what a great essay, WW!
there are some here who have seen my formal writing (it takes me hours!) and some here who have heard me speak casually, and in my 'professional voice' --my formal speaking, like my formal writing, is very different.
its much easier for me to slip into formal speaking.. but spelling and grammar are subjects i still stuggle with on a daily basis, in both formal and casual writing.
what i did learn, i learned best from teachers who double scored--1 grade for ideas, organization and presentation, a second grade for spelling, punctuation and grammer--i often scored A+ over F!(as i still often do here!) but, because they recognized my thoughts, i made much more of an effort to work on the details that mattered to them- (spelling punctuation and grammar!) and was able at the end of 2 terms to consistantly get A over C or A over B.
i love spell check (in general, Ænegma is not the most helpful spell checkers!) and i find, that the constant, non critical corrections offered by MSWord help alot! (that is intentional i like alot so much better than a lot!)
there are now new words in my written vocabulary. works, that i avoided for years, that i have now learned to spell!(i now can make decisions! i used to exersize an option (or opt, or opted) i used to choose (or made a choice) but i couldn't spell decide or decision for years, so i never used the word!
Dyslexia, combined with caring but overwhelmed teachers --i attend a small parachial school during the baby boom--some of my elementary classes were packed with 75 students! way too many students for any one teacher to effective teach. the average class size was 65 students (starting in 4th grade)
Still, enough of the basic rules of grammar seeped into my brain. Songs/rhythms and rhymes worked well for me, and so did clear explainations of the rules and exceptions.
i follow many of thread here about grammar, and the discussion between the prescriptives vs. the descriptives closly (but i rarely partcipate) i am still learning grammar.
