Mercy Buckets

Kel-C,

u mak sum gr8 pnts! (Sorry, i couldn't resist).

I've noticed the same thing at work -- more and more nowadays, I see typos throughout emails and documents. Twelve years ago, it would have been considered completely unacceptable. It's clear that instant messaging and "texting" have made it acceptable to use shortcuts and to leave careless grammatical errors.

If we don't teach our kids how to properly speak and write English, how can we expect them to learn another language?

Anyway, my wife and I will continue to do our part with our five year old son. Like you, when he misstates something, we simply say it back to him correctly. This has worked well for us. He hears it said back to him correctly and quickly picks it up without feeling embarrassed.

We also are not against learning additional languages. He showed interest in other languages when he was very young, so we put him in a Spanish class. The point is that yes, it's great for kids to learn another language. However:

1) Let's make sure they learn English properly first

2) We don't need a government program to force kids to learn other languages. Let parents decide what's best for their own children.

Regards,
Tony

I'M from Texas . I can spell as well as I talk.