Why is it that many native English speakers can't write properly?

Some of us skip school and only learn how to pass the test and not how to write. I depend on spell-check just to write this quip.

Apathy, boredom, laziness, distraction.

I wuz razed a readnek.

For some people, it almost seems to be a matter of pride. I don’t understand why, either.

I think the first two answers here sum it up perfectly.

A question for the ages~

Online? Lazy. I don’t edit my work before hitting the send button. I am usually online on my phone or ipad and I my typing is horrible on those two devices compared to when I am using an actual desktop with a proper keyboard.

If I were writing something at work, for school, or correspondence with a stranger I would not be lazy about it.

Some Americans really have terrible writing skills, it’s true, it’s not just lazy typos, but most of them don’t speak well either.

Do you live in America?

Because it’s not as important as it used to be. Formal memos and letters are long gone and communications between people are largely electronic and casual. Spell checkers are also partially to blame. You can probably tell when I’m typing on a proper computer or with a smartphone just by the number of mistakes and edits.

In school I had to take dozens of math heavy courses and only two English courses. Papers generally were graded for content and not for grammar. Where I live my terrible grammar is much better than many most people around me.

I think we’re too busy & try to get the message across quickly. Life in the fast lane.

Many English speakers are Americans.

Some are interested in English as a subject, others are not. I am one of them. I loved the psychologies, biology, Art and something else, can’t recall I was in school about 300 years ago. I wouldn’t even notice bad grammar if it slapped me in the chops and I could care less too.

[Not a native English speaker] I guess the reason why foreigners can write better is because they are afraid of making mistakes. They are afraid that if they make mistakes the native speakers can’t understand so they have to write correctly. And native English speakers know more unspoken rules than the non-natives. Unlike the non-natives, they know how to communicate so that they can understand each other, so they are more relaxed, though sometimes this can lead to poor spelling and grammar. But hey, they can still understand each other right?

If you go to other countries, the situation with other languages is pretty much the same.

The English language is one of the most, if not the most difficult language to learn so it’s no wonder natives can’t write it properly, much less speak it properly.

I have two years into a liberal arts degree and I still don’t know the difference between their and there.

Μany people are not visual thinkers. Writing is about shapes; it’s inherently visual, but many cannot take what they see and attach it to a concept. On the other hand, visual thinkers can do that with ease since our minds are wired that way.

Kids here are more interested in cliquing, the social fashion show, and who to get in the sack; when they come down off whatever drug they are on ~~

Because not all of us are born with an inner spell check. Many people struggle with grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

We all have areas we don’t excel at. I, somehow, am extremely bad at remembering faces. Grammar mistakes annoy me, but I try to remind myself that writing well doesn’t come easily to everyone.

I think @Mimishu1995 really makes a great point. People who speak English as their first language are less worried about making a mistake and I’ll add that they know how to shorten words, because they are so familiar with the language. When I text my Russian girlfriend who moved to America about 14 years ago, I don’t use text speak, I spell everything out. My Spanish is pretty good, but if my husband shortened every other word in a communication I would not know what the hell he was talking about too much of the time.

The other thing I will mention is some rules in English are different in different countries. We already know America drops letters. Colour is color, and honour is honor. Also, judgement is judgment, travelled is traveled, and the list goes on and on. People who speak English as a second language may not realize that some words actually are not being misspelled, just spelled the other English way. There are even some grammatical differences, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

^ I don’t know. I, for one, am much less likely to make grammatical errors when writing in German (my first language). I agree that I may be paying more attention when writing in English – but then again, I don’t need to pay attention in German.

Of course, things are slightly different for me because I didn’t lean English “by the books”. I just picked it up – like a young child would pick up their first language.

I don’t think people learning English as their first language go through the same learning process as someone learning it as an additional language. I don’t think English as a first language is taught the same way as a foreign language is either.

I’m always very impressed by the English language skills of those who learn it as an additional language. I can’t even remember being taught grammar at school. I guess it must have happened, but I really cannot remember that process. I don’t remember being taught the ‘rules’ of the English language.

I also think, and this is a generalisation, that English speakers are lazy about learning other languages. We take our own language for granted and often can’t be bothered to learn other languages. I do realise there are exceptions, but I know when I was at school the standard of teaching in relation to other languages was appalling. It just didn’t get the attention it needed. It didn’t seem to be taken seriously. I have always felt other countries pay much closer attention to ensuring young people learn English. Probably because it’s so important in commercial settings.

IDK. A few of my fb friends are people who I went to HS with. They had the same education that I had, yet their writing abilities are very substandard. You know, I think what is taught at home leaves more of an impression that what is taught in school.

@Dutchess_III Do they have the same level as education as you? You said HS, but I thought you have a college degree.

I do, but I learned my basic speaking lessons in K-12.

@JLeslie There are even some grammatical differences, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
Well, there is Spanish tendency to put the attribute after the subject; the house white, over the white house, things like that.

@longgone I just picked it up – like a young child would pick up their first language.
How in Sam hell did you do that? I often figure if I did not already know English, it would be hard to learn. Many words are not phonetic, they sound totally different from the way they are spelled. Toss in the words that are spelled the same but mean different things like bow (front of a ship or boat), bow (to lower one’s head or torso in greeting or respect), and bow (a tided declarative ribbon, or bend). Then there is too many ways to say things, even if you leave out the slang; get out quickly, depart post haste, exit expediently, leave immediately, etc. I don’t know how many times I sat and watch Univision (the Spanish station in the area) to see if I can figure out words and phrases, and the only thing in Spanish I really know above Hola!, is tu bebe mucho cervesa; and not even sure I got the spelling right.

It seems like family and surroundings have something to do with it too. Not only growing up, but as an adult. My husband continues to improve his English skills probably partly because he is with executives all the time who have masters degrees and lawyers.

So many people around who have their high school diploma who make mistakes that are pretty surprising to me. It’s not typos, spellling, or txtspk that I am talking about. A lot of it is regional, but still what were they taught in school? We have talked about some of the pet peeves on fluther. Irregardless, not using adverbs, not using the suffix en. Irregardless of the conditions she should walk quick or she might get bit by a mosquito. My girlfriend in Miami uses irregardless, some of my friends in MI can’t seem to add LY or EN to the end of any words. Maybe they do now, they didn’t when we were in college. Not the ones whose parents didn’t go to college now that I think about it.

@Hypocrisy_Central I was referring to English only. American vs. British.

@Hypocrisy_Central At age ten, I spent two years in South Korea. I went to an English school there and had only received very basic English lessons before – so I did learn English as “naturally” as possible. I was incredibly homesick at the time, but in retrospect, I’m glad! :]

I’m not convinced that native English speakers can’t write properly in general. I just think we’re seeing more unedited writing than we used to.

Lack of education, probably.