Even if we do not talk, we communicate. Its part of our everyday lives so much, we don't even really think about it. You communicate to me, by reading and commenting on this blog, that you are interested. You communicate to the person next to you that you are busy by not talking to them.
But communication as we know it has changed drastically over time, so much that those living say, 100 years ago, would not know what to do if they saw our world. We don't sit around the fire, we don't read for pleasure, we don't cultivate ourselves, and we definitely don't give little talent shows at dinner parties to entertain our guests -- we just don't.
What do we have? We have cell phones and text messages and computer games and.... (shudder)... reality TV. What we say and what we do has been quickly replaced by the e-revolution that has massacred the way we think and speak on a daily basis.
Sorry all ye who stand by your computers: IM speak is not a real language. Abbreviates like, "LOL" or "JK" or "OMG" will not now or will never make it into the dictionary. The average swear word (ugh... another story for another time) can easily conjugate into any part of speech or tense, so for some, it replaces about 90% of what could be a very choice vocabulary.
Depending on your reasearch some will say that the average working vocabulary of the average high school senior is as high as 17,000 words, or as low as 5,000 words. My goodness! I have written papers longer than that! So between abbreviations and substitutions, high school students cultivate a thriving vocabulary list shorter than my term paper in English Class... lovely.
But regardless of your own vocabulary size, those who have a good command of the language the speak will always sound smarter, and educated.
So is there any hope for the future? Can we save ourselves and our posterity from a fate worse than stupidity? Sebastian Wren, PhD on BalancedReading.org, remarks, "Research has shown that past the 4th grade, the number of words a person knows depends primarily on how much time they spend reading. In fact, by the time they reach adulthood, people who make a habit of reading have a vocabulary that is about four times the size of those who rarely or never read. This disparity starts early and grows throughout life."
So in essence, you just need to turn off MTV and pick up a book. And in doing so, you and your posterity might re-learn the beauty of a well chosen word.
But communication as we know it has changed drastically over time, so much that those living say, 100 years ago, would not know what to do if they saw our world. We don't sit around the fire, we don't read for pleasure, we don't cultivate ourselves, and we definitely don't give little talent shows at dinner parties to entertain our guests -- we just don't.
What do we have? We have cell phones and text messages and computer games and.... (shudder)... reality TV. What we say and what we do has been quickly replaced by the e-revolution that has massacred the way we think and speak on a daily basis.
Sorry all ye who stand by your computers: IM speak is not a real language. Abbreviates like, "LOL" or "JK" or "OMG" will not now or will never make it into the dictionary. The average swear word (ugh... another story for another time) can easily conjugate into any part of speech or tense, so for some, it replaces about 90% of what could be a very choice vocabulary.
Depending on your reasearch some will say that the average working vocabulary of the average high school senior is as high as 17,000 words, or as low as 5,000 words. My goodness! I have written papers longer than that! So between abbreviations and substitutions, high school students cultivate a thriving vocabulary list shorter than my term paper in English Class... lovely.
But regardless of your own vocabulary size, those who have a good command of the language the speak will always sound smarter, and educated.
So is there any hope for the future? Can we save ourselves and our posterity from a fate worse than stupidity? Sebastian Wren, PhD on BalancedReading.org, remarks, "Research has shown that past the 4th grade, the number of words a person knows depends primarily on how much time they spend reading. In fact, by the time they reach adulthood, people who make a habit of reading have a vocabulary that is about four times the size of those who rarely or never read. This disparity starts early and grows throughout life."
So in essence, you just need to turn off MTV and pick up a book. And in doing so, you and your posterity might re-learn the beauty of a well chosen word.
1 comment:
Sarah,
exactly who is A. grace London. Is this a new pen name. Or are you reposting other blogs?
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