From: Wade T. Smith (wade.t.smith@verizon.net)
Date: Tue 04 Mar 2003 - 13:35:47 GMT
Begin forwarded message:
British Girl Baffles Teacher with SMS Essay
Sun Mar 2, 9:14 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - An English essay written by a British teenager in
text messaging short-hand has reignited concern among teachers that
literacy standards are under threat.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday that the 13-year-old's
teacher could not decipher what the youngster had written.
"I could not believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with
hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate," the teacher
told the newspaper.
The teenager's essay which caused the problem began:
"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :
kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."
In translation:
"My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to
go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three
screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place."
Judith Gillespie, of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, told the
newspaper a decline in grammar and written English was partly linked to
the text messaging craze.
"Pupils think orally and write phonetically," she said.
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