Should exclamation points and question marks be at the beginning of a sentence?

Perhaps. They do do that in Spanish.

I like that feature of Spanish. Not all questions begin with what, how, when, where or why.

@filmfann Don’t forget “who.”

Did I? Is that bad?

I’m like @filmfann, I like it in Spanish, I’d like it in English.

It’s upside down at the beginning in Spanish.

¿Do you like the color blue?

¡I’m so happy!

. I’m somewhat ambivalent about it . ;-)

Most sentences with exclamation marks tend to be short, so it may not make much of a difference having them at the beginning. For questions it would be helpful to have a question mark at the beginning of the clause that contains the question. If it rains then ¿ what should we do?

I second, (third?) the Spanish practice. It is so clever.

It’s a great idea except for the hard part of turning your typewriter or computer upside down to type it.

reading outloud is not done much. my experience on when it is done, the person reading typically knows the content and when to emphasize their voice for question or exclamatory.

I also agree that the practice in Spanish is super helpful. Would like to see it adopted in English.

I would think that having quotation marks at the beginning of a sentence would alert the reader to a (possible) exclamation point at the end, and a who, what, when, where, why, and sometimes how would alert the reader to a question. (In English.)
@ filmfann Who is one of the five W’s.

@filmfann @kritiper

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes
One million Hows, Two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

! why not?

When reading aloud, I think it’s useful to read ahead as much as possible to have an idea where things are going, including all the phrasing and exclamations. It takes a little practice to continue speaking normally, with intended expression, while looking at other words further in the paragraph.

@JLeslie Even the Spanish sometimes get it wrong. I bought some sweets in Spain once which had !NUEVO¡ printed on the bag.