I hate it when people profess their intolerance for people who do certain things. This entire entry will probably come off as rather hypocritical then and maybe this statement of self-defense means absolutely nothing, but here goes anyway. I wouldn't say I'm "intolerant" of these people, as I've never said a word against them until now and because I probably won't think too much less of a person if they do it, but it just irks me. ...Anyway.
This is a growing trend on sites that garner a significant population from various subcultures. Example one: deviantART. I have lost count of the number of journal entries, stamps, clubs, and deviation descriptions that will right out write off anyone who uses (or attempts to use) Japanese (or Wapanese -- but the first Urban Dictionary definition offends me, by the by). I can understand why so many people would be annoyed, especially with the anime subculture having grown (and still growing) so rapidly, thus population all corners of the Internet with crazy fangirls and boys who entertain and amuse themselves with uses of words like "kawaii," "sugoi," "baka," "gomen," "-chan," "-kun," "-sama," and "ne." I understand this would be even more annoying for people that do not consider themselves members of the subculture and have been forced to learn the meaning of these words through mass overusage. And even though I do consider myself part of this subculture, I'd be lying if I told you it didn't annoy me sometimes. I will probably punch you in the face if you call me "Kiri-chan."
But is there really a reason to rally against them as harshly as so many people have? Most of the kids using the terms are 12-15 and feel a little special for knowing what they are. It's like a (not-so) secret language they can use amongst friends and other people that "understand" them (I think a recent installment of ANN's Hey Answerman! used this analogy). It's just that the "in-group" is so ridiculously large now that there's lots of overspill. However, most of these kids outgrow it by the time they hit 16 or 17. I would also be lying to you if I said that I've never been guilty of using some of those words (more on this later) -- I'm sure hunting down archives of forum posts I made five or six years ago would harvest a decent crop of silly Japanese terms, but come on. Let kids have their fun.
Really, I think it's a little arrogant and elitist to come down so hard on them. I don't think any of the people using the words are "trying to be Japanese" or "rejecting their actual heritage." There's no need to be so offended by the use of harmless words, especially if you already know what they mean. As the subculture expands, the words have become such a normal occurrence that they might as well be up there with other subculture-spawned terms like "lol," "iawtc," or "n00b." Some people will also rag on the l337 subculture's butchering of various English words, but despite the fact that I just wrote an entry ranting about the general disregarding of our language, I don't think that the usage of 1337 terms correlates directly to not knowing spelling and grammar worth a shit. Likewise, usage of miscellaneous Japanese terms does not mean they don't know the English equivalents or are trying to be Japanese. I don't even think they're trying to be "cool" or "cute." They're just having fun.
I like the Japanese language a lot. I think it flows very well and would love to actually sit down and learn it some day. I generally believe that I've picked up a decent slice of vocabulary and while I've outgrown using random terms online, I've begun weaving some words into my everyday verbal speech along with Spanish, which I've come to appreciate a lot more now that I've stopping taking classes for it. So frequently, I find myself responding "¿qué?" or "nanda?" instead of "what?" using "¿quien es?" and "¿qué es eso?" instead of "who is it?" and "what's that?" and "doko desu ka?" for "where is it?" I also seem to use "sou" and "sou desu" a lot for simple agreement and both "shirimasen" and "yo no sé" for "I don't know."
And I wonder, would people also consider this pretentious of me? Am I trying to be Japanese or Spanish? I don't really think so. I just enjoy using the languages, even if I'm not very proficient in either. It makes me smile when my brother and I can converse in Spanish, even if they're just little phrases that we banter back and forth ("No sé!" "¿Por qué no sé?" "No sé porque no sé! D:"). And yes, there is a little bit of enjoyment that comes when people around us don't understand what we're saying. It's like an in-joke and everyone loves being a part of something like that, right? But yeah, one of these days, I half expect some asshole to come up to me and tell me I'm not Japanese and therefore should not be using random bits and pieces of phrases.
The only thing I can sort of understand confronting someone about is incorrect usage of grammar. By all means, if I am killing the poor language's grammar, please inform me of this. Preferably in a civil and polite manner. But maybe that's just me and my I-love-grammar nonsense.
I wanted to extend the general concept of this entry (railing against certain people for doing certain things that really shouldn't be that big of a deal) to something else in the advanced text-based roleplaying community, but I'm all tired of writing now. Maybe later. In the meantime, people, really. Stop giving the kids such a hard time. Why do you think they're so many emokids these days anyway?
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
An Edumacated Nation
Every day, I think of about ten things I could write about. Unfortunately, I know how long-winded I can get about pretty much everything and so I put it off because I really do have other things to do. But anyway, I suppose since I'm actually bothering to sit down to write an entry now, I should shut up with the intro and just get to what I wanted to talk about.
