Reading this article by Isabelle Kerr just makes me laugh, I mean it is quite hard to put sense into a person with such moronic views. To start off Kerr messed up right at the start in the title where she makes the claim “young people don’t speak like that – I should know” Everyone speaks how they wish to speak, just because you might be young and you do not use slang words, you can not assume that every other young person doesn’t. Now as I read on I am just filled with more laughter, honestly she should become a comedian instead #ouch.
Kerr goes on to express her views saying “the future of the English language looks bleak.” see the problem with this? If you said “Yeah, how can you call the future of the English language bleak just because it is evolving, we don’t speak like Shakespeare still do we?” then you get full marks, 10 brownie points. OK enough making fun of Kerr, for now.
As I read further down I see that Kerr has quoted comments on twitter that magically back her views perfectly, maybe she has quoted her tweets, we will never know since there is no link or screenshot for the tweets. Top tip Kerr, if you want to back up your point with quotes then at least prove the validity of the source and maybe I would not be laughing so much at your argument.
Kerr also states that she had to Google the word ‘twerking’ which in a way contradicts her point. Kerr is saying these words should not be in the dictionary you know, the book you read to find out what a word means but she herself needed to look up what ‘twerking’ meant. How can you Google what a word means and then proceed to say that you should not be able to look it up, are we banning words now? because I would like to ban the words ‘Isabelle’ and ‘Kerr’.
Kerr goes on and on and states that these slang words portray the youth today as “ASBO-wielding yobs who can’t communicate properly” but language works on understanding, these “ASBO-wielding yobs” are capable of understanding each other, just because you can’t understand them does not mean they can not communicate properly. Take Spanish speakers, I personally do not understand Spanish but if I hear two people conversing in Spanish I do not claim that they are band at communicating.
Now as I reach the end of Kerr’s article I see something so ironic, Kerr points out that if the dictionary thinks that the young generation speaks with all that slang then the dictionary needs a ‘reality check’. Do you see it? No? Kerr is putting up and argument, be it a rubbish one that colloquial language which is word or phrase used in informal language, should not exist as it is ruining the English language, Can you see the problem yet? “reality check” is a colloquial phrase it self so how can Kerr use a colloquial term in an argument against colloquial terms?
Finally the icing on the cake, Kerr states “Shakespeare would be turning in his grave” which would suggest that he would be disgusted with these made up terms but does She not know that Shakespeare made up a truck load of words that we use to this day? A lot of words we use today were actually slang that Shakespeare had made up in his plays so maybe Kerr should research that. Isabelle Kerr, you’re wrong and I have just proven that. I gave you a 3 course meal of truth so maybe you should rethink your views on these ‘slang’ words.
I can tell you know that the way the game of rugby is changing is making it worse. As a front row player there was nothing I enjoyed more that a good scrum, the act of over 500kg of body mass clashing together in a battle of power and strength. The scrum is a way to determine to power a team has and can often decide who wins or loses on game day. When the ref blew the whistle I would look straight at him and I would look for the hand gesture for a scrum down, the elbows bent, fingertips touching followed by the arm to signal what team had the scrum. For me this hand signal was the equivalent to a matador’s red flag and I was the bull. The way the scrum use to work was that you would all form up and squeeze all 8 bodies as tight as you can and you would be facing your opponent, on the command “crouch” everyone would squat down and the second row gets up on their feet. This was go time, the ref would give the command “touch” this told the props to touch each other where they plan on binding with the hands but props often took this command as a cue to punch the opposing prop, then comes the command “pause” this was the orange lighting sequence in a drag race, you are about to slam to accelerator and smash into your opponent. The best thing about the pause command is that the ref decided how long the pause would be so you would just be staring at your opposing prop trying to drill fear into him. The next and final command was “engage” this was the green light, this was signal to clash bodies and push for your life, there would be grunts from players as their bodies hit and sometimes the chant of “2, 3. push”.
Now this method was put under investigation a couple of years ago and it was deemed “too dangerous to the sport”, which is complete rubbish because rugby is one of the most physical sports, almost everything in rugby involves players running into other players at full speed. The reason why this method of scrummaging was deemed too dangerous is because of the risk of injury, some science boffin that has probably never played the game has said that when the players clash together there is not enough time to set right so the scrum could collapse. This is funny because there is always the chance the scrum could collapse you can not prevent it. The IRB then changed how the scrum is set up in an effort to make the game safer so at all levels the scrum commands have changed.
