NORMAL LIFE: Spelling Mistakes Are A Small Price To Pay!

I read every issue of Finland's only English language magazine, SixDegrees. It’s one of those ‘free’ newspapers you can pick up in railway stations, cafés and on street corners aimed at spreading culture through Finland's very homogenous streets. It regularly features topical issues touching on politics, education and health.

I nearly fell off my chair when I read an article titled ‘Native Speakers Fail Online English Test’ (click on photo to read article). First of all, the writer (a Mr. Mike Bangle) points out that, by 2050, more than half of the world will use English everyday. Then, he launches a staunch attack of British people (who seem to be the only people speaking English), conveniently ignoring the other 250 million people who speak English as a first language each day in the forty-or-so lands that classify English as a national language.

Mr Bangle goes on to state that Brits 'do not know how to use their own language' claiming that a significant proportion of native English speakers cannot even spell, again conveniently ignoring the 250 million other people in the world that use English as a first language! In this day and age of mass publishing, this article proved that anybody can write drivel AND be published!

The rest of the article seems to focus purely on how 'Brits see email as an informal means of communication in which mistakes do not matter'. Now, Mr. Bangle, where does this evidence come from? Is this your personal opinion, or can you cite some credible studies to back this up? Indeed, the education system in the UK is in tatters and could do with a mass overhaul and, yes, I confess that I for one was never taught grammar whilst at school. How can a small Island such as the UK, however, not succumb to the influence of the other 250 million people out there who are distributing their own local forms - and spellings - of our wonderfully versatile language? I daresay Mr. Bangle has the solution.

I may be wrong, but I think Mr. Bangle may be suffering from what I call 'external egocentrism'; this is the term I give to those people who travel to where the 'grass is greener', adapt quite well, then rant and rave about how great their 'new' home is, literally rubbishing everything originating from his or her home country in the process. I, myself, went through this phase, but no matter how hard I try to make Finland sound more fantastic than the UK, it just isn't possible. The UK has more to offer in many different areas, but it lacks the safety, and the daily challenges that I have come to enjoy as an ex-pat.

Getting back to Mr. Bangle's article, he fails to address many issues. Firstly, the volume of textual information is huge what with email and internet usage. While bad spelling can be corrected with the simple execution of a spell check (available in most software), most packages are preconfigured with American English. Of course, that's real English, isn't it?! And what with the international communication these days, it's no wonder that native English speakers fall under the influence of words that are slightly mispelt.

Mr Bangle’s article reminded me of a day in the office not so long ago. A colleague came into my room, closed the door and told me a secret. Apparently, my boss (who is Finnish) had been commenting on MY bad English skills and this discussion was being held without my knowledge. Pah! There I was, just myself working twenty other Finns. If they think they can write and speak better English that I can, bring it on!

Rather than concentrate on the possible truth that a 'significant proportion of native English speakers cannot spell' (we have to believe that because self proclaimed authority figure, Alastair Creamer, says so!), shouldn’t we be rejoicing in the fact that our small Island gave birth to a language that has united millions (if not billions and, soon, billions more) of people from all over the world and is so wonderfully versatile that it’s constantly evolving?

I think a few spelling errors in an email is a small price to pay for this wonderful access to the world.