The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword

I am neurotic about grammar. That's not to say that I use the English language correctly all the time. I certainly have dangled a few participles and ended sentences with prepositions. I frequently change tenses mid-paragraph. However, there are certain things that are like nails on a chalkboard to me. The one that makes me want to scream the loudest is the use of subjective case when the objective is required, especially with prepositions. Just because someone told you that I is appropriate some of the time doesn't mean that me should be thrown out the window. Jill went to the store with Jack and I. AAACCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

My 9 year old was recently writing a letter to a friend. Since he asked me to find an envelope, address it and mail it for him, I asked if I could read it. He said that I could but warned me that he used chat spelling. (I'll save the story of how he learned online chat spelling for another rant.) I suppose that I should be soothed by the fact that he recognized that internet lingo is not correct. However, it occurred to me that this is fast becoming a dialect of the English language, comparable to ebonics. Just how long will it take before someone insists that your school board recognize and accept this abbreviated language?

Today's communicators are becoming end users who are baffled and mystified by the programming code behind English. So, my children will learn grammar. They will know how to construct a sentence and express themselves on paper. Sometimes you know a sentence doesn't sound quite right but how do you determine what is wrong? Diagram it. How do you cement grammar and get them to really understand it? Latin. Latin is unforgiving and rigid. There is only one way to "say" it. Because of this, all of the sudden, English grammar makes sense.

Latin is a dead language? Diagramming is painful and archaic? Well, I like diagramming. It's like a puzzle and full of logic. And Latin? It's a means to an end. Once you get passed the vocabulary, it's like a logic puzzle, too. While I can't prevent my children from choosing chat language (there probably is a geekier, more technical term for that), I can ensure that they are capable of communicating with anyone in the English speaking world, even those who don't have internet access.