The new, and by new I really mean rubbish way of scrummaging has ruined the excitement for me, I mean I still do like a good scrum because it’s still that mass of bodies competing for the ball, but now I can not enjoy it as much as I used to. The way the scrum works now is that the two teams form together like before, squeezing every last bit of air between the 8 men, then the same “crouch” command is given but this time instead of the “touch(punch)” command we are given a “bind” command. This command tells the props to bind on to each other securely and then the ref checks the bindings. The only good thing about this is that you can then use your hand to put the prop in a bad position to push, like pushing their shoulder down which puts you at an advantage. We then get the “set” command which is the one I hate the most, this command tells the two packs to come together and set up ready to push but we can not push yet. The ref then will tell the scrum half to put the ball in and once it is in we can push. Often scrums are reset twice because of an early push which shows this is not a good way of scrummaging. So if the RFU/IRB is reading this then please change it back to the good ol’ way.
London, an interesting place, able to change to a different scene by night. In the day you’re at the bus stop, maybe you’re going to work, going to see your mates or just fancy a little travel, the sight of the iconic red bus brings relief. Your means of transport is here, you step on and tap in, listening for that beep and looking for the green light. You look down the bus and there’s a seat right at the back, whilst sitting there on the way to your destination you look out each window, admiring the view. The trees are swaying, leaves are being carried away, you notice a wide variety of cultures walking down streets, coupled in love walking past, the sun brings out the scratches in the windows so brilliantly it’s like a piece of art.. Every thing is clear and then you hear the ibus system call out your stop so you press the red bell, listening for that signature ring to let the driver know you want to get off. The doors open and you step out and watch the red bus drive away, people just starting their journey whilst you end yours. Now one of the best things about the London buses apart from how frequently they come is that most routes now have a night bus operating, being on the night bus is the complete oppose of the day bus and sometimes you can’t help but feel sorry for the bus driver. I guess you could say that the driver pulled the short straw, working the graveyard shift, driving a bus in the gloomy hours of the night till the morning. All of a sudden the iconic bright red bus looks strangely dark, it creeps along looking almost black and white with the street lamps colouring it in. It’s all just so creepy. This time you’re at the stop on your own, now and then a car drives past, lights on full beam. You see your bus approaching, recognisable only by the destination banner on the front, as it approaches you become blinded in the big blur of the headlights. Once you step on you can’t help but notice that the driver looks soulless, he doesn’t even glance over at you. The oyster machine is broke, you walk down the bus and sit in the same seat, there’s only you and one other person on the lower deck and he has his headphones in. You’re sitting there at the back staring out the windows but is there really a need? It’s not like you can see anything. The only thing noticeable is the street lamps and how they pass by every 5 seconds. Yes you actually counted how many seconds between each street lamp, you are that bored. In the day it seemed as if an hour journey took 5 minutes but now it’s like you’ve been there for days, the clocks stopped. All of a sudden you hear your bus stop being called, you almost missed it though, you were almost in a trance. You step off and feel a sigh of relief, you’re finally home ready to end the day and start a new one.
Hello and welcome to your personal online journal.
Edutronic has been created to enhance and enrich your learning at the London Nautical School. Its purpose is to provide you with an audience for your work (or work-in-progress) and you have the choice (by altering the ‘visibility’ of your posts) of whether your work on here is visible to the world, or only to your teacher.
Anything you post here in the public domain represents you and thus it’s important that you take care with that decision, but don’t be afraid to publish your work – as the feedback you may get from people at home, your peers and people from around the internet is only likely to enhance it.
Remember you can always access your class blog and all manner of resources through the Edutronic.net main website – and by all means check out the sites of your peers to see what they’re getting up to as well.
If you have any questions for me, an excellent way to get an answer is to create a new private post on this journal. I am notified of any new posts and will reply swiftly to any queries.
Make the most of, and enjoy this new freedom in your English learning.
Righto!
Mr Waugh