Can someone please explain to me why so many people I meet seem so utterly uneducated? I know it's stereotypical to say that those in the "artkid" category are utter failures at mathematics and the mathematical sciences (chemistry and especially physics), but the more of them I meet, the more I've come to think this is true to a ridiculous degree. This past quarter, on more than one occasion, my design professor had to explain to the class how to arrive at your area based on the dimensions of your paper. ...The entire time, I was like... "Are you shitting me?" Width times height equals area. Christ, a fifth grader could tell you that! You're telling this to college kids? Are you shitting me? But really, I know it isn't even just the artkids. Pretty much anyone who isn't majoring in a math/science field is prone to these instances of proven ignorance.
Some information leaves you as soon as the tests are over. I know this and am guilty of it myself. A ton of material I learn for an exam and then will never be able to recall it again. However, there is a lot of stuff I think that everyone should just know. Forever. No matter how long it's been. Finding the area of a rectangle is one of those things, right up there with knowing that Europe is a continent. I don't understand how people -- people who have graduated high school, or hell, people who've graduated elementary school -- could not know these things. Part of me feels a little arrogant for ragging on people like this; after all, I have always been a "math nerd" and "artkid" simultaneously and I've taken three levels of Calculus, but really now... the area of a rectangle!
Math and science aside, I love English. I admit that it's a messed up language, has more exceptions than rules, and is probably the most difficult language in the world to learn, but I love it anyway. And so I love grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and cry a little on the inside every time I see it butchered beyond recognition. Public, private, or home school education -- every American kid should have at least twelve years of schooling in the English language behind them. There is absolutely no reason a twenty-two year old woman should write like this (and yes, this is a very ironic quote):
"this person isnt too smart now are they or do they believe we are that stupid but yes that pose does look fermalure"
Fermalure ≠ familiar. This seriously made me so sad. Not to mention the subject/verb disagreement and lack of punctuation. I understand this is the Internet. Typos happen and laziness happens, but for the latter argument... I really don't think it takes all that much effort to capitalize words when you should and tap in a comma now and again. It also won't kill anyone to throw in a space between sentences, y'know? There is only so much laziness that can occur before sentences become utterly unreadable. This is particularly frustrating when you're taking commissions... and you can't understand anything your commissioner has to say. My brother jokes that maybe English isn't these peoples' first language, but I know of many Europeans and Asians for which this statement is actually true and their English is impeccable.
I find it incredibly sad that I know French, Malaysian, Romanian, and Norwegian people whose grasp of the English language is ten times better than actual Americans (or British people, even). How is it that they're able to have such an amazing handle on not only their own language, but usually three or four other languages? And the majority of Americans can't even grasp their own? Why can't most people -- this isn't even my own age group I'm talking about, it's everyone, your brother, your mother, and your granduncle -- remember the distance between they're, there, and their? Here/hear? Then/than? Accept/except? Maybe some things are minor, like who/whom. Very few people ever seem able to grasp that difference, but the others shouldn't be that hard.
And there should never, EVER be a reason that any should spell "familiar" as "fermalure." Never. I don't even care if you're dyslexic because I know a dyslexic girl and even she doesn't butcher words like that. Firefox has a built in spell check. For the love of all that's good, use it.
It frustrates me to no end. Communication has always been vital, but I think it's become more and more important these days because it's become so easy. It all goes back to the Internet thing. If you can't communicate, you should be in deep shit. So why can't so many people communicate in a way that I can understand them?
Sometimes, it makes me think like they overemphasize education because obviously thousands of people have been able to get by without retaining what I would consider to be an average education, but I really don't want to believe that. And they're in good positions even. Successful small business owners, programmers, entrepreneurs, and the like. None of them can spell. None of them know where to put their commas. None of them know the difference between "your" and "you're." And if they do, they don't care.
I don't think our education system is that bad. I went to public school for twelve years and while I'd admit that it wasn't the most amazing experience and that I've had my share of very shitty teachers, I've also had some amazing teachers (particularly English teachers) and I know I've learned a lot and have been inspired to learn a lot. Unfortunately, a vast majority of students, including my classmates in honors and AP classes, did not seem to care much about a lot of things. And these are the kids that will be your doctors and your lawyers. Maybe you really don't need perfect grammar to get by in these or any profession, but is that really an excuse to disregard your own language completely?
So yeah. I'd like to give most people the benefit of the doubt and say they're at least averagely intelligent human beings. Even that blonde in the YouTube video up there. But then why, why if you are civilized and educated, you can not type me a coherent sentence so that I may respond to you in an efficient manner without rereading what you wrote a half dozen times?
