and i find it heaps useful. oh and please don't generalize about your comments =]

 

[Trebla]

I saw this Today Tonight documentary about a month ago saying how current high school students FAIL the exams that their parents used to pass so easily like 50 years ago. For English, our language has become so colloquial since we too often used abbreviated words in chatting and we do not read as much as the earlier generations did because of all this technology like computers and TV keeping us more interested than reading. For Mathematics, we have become so accustomed to calculators that we cannot do simple arithmetic in our heads.

 

[luscious-llama]

I saw this Today Tonight documentary about a month ago saying how current high school students FAIL the exams that their parents used to pass so easily like 50 years ago. For English, our language has become so colloquial since we too often used abbreviated words in chatting and we do not read as much as the earlier generations did because of all this technology like computers and TV keeping us more interested than reading. For Mathematics, we have become so accustomed to calculators that we cannot do simple arithmetic in our heads.

Today Tonight doesnt quite cut it as a documentary if my thoughts are subjected to be believed.
It's not just the lack of reading, its the fact that most of us can fluently and quickly type and thus we think with our fingers. We do not utilise our brains as much therefore our planning abilities on paper in exams is poorer.
They're right in some sense but its more than just that.
Remember that our parents only sat exams. This was because assessment work didnt exist...so for a good portion of their academic life they were continually practicing examinations.

I dont think you can truely compare the two.

 

[Riviet]

Has anyone realised lately how bad people are treating the language. Im one to use shitloads of slang but basic grammar has been forgotten. Year 12's can hardly fukin read, Juniors are asking wat the fuk a book is and all we do now is analyse every goddamn sentence Shakespeare ever wrote.

Does anyone think English is a useful subject anymore?

Even though it's my least favourite and weakest subject, I still appreciate the subject because it is such a widely spoken language today. We use it to communicate our ideas not just through words and speech, but through other mediums like printed media and the internet.

 

[sando]

Even though i hate the advanced course, i still don't think that it is useless

 

[Ellie_Belly]

If it weren't for english, you wouldn't be able to communicate to people in this thread.

Therefore, it is not pointless.

 

[Mikearun]

English is still english but people just stuff it up with slang becuz they ARE lazy just like other languages. so even you learn the basic thing of any languages you still can not understand the slang unless they tell you ! :rofl:

 

[Captain Gh3y]

Why, you're absolutely right. Prior to completing HSC English I would not have been able to type this post.

...

Seriously though, it is useful for what it does, it just doesn't do the right thing. Firstly we need to accept that no matter what the course content is, at least 60 - 90% of students won't care and will treat it with the same level of apathy whether it's old-school grammar or extreme post-modern garbage. Remember that the English language was still constantly changing in the days when grammar was taught.

Now, the chances of a return to the older style of teaching English is quite impossible within this generation. As you may know there is currently the trend of the people "In Charge" having to periodically introduce new, trendy ways of teaching to make sure it appears to voting parents that they're "Doing Something (tm)". Add to that the groupthink so prevalent in all humanities-type fields in university and there's no surprise it's filtered down to high-school level.

Remember most kids don't care and as far as they're concerned, all school is useless be it maths, English or otherwise. In my opinion the content of high school English coures is NOT the major factor influencing the evolution of our language.

As for the current English Advanced course itself, it's useless. Even those that enjoy Extension 1 and 2 English courses generally (based on observations of dozens of threads like this on BoS) hate the advanced course too. It does not teach us "how to communicate" or any such nonsense. It teaches us to read a selection of "texts" (because an advertisement has as much value as Shakespeare now) and to write down all the "Right Ideas" about them in a series of forty minute essays. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Dragie]

Yeah advanced is annoying yet I really do like Ext 1 - very interesting course.

 

[nezza]

i do general english and you wouldn't believe how pathetic it is. I dont think that it should be the only compulsary subject in the HSC. I think that if we can speak and write it fine enough to get here then why do we need to learn more useless information?

 

[Gangels]

I do history and drama and in both of those i learn how to write. Then i go to english and learn the same thing. I beleive that maths should be more compulsory cause its more useful. We use it in day to day life. The english your talking about is grammar, which is the only style of english we do use in day to day life. They stopped teaching that about a million years ago though. I love shakespeare but the way they teach it is not wat i want. The way they teach is more for a person who wants to use those teachings in a career.

 

[sam04u]

I do history and drama and in both of those i learn how to write. Then i go to english and learn the same thing. I beleive that maths should be more compulsory cause its more useful. We use it in day to day life. The english your talking about is grammar, which is the only style of english we do use in day to day life. They stopped teaching that about a million years ago though. I love shakespeare but the way they teach it is not wat i want. The way they teach is more for a person who wants to use those teachings in a career.

Idiots... making maths compulsory would be stupid... extremely stupid... the only subject which should be compulsory is english and history.. and it should be done properly... also probably a subject called "politics" which you "have" to pass before you get a HSC. Then i would be happy.

They teach a civics course in QLD... in there VET or whatever you call it... but theres no such subject in the HSC... so now were not only becoming more stupid... we know less about our history and about politics...

 

[Mountain.Dew]

Idiots... making maths compulsory would be stupid... extremely stupid... the only subject which should be compulsory is english and history.. and it should be done properly... also probably a subject called "politics" which you "have" to pass before you get a HSC. Then i would be happy.

They teach a civics course in QLD... in there VET or whatever you call it... but theres no such subject in the HSC... so now were not only becoming more stupid... we know less about our history and about politics...

whats wrong with teaching compulsory maths?

english, i agree, must be compulsory. but, the current cirriculum for it is rubbish. it should be more based upon grammar, comprehension, listening...the fundamentals. get those right before launching into those 'journeys' and wacky analytical things.

and ur idea of history...you dont think that in yr 7-10 you have 2 be taught australian history, is enough? how deeply do we really have 2 go into australian history for us to maintain our sense of national pride and respect, our values + beliefs? i dont agree with making history compulsory. but maths, definitely.

 

[sam04u]

Maths compulsory? why? which profession uses maths.... physics... maybe... but not maths?

Besides... i don't believe in the current system as it is... the whole 7-10 teaching method... its stupid... really...

Theres no way that checks if they actually understood anything... the school certificate is so generalised that it doesnt really count...
Maybe its different in selective or private schools.. but in regular schools the curriculum is roughly followed... the course is mainly covered by copying of a overhead or from a text book... and alot of the time none of it is consumed....

Again... making maths compulsory is stupid...

Making history...(properly done, not the bullshit we have now would be good)
and a politics course...

 

[Gangels]

Maths compulsory? why? which profession uses maths.... physics... maybe... but not maths?

Besides... i don't believe in the current system as it is... the whole 7-10 teaching method... its stupid... really...

Theres no way that checks if they actually understood anything... the school certificate is so generalised that it doesnt really count...
Maybe its different in selective or private schools.. but in regular schools the curriculum is roughly followed... the course is mainly covered by copying of a overhead or from a text book... and alot of the time none of it is consumed....

Again... making maths compulsory is stupid...

Making history...(properly done, not the bullshit we have now would be good)
and a politics course...

Wat the fuck do you mean when do you use maths. How often do you count fukwit. How often do you use an eftpos card or count your money. How often do you go to the bank? Maths isnt for jobs its for day to day life!

You know that music is based on maths. Painting, drawing, building, electronics. Do you want to get paid for work or not be able to tell the difference between a 5 cent coin and 1000 dollars. And 7-10 history is the most effective way of teaching history. Thats why they do it that way! It didnt work your way! If you knew anything about history you'd know that fukwit!

 

[sam04u]

Any fucken retard could count without taking hsc maths....