Mrs. Richards was a short lady. She wore ruby red lipstick, had a rather large nose, kind bright eyes, and carried a rubber-tipped pointer which she somehow could slap against the chalkboard for a resounding crack, which she used to full advantage.
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That’s what I remember most. It was, after all, seventh grade, years and years ago. Oh, yes, I also remember endless hours diagramming sentences, conjugating verbs, and eliminating dangling modifiers. Is there any homework worse than English assignments?
I know lots of folks think English doesn’t matter. Speaking and writing “American” is good ‘nuf in most everyday instances. New electronic gizmos make learning language in traditional ways seem quaintly old-fashioned, even archaic.
For instance, there’s a free app that my kids put on their smart phones that translates what you type in English into another language spontaneously. Think on that for a minute. French? Just touch here. German? Touch here. Spanish? Touch here.
So today, whenever you encounter a foreigner when properly armed, you can communicate! Just use an electronic device as your personal interpreter. Why study language?
Well, let’s see… is translating really communicating?
Armed with a calculator, you probably can also get by without learning any math — especially algebra. Using Arabic numbers is all that’s necessary to pay the bills and mostly function in our society (oh, yes, we should include enough Roman numerals to keep track of the Super Bowls). Pocket calculators replaced slide rules; I learned logarithms but, honestly, have you used your logarithm today?
Most of us don’t have to know much math beyond geometry to be functional. If you don’t know any math, however, you may struggle with lots of concepts. You might always pay by card to avoid the frustrations of figuring out the right change. You probably find computing pretty hard, but you’ll get by.
So, maybe, rather than cut back to a 4-day school schedule, we should just drop math from curriculum to save a few bucks. Just hand out the calculators.
Or, perhaps even better, you’d prefer to cut language curriculum — no more grammar assignments (do they still diagram sentences?), no more creative writing papers (you can’t get more creative than Facebook anyway, can you?), no more punctuation rules (think Twitter, it’s easier).
On the other hand…
Some describe monolingualism as an acceptance of limitations: if you can only speak one way, you tend to only think one way. How much worse, then, is the inability to use just the one language you speak improperly?
How you communicate reveals how you think. Some gadget that automatically translates is wonderful. But even so, you still have to think what to write, choosing which words used in what context best communicate. And thinking, not performing tasks or simply uploading the latest version of the newest gizmo, is what a well-rounded education is supposed to be about.
The future is not going to be an English-only world. Over three quarters of the world’s population is bilingual. Children all over the world cope perfectly well learning two, and sometimes three, languages. My grandkids already speak some Spanish words just by watching Saturday morning cartoons on TV. Bilinguals even claim that their personalities change according to the language they are speaking.
My point is this: While we might want an English-only world, as a people we really aren’t masters of our own English language. I believe American kids are just as capable as any in the world. But we must put a greater emphasis on mastering English; mastering a language requires you to think!
Besides, language skills are necessary in so many practical ways — business, security, travel, friendships — and develop a mental agility that plays out in many positive ways. Multiple language skills elevate that development. Somehow, we’re failing to communicate how important language skills are; I can point to a rather large stack of discarded resumes received here as evidence, people seeking work but not really thinking about the first impression both their cover letter and resume make.
Mrs. Richards was a stickler on punctuation in my seventh grade language class. Miss a period or a comma and you’d get a red check mark. But then, later in the day, nearly any answer garbled on paper in science class was acceptable — as long as it somehow linked the right term or general idea to the question.
Maybe junior high teachers must weigh maturity matters when deciding what academic standards should apply to budding teenagers. But the disconnect of using correct English in other courses occurred during high school studies, too. The unintended message in my experience was that using English properly only mattered to the English teacher. Cutting the grade in English only mattered if you were concerned about the next quarter’s honor roll.
And yet, the correct use of English does very much matter in the workplace.
The week we purchased and began operating a sales office in Chillicothe about eight years ago, we started using a computer tool called Instant Messenger. It’s been nearly indispensable in coordinating work between our two office staffs.
It’s quicker and more direct than telephone chatter, it gives some latitude on managing queries that interrupt, and it offers some documentation on discussions. It is very useful; it helps you multi-task. And it can also be a BIG problem.
What you say and write matters. How you write matters. Sometimes what you write can be so easily misunderstood. Some technology, like Instant Messenger, strips away voice inflections, facial signals and speaking rhythms that normal conversation provides. You communicate only by what you write. Conflicts can occur and become real personnel issues without the “combatants” really knowing how the other thinks or, worse, without caring.
Language can be a power tool for shaping abstract thought. When sensory information is scarce or inconclusive, command of proper English becomes the most important tool in shaping how people think.
Mrs. Richard made it simple: diagram the sentence. That led to definitions describing words (adjectives, adverbs, passive and action verbs, nouns, pronouns, prepositions, and so on). Then we’d do it again. That led to more complex sentences, more discussion. Then we’d do it again.
She didn’t really explain why. It seemed like torture, probably a common memory most schoolboys and girls associate with language classes. It was much later for me, when trying to survive the foreign language requirements for a college degree, that I wanted to smack her ruby red lips in thanks. What I didn’t really appreciate when I was a seventh grader is how she made me think.
Thanks for reading. Maybe “readin’ & writin'” precede “‘rithmetic” in the old school adage for good reason.