...That is all for now.
Can someone please explain to me why so many people I meet seem so utterly uneducated? I know it's stereotypical to say that those in the "artkid" category are utter failures at mathematics and the mathematical sciences (chemistry and especially physics), but the more of them I meet, the more I've come to think this is true to a ridiculous degree. This past quarter, on more than one occasion, my design professor had to explain to the class how to arrive at your area based on the dimensions of your paper. ...The entire time, I was like... "Are you shitting me?" Width times height equals area. Christ, a fifth grader could tell you that! You're telling this to college kids? Are you shitting me? But really, I know it isn't even just the artkids. Pretty much anyone who isn't majoring in a math/science field is prone to these instances of proven ignorance.
Some information leaves you as soon as the tests are over. I know this and am guilty of it myself. A ton of material I learn for an exam and then will never be able to recall it again. However, there is a lot of stuff I think that everyone should just know. Forever. No matter how long it's been. Finding the area of a rectangle is one of those things, right up there with knowing that Europe is a continent. I don't understand how people -- people who have graduated high school, or hell, people who've graduated elementary school -- could not know these things. Part of me feels a little arrogant for ragging on people like this; after all, I have always been a "math nerd" and "artkid" simultaneously and I've taken three levels of Calculus, but really now... the area of a rectangle!
Math and science aside, I love English. I admit that it's a messed up language, has more exceptions than rules, and is probably the most difficult language in the world to learn, but I love it anyway. And so I love grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and cry a little on the inside every time I see it butchered beyond recognition. Public, private, or home school education -- every American kid should have at least twelve years of schooling in the English language behind them. There is absolutely no reason a twenty-two year old woman should write like this (and yes, this is a very ironic quote):
"this person isnt too smart now are they or do they believe we are that stupid but yes that pose does look fermalure"
Fermalure ≠ familiar. This seriously made me so sad. Not to mention the subject/verb disagreement and lack of punctuation. I understand this is the Internet. Typos happen and laziness happens, but for the latter argument... I really don't think it takes all that much effort to capitalize words when you should and tap in a comma now and again. It also won't kill anyone to throw in a space between sentences, y'know? There is only so much laziness that can occur before sentences become utterly unreadable. This is particularly frustrating when you're taking commissions... and you can't understand anything your commissioner has to say. My brother jokes that maybe English isn't these peoples' first language, but I know of many Europeans and Asians for which this statement is actually true and their English is impeccable.
I find it incredibly sad that I know French, Malaysian, Romanian, and Norwegian people whose grasp of the English language is ten times better than actual Americans (or British people, even). How is it that they're able to have such an amazing handle on not only their own language, but usually three or four other languages? And the majority of Americans can't even grasp their own? Why can't most people -- this isn't even my own age group I'm talking about, it's everyone, your brother, your mother, and your granduncle -- remember the distance between they're, there, and their? Here/hear? Then/than? Accept/except? Maybe some things are minor, like who/whom. Very few people ever seem able to grasp that difference, but the others shouldn't be that hard.
And there should never, EVER be a reason that any should spell "familiar" as "fermalure." Never. I don't even care if you're dyslexic because I know a dyslexic girl and even she doesn't butcher words like that. Firefox has a built in spell check. For the love of all that's good, use it.
It frustrates me to no end. Communication has always been vital, but I think it's become more and more important these days because it's become so easy. It all goes back to the Internet thing. If you can't communicate, you should be in deep shit. So why can't so many people communicate in a way that I can understand them?
Sometimes, it makes me think like they overemphasize education because obviously thousands of people have been able to get by without retaining what I would consider to be an average education, but I really don't want to believe that. And they're in good positions even. Successful small business owners, programmers, entrepreneurs, and the like. None of them can spell. None of them know where to put their commas. None of them know the difference between "your" and "you're." And if they do, they don't care.
I don't think our education system is that bad. I went to public school for twelve years and while I'd admit that it wasn't the most amazing experience and that I've had my share of very shitty teachers, I've also had some amazing teachers (particularly English teachers) and I know I've learned a lot and have been inspired to learn a lot. Unfortunately, a vast majority of students, including my classmates in honors and AP classes, did not seem to care much about a lot of things. And these are the kids that will be your doctors and your lawyers. Maybe you really don't need perfect grammar to get by in these or any profession, but is that really an excuse to disregard your own language completely?
So yeah. I'd like to give most people the benefit of the doubt and say they're at least averagely intelligent human beings. Even that blonde in the YouTube video up there. But then why, why if you are civilized and educated, you can not type me a coherent sentence so that I may respond to you in an efficient manner without rereading what you wrote a half dozen times?
...That is all for now.
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