I know how you feel. Qualifying as an actuary means you instantly become an assignment and exam marker for the exams you just passed.
The quality of spelling and grammar in assignments is scary, considering they're submitted as Word documents. I must admit almost all have a good grasp of the spell checker, even if sometimes they choose the wrong correctly spelt word as an option.
I'm not supposed to mark based on spelling and grammar (and I don't) but I do feel obliged to point out in red pen that the word "absolve" should never be seen in financial writing and the word they wanted was, in fact, "absorb". I knew this wasn't a typo as it was used consistently throughout the assignment. Sigh.
I can't wait for the exam marking when they don't even have spell check to help them. o_O
Fair point. It wasn't what they meant here but you could use "absolve" or "forgive" in relation to a debt (or any obligation).
That said, in today's business speak (which is a sad reflection of the beauty of the English language) it would more likely be "write off", harsh and violent rather than peaceful and kind. :-/
Fortunately, it seems only to be Americans who routinely spell "lose" with a double 'o'. This is the grammatical fault that makes me stabby. ... Well, more stabby than the other ones do.
Anyways, I am lax in that I did not reply to your previous nice reply to my reply to your post. So:
Yes, I have read The Plum Rain Scroll, but not for ages, and I don't know if I ever read the rest. Once I finish sorting out my book collection (ha!) I'll know if I even have them. Pretty sure my mum does, though, so I can borrow and read them at some point. Once I've got through all the other books I need to read at the moment...
Bridge of Birds is better than The Story of the Stone, which is better than Eight Skilled Gentlemen, but they're all stil well worth reading. Congrats on managing to find them! Luck is with you.
I managed to grab a (coverless) omnibus edition of TDIR sequence from a friendly bookseller a few years ago. I'm sure I'll manage to find it and re-read it before the film comes out. Really. Any day now...
I agree with you about the lose vs loose thing, but I am of the opinion it is in fact spreading. Much stabbing is certainly occuring in my neck of the woods.
re Pamela Dean, I haven't read all of her books either (they can be hard to find copies of, but I suppose that's something else I should look for on my continuing book-buying spree!) but I liked... um, I think it's called Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary, which my local library happened to have; and Tam Lin (fairy-tale retelling, obviously).
BoB and ESG have arrived but not TSotS yet (it's coming from the US), which means I don't want to start on them and then have to wait... grr!
1. Master Li novels are fantastic - and once you get a grasp of Chinese folklore, you appreciate them even more. :D :D :D
2. ESL students are often no worse than native speakers, and occasionally their grammar is better. In this country, teachers are discouraged from correcting their pupils, who are also not reading sufficiently widely to learn by experience. I'd better stop now, because I can rant about our basic education system for hours.
Comments 14
The quality of spelling and grammar in assignments is scary, considering they're submitted as Word documents. I must admit almost all have a good grasp of the spell checker, even if sometimes they choose the wrong correctly spelt word as an option.
I'm not supposed to mark based on spelling and grammar (and I don't) but I do feel obliged to point out in red pen that the word "absolve" should never be seen in financial writing and the word they wanted was, in fact, "absorb". I knew this wasn't a typo as it was used consistently throughout the assignment. Sigh.
I can't wait for the exam marking when they don't even have spell check to help them. o_O
Reply
Reply
That said, in today's business speak (which is a sad reflection of the beauty of the English language) it would more likely be "write off", harsh and violent rather than peaceful and kind. :-/
Reply
...
Well, more stabby than the other ones do.
Anyways, I am lax in that I did not reply to your previous nice reply to my reply to your post. So:
Reply
Reply
re Pamela Dean, I haven't read all of her books either (they can be hard to find copies of, but I suppose that's something else I should look for on my continuing book-buying spree!) but I liked... um, I think it's called Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary, which my local library happened to have; and Tam Lin (fairy-tale retelling, obviously).
BoB and ESG have arrived but not TSotS yet (it's coming from the US), which means I don't want to start on them and then have to wait... grr!
Reply
2. ESL students are often no worse than native speakers, and occasionally their grammar is better. In this country, teachers are