Apparently, I'm due to get his sister's contribution later today, and she's even worse than he is, despite having been born here.

Though I guess it's not saying that if you have faith you shouldn't also be a nice person doing good works.

My childhood church explained this part by saying that if you have faith, your faith will motivate you to be a nice person and do good works. But I don't know whether that was official Missouri Synod Lutheran doctrine or just the opinion of one pastor.

Um. Sometimes I share too much and too easily.

I need a new TMI filter. One more appropriate for knowing what and what not to share with college professors.

Big congrats to Joe for his new job!

My husband, who was born in the US and mostly raised there (although English was not the language he spoke at home) is a terrible writer, although not as bad as the example PC gave. I've never been able to identify exactly why this is so since he's plenty smart, educated, and an extremely persuasive public speaker. I think it's connected in some way to not having English speaking role models at home.

I have encountered many, MANY smart, educated people who speak English as a first language who are very, very bad writers. Fortunately, this helps keep me in a job (I'm a technical writer, btw).

I've never been able to identify exactly why this is so since he's plenty smart, educated, and an extremely persuasive public speaker. I think it's connected in some way to not having English speaking role models at home.

It's odd because what I posted doesn't even resemble normal speaking patterns. If you can talk properly, shouldn't you be able to convert your speech into words, at the very least? Who would say "the many shops that they had to offer in the shopping alleys they had set-up"?

Fortunately, this helps keep me in a job (I'm a technical writer, btw).

Hee. This is why I have a job, too.

Who would say "the many shops that they had to offer in the shopping alleys they had set-up"?

People don't always write the same way they speak. Except the kindest way to look at the example P-C gave us is to assume that the author had to come up with something, anything in 15 seconds. (Admit it -- everyone had to finish an assignment while walking into class at least once during school.)

Even a once-over-lightly proofreading should have caught the double use of "authentic" in one sentence.

Even a once-over-lightly proofreading should have caught the double use of "authentic" in one sentence.

That was another favorite. They were authentic goods that were authentic!

It's odd because what I posted doesn't even resemble normal speaking patterns. If you can talk properly, shouldn't you be able to convert your speech into words, at the very least?

Yeah, I really don't understand this. It's like there's something that happens in the brain when the words come through the hands and not the mouth.