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Post by seoulmate on Sept 6, 2019 3:17:06 GMT -5
Late to the discussion on the average American’s vocabulary, I wish my 26 years teaching English to college-level students hadn’t armed me with this knowledge, but there is no way I would expect the average college student to know a word like “symbiotic” until they got near their entire language proficiency courses, if then. Oh, the stories I could tell! The sad fact is that for some time now, the average American reads somewhere between a 7-9th grade level. To those who live in the U.S. and are shocked, you probably have a more educated, erudite group of family and friends. I mentioned reading levels because there is absolutely no way that you can be a good writer or speaker without being a good reader. Eber is brilliant, I believe, and I also think I have heard people comment on Neil and Leila’s also being intelligent, and with Adam, it is clear that it runs in the family. Nonetheless, he has read widely and pretty prolifically as well as clearly having an extraordinary aural acquisitive ability. And it obviously hasn’t hurt a bit to be around Brian and Roger. There are also a host of other contributors to Adam’s fluency, not the least is that he just plain loves to speak. Or maybe people from Planet Fierce just come with the whole package already with them! I sometimes volunteered at our college writing lab. Near the end of one headache-inducing two-hour run, a student came in with his paper and a referral from some class or the other. He said with a smile, “I don’t really know why Professor X sent me over here because she really liked my paper, so you probably will just have to spend a little time with me.” I asked him to show or read me her two main comments. He grinned with pride and said, “She said my paper is verbose and trite”! Sigh....and that was far, far from one of the more basic dealings over many years. Oh, my goodness... that highlighted part just cracked me up!!
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Post by nica575 on Sept 6, 2019 15:26:54 GMT -5
Late to the discussion on the average American’s vocabulary , I wish my 26 years teaching English to college-level students hadn’t armed me with this knowledge, but there is no way I would expect the average college student to know a word like “symbiotic” until they got near their entire language proficiency courses, if then. Oh, the stories I could tell! The sad fact is that for some time now, the average American reads somewhere between a 7-9th grade level. To those who live in the U.S. and are shocked, you probably have a more educated, erudite group of family and friends. I mentioned reading levels because there is absolutely no way that you can be a good writer or speaker without being a good reader. Eber is brilliant, I believe, and I also think I have heard people comment on Neil and Leila’s also being intelligent, and with Adam, it is clear that it runs in the family. Nonetheless, he has read widely and pretty prolifically as well as clearly having an extraordinary aural acquisitive ability. And it obviously hasn’t hurt a bit to be around Brian and Roger. There are also a host of other contributors to Adam’s fluency, not the least is that he just plain loves to speak. Or maybe people from Planet Fierce just come with the whole package already with them! I sometimes volunteered at our college writing lab. Near the end of one headache-inducing two-hour run, a student came in with his paper and a referral from some class or the other. He said with a smile, “I don’t really know why Professor X sent me over here because she really liked my paper, so you probably will just have to spend a little time with me.” I asked him to show or read me her two main comments. He grinned with pride and said, “She said my paper is verbose and trite”! Sigh....and that was far, far from one of the more basic dealings over many years. Ty phronni for sharing your professional insight... it is shocking and terrifying to hear tbh...I have to conclude I am definitely living and have always lived in an intellectual bubble ...this particular word comes across as basic, expected to be used correctly starting in one’s early teens... “advanced college level” - wow! I checked the “Adam words” thread adamtopia.com/thread/754/adam-talking. I can't find even one word that I wouldn’t expect him to use spontaneously and properly KNOWING his family background (to a certain extend),his involvement in theater from his early age, and his love of reading... it is sad the expectations are apparently so low that Adam, speaking as a regular middle class person (to my ears), would be “impressive” in his usage of his one and only language... I am glad I started this discussion as I (totally unexpectedly) learned something... TY everyone who participated!
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