TXT language allowed in exams.

**mstriumph** · 10th November 2006, 12:33

Originally Posted by yungatart

.................. it does allow the less literate among us to feel some success - heaven forbid that in this enlightened age, anyone should fail at anything. The risks to one's self esteem being irreparably damaged by failure are legendary and well documented.............................

hmmmmm
even if txt DOES become a 'standard' it won't be any bar to anything continuing to be 'well-documented' methinks ....

....... it's just that a lot of us will no longer be able to UNDERSTAND the documentation ...

**jetboy** · 10th November 2006, 12:54

Whatever happened to actually learning something at school?
When I was at school the teachers didnt really give a toss, even though I probably wasnt the easiest student.

If txt does become standard, whats stopping them making gibberish or pig-latin standard too?

If you ask me (even if you dont Ill tell you) this shit is getting too far out of hand.

**mstriumph** · 10th November 2006, 18:35

Originally Posted by jetboy

...........If txt does become standard, whats stopping them making gibberish or pig-latin standard too?

.........

nothing at all ......... except the backlash from people like those on this forum

so KEEP SHOUTING fellas - protest in English while you still can!!

**Karma** · 10th November 2006, 18:52

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

Well after just finishing four years at Uni with alot of Asian foreign students I can categorically say your wrong. Some of them incredibly smart in their major subject, yet struggle to communicate in written language and in some cases oral communication.

ten dollar?

**Mom** · 10th November 2006, 19:33

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

Well after just finishing four years at Uni with alot of Asian foreign students I can categorically say your wrong. Some of them incredibly smart in their major subject, yet struggle to communicate in written language and in some cases oral communication.

My daughter is about finished her 2nd year at university studying Japanese and Linguistics, she has spent time in Japan on exchange, loved it!.......we got to reciprocate the Japanese hospitality ( it was unreal, fantastic and well beyond anything I would have expected) The lovely girl we had living with us.......sigh......such hard work, not interested in blending in, could not leave her "friends"....she went home, we got fresh student right off the plane.....lovely girl...but not able to blend..... we coined a phrase to explain the blank looks and shrugs.."Asian amneasia"........I reckon it is cultural, these kids don't conform at home........come to NZ...use the language barrier as an excuse to not try....yes smart.........yes try really hard......yes do well...and sadly yes need to be better understood...

I dont speak Japanese but sure can get the gist of a conversation happening around me....

**Brian d marge** · 10th November 2006, 21:22

Originally Posted by Mom

My daughter is about finished her 2nd year at university studying Japanese and Linguistics, she has spent time in Japan on exchange, loved it!.......we got to reciprocate the Japanese hospitality ( it was unreal, fantastic and well beyond anything I would have expected) The lovely girl we had living with us.......sigh......such hard work, not interested in blending in, could not leave her "friends"....she went home, we got fresh student right off the plane.....lovely girl...but not able to blend..... we coined a phrase to explain the blank looks and shrugs.."Asian amneasia"........I reckon it is cultural, these kids don't conform at home........come to NZ...use the language barrier as an excuse to not try....yes smart.........yes try really hard......yes do well...and sadly yes need to be better understood...

I dont speak Japanese but sure can get the gist of a conversation happening around me....

If you need any one to bounce Ideas off , We live in Japan and have the inside view !!

Both of us can Speak Japanese, My wife is a ummm ...a...young Japanese lady ...as in understands the poor creatures ...

It is cultural ... Did you know there was a report of the Japanese embasy shipping home about 4 japanese people a month from Paris, apparently they have these pre conceived ideas of france and paris ,,,When they get there ,,,the poor liitle creatures get Shell shock!!! and go quite doo Lally !!

Not better or worse ,.Just different !

Stephen

**Jonathan** · 11th November 2006, 01:23

Originally Posted by Brian d'marge

If you need any one to bounce Ideas off , We live in Japan and have the inside view !!

Both of us can Speak Japanese, My wife is a ummm ...a...young Japanese lady ...as in understands the poor creatures ...

It is cultural ... Did you know there was a report of the Japanese embasy shipping home about 4 japanese people a month from Paris, apparently they have these pre conceived ideas of france and paris ,,,When they get there ,,,the poor liitle creatures get Shell shock!!! and go quite doo Lally !!

Not better or worse ,.Just different !

Stephen

Common to every culture I believe. I went for a one year exchange to Japan and there were plenty of people who were on exchange at the same time with pre-conceived ideas of what Japan was supposed to be like. One American girl was so shell shocked that she ran away from her host family after only a week and flew back home with no one knowing about it until she turned up at her parents doorstep. An extreme case, yes, but there were many others.

Mom - your description of "Asian amnesia" could have been applied to at least half the students on exchange at the same time as me. Whether they were from New Zealand, the US, Sweden, France etc. Of course the extraverts got on fine (they don't care if what they say might be the wrong choice of words or grammatically incorrect) but the shyer ones, myself included, often (even if we understood perfectly what was being said) held our tongues out of fear of saying the wrong thing and embarrassing ourselves.
- On a side note, coincidentally I did a degree in exactly the same majors as your daughter. Hope your daughter is finding them as interesting as i did!

Back on the topic - The education system is getting ridiculous. Now everyone believes they should be in university and that any degree is a ticket into a "good job". Half the people in uni these days are what would have once been considered illiterate. Only about 20% in first year know how to write academically.

Some spend six years failing papers, finally coming out with a degree in "philosophy" and a massive student loan they have no way of ever paying off. They believe, as they have a "degree", that they deserve an office job and therefore will never stoop so low as to do any non-professional work. Of course they have very little chance of getting an office job with a "c" average philosophy degree and so they end up on the dole and become yet another burden to the taxpayer.

All the while everyone is complaining about a lack of trades people; weeks waiting for a plumber, electrician etc. Why? The government is slighting these professions while putting people into university who should not be there.

I am not saying that dumb people should be trades men/women. What I am saying is that uni is not for everyone - some are better at academics, some are better at the trades, and the examination system is meant to sort these groups out. In all this "equal opportunities" mania the government is destroying this system.

**thehollowmen** · 11th November 2006, 11:10

But then again, because of PC in nz we were able to request to sit the english exams (school cert, bursary) in maori for years now.

Questions and answers.

I'm not joking.

**Hitcher** · 11th November 2006, 16:23

I'll bet it's not allowable to use TXT answers in Maori exams...

**yungatart** · 11th November 2006, 17:04

Originally Posted by Hitcher

I'll bet it's not allowable to use TXT answers in Maori exams...

I'll bet you that it is!

**Hitcher** · 12th November 2006, 12:26

Right then. I'm starting a petition right now to ban TXT. Simple enough. It only requires legislation to prevent Telecom and Vodafone activating this facility on their cellphones.

**hXc** · 12th November 2006, 12:30

Hmmm, txt language allowed, but my writing style is not. I write in capitals, but it is easy to determine which letters are capitals (Like first letters of names, sentences etc etc), because they're a different size.

Capitals > txt.

**Ixion** · 12th November 2006, 13:31

Chill, oh thou antique dudes. Txt is easy enough , anyone can do it, and it is certainly handy for (duh) txting, or chatting. The world won't end , the sky will not fall.

**Krayy** · 13th November 2006, 10:00

How about this one from the Harold yesterday:

"Schools are awarding students NCEA credits for simple tasks such as knowing how to apply for a benefit, having a conversation or simply turning up to school on time." (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectid=10410338)

Oooooo-kay. So part of the school curriculum is how to apply for a benefit?

To paraphrase The Human Torch - "Rant, ON!!":

You dumb-ass f**king lefty tosspot wankers. How f**ked up is your damn socialist bullshitting agenda if you're expecting - nay, encouraging - this type of frickin' defeatist crap in the same frickin' schools that I will most likely be sending my children to as the amount of f**king tax you force upon us to further your own damn empire building will not enable me to do what I damn well ought to and send them to a private school that teaches the Cambridge curriculum so they don't have to be a part of your stupid "you don't have to succeed, only try" mentality experiments. F**k you, Helen, and all your damn bitches.