Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more on

[Northern Light]

Re: Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more

The rote learning they forced on me in school provided a mediocre platform for me to advance my language skills.

Honestly, it was regular internet usage and online chatting, combined with second language immersion that greatly improved my English skills.

I also had a natural curiosity for the meaning behind words. When I found a word I didn't know, I would look it up. Not everyone does that, but...

With the WWW, it seems like the average vocabulary should be way more expanded in this day and age, so I don't get why it tends not to be?

 

[kailashJi]

Re: Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more

In high school English classes focus on grammar should not stop to think. Rather they should focus to much and I think high school should focus on both: writing skills and literary analysis. Writing skills are essential in today's business world and literary analysis helps develop the analytic portion of your brain that is necessary for reading comprehension

 

[UtahBill]

Re: Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more

I think we should do away with education altogether because it limits the minds of young people.

Education in public schools is what you need to make you trainable by employers. It does not limit minds but enables them to learn on their own once they leave formal schooling and enter the work force.
If you want more education than what is needed to make you trainable, that can be accomplished on your own by reading, watching informative videos, etc.
There isn't much that hasn't found its way to the internet. If you don't take advantage of it, you are the proverbial horse that was led to water but refused to drink.

 

[American]

Re: Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more

Education in public schools is what you need to make you trainable by employers. It does not limit minds but enables them to learn on their own once they leave formal schooling and enter the work force.
If you want more education than what is needed to make you trainable, that can be accomplished on your own by reading, watching informative videos, etc.
There isn't much that hasn't found its way to the internet. If you don't take advantage of it, you are the proverbial horse that was led to water but refused to drink.

/sarcasm

 

[Patrickt]

Re: Do you think high school english classes should stop focusing on grammar and more

Aw, thanks. :3 But really, whoever taught him spoken language deserves as much of that credit as I do.

If he hadn't had an intuitive understanding of language, it would have been much harder for him to learn the technical skill of using punctuation. That intuitive, spoken understanding has to be there before someone will be able to truly understand conjugation, punctuation, and writing in general. Writing is a technical code we use to record speech, essentially. That's where basic lessons in grammar are useful: learning to write.

Language is definitely inherent. Babies who are totally deprived of language will actually grow up to be mentally retarded. That's how important it is to us, in terms of developing our minds. And the best way to learn it is to be immersed by it.

Technical teaching has its place, especially in writing. But we have to immerse the brain to train it for intuitive learning first and foremost. Intuitive language is just problem-solving.

I think our society is already starting to fight back against the piece-of-paper mindset of judging who is qualified. After all, I was teaching college students... and I have no degree.

I wish but I'm afraid you're wrong. When arguing with my boss one day I stared at his diploma on the wall and said, "Now I understand why some people hang a diploma on the wall. Otherwise, people would never guess they were smart." As I left his office I heard him ask his secretary, "Was he insulting me again?"