My teaching community misuses the word 'seen' for 'saw'. "Yesterday I seen the bald eagle." "I seen it too." I am always correcting it. Well today, I MISUSED IT! UGH! I guess if you hear it incorrectly enough... sigh Any other similar stories?
Yes, all the time. It is very easy to slip into the language patterns that you hear every day, especially if you have a natural weakness for them already. For instance, I'm a huge lover of "ain't." I work hard not to use it in professional situations, but with my students using it constantly, it slips in on occasion. I also used to avoid "ya'll", but I've now completely embraced it and think it should be standard English anyway. The slang works its way in without you even realizing it. I knew I'd lost the game when I was trying to explain the close ties with Great Britain and America and said in my lecture. "Look, the UK is bae, aight?" and the kids went "ohhh, ok." :eyeroll: I'm linguistically weak.
The only thing I remember about my speech therapy when I was young was that she had a sort of... mantra she had us repeat every once in a while. I still remember it today. "Ain't ain't a word so I ain't gonna use it." I definitely don't say a'int, that's for sure.
My gpa was a principal & my great granny a teacher...so when we used these words growing up my dad corrected us right away. He would say "You have seen." LOL!!! Sticks with me today!!! I am a big person who can't stand that either or "these ones." UGH.. makes me want to pull my hair!!! I came across these yesterday (How funny that this thread is up) that made me laugh... https://www.crazydogtshirts.com/you-re-shirt.html Vateach you need this one... LOL!!! https://www.crazydogtshirts.com/silently-correcting-your-gramnmar-shirt.html I told my mom I need this one... LOL!!!
The only one that really bothers me is "I" instead of "me". I don't care when someone says something like "Me and Johnny are going to the store." But, I cringe when people say something like "Do you want to go to the store with Johnny and I?" The former just sounds like venacular, but the latter sounds like you're trying too hard and failing. LOL
I remember when I was a kid I heard someone say, "I seen it on tv". It drove me nuts and I was probably only 8 at the time!
Every day vs everyday. I see "everyday" used incorrectly everywhere! It doesn't change in spoken language, but I get a chuckle when I see signs like "Flu Shots Everyday" at the local Walgreens, for example. Nothing makes me feel confident in your services like grammatically incorrect signage!
"Youse guys".....blah!! I hear that a lot! I also can't stand it when people insert "you know" into every sentence. No, I don't know! That drives me nuts!
Some misuses are cultural or geographical....I model proper language usage with students and peers. I edit writing for student writing...I'd never call out a colleague (but I think it):woot:
"I seen" is probably the worst phrase I have ever heard. I don't really hear it out here, but back in OH I would hear educated people say this regularly! Here, most of my students are ELLs, so they've learned English at school and don't tend to pick up poor grammar from home. Most of our students use perfect grammar!
I was taught, many moons ago, : I see I have seen (you need a helper verb) I saw so I never think to say "I seen"
I remember reciting verb conjugations with the class as a child. The teacher would write the verb on the board. She would write out the conjugation and explain each part. We would recite. It seemed senseless at the time, but it really wasn't. She would also always use proper grammar and CORRECT students who did not. Kids would say that they should be allowed to use what they use at home, but the teacher would explain that in school we speak proper English so that it can be used when needed. At home and in recess they can speak in more relaxed terms. She never judged or made kids feel bad for using relaxed language at home. She even admitted what phrases she used outside of class even knowing it wasn't proper grammar. The difference between then and now was that it was TAUGHT and REQUIRED. Sadly, I think some couldn't teach it if they had to because they don't know it to begin with.
Ditto - but the cringe is sometimes visible. I used to be concerned about that cringe, but now I view it as feedback - not requested, but definitely deserved. :lol:
Edited to add: I cannot stand when people say "I Mean" within every sentence...why is that necessary to say? Does it replace "Ummmm"?
I know many educated adults who don't know when to use that or who. I didn't learn when to properly use the two until college!
I despise the "word" preventative -- it's SUPPOSED to be preventive (preventative was actually added to the dictionary, but only because so many people misused it). It also irritates me when people misuse "verbal" to mean "spoken" or "oral". Verbal means any communication using words. I don't mind "y'all". Some mispronunciations bother me ("axe me a question"), and some don't ("people live all over the erf" I don't think I know anyone who uses "seen" in place of "saw", but it would probably bother me.
My dad does too. Maybe it's the generation thing. I know my dad didn't go to college & most of the people he was around as a kid & adult have not either. My step dad who is younger than my dad does not say it...in fact he would always correct our grammar. He's dad was a teacher/principal & my gram went to college & her mom was a teacher!!!
I had a student several years ago who would pronounce words this way. I would correct him every time. However, another teacher in my district (who happens to be African American) let me know that I shouldn't correct him because he's speaking African American Vernacular English. Can someone help shed light on this? I've never brought it up to anyone because I didn't want to seem racially insensitive.
This isn't going to be all that helpful, but I will just say that I work with several African-American teachers that I know for a fact wouldn't let this fly for a second. I'm not saying they should or shouldn't - just that they wouldn't. That being said, I do not correct students' speech. I've read some research on this and I don't think it's productive. It makes some kids apprehensive about opening their mouth to talk at all. It can also make kids feel like you're not focusing on what they are saying; you are focusing on how they are saying it. Instead, I model correct speech by repeating it back to them correctly as a question. Example: student: I seen that movie. Me: Oh, you saw that movie? I have seen it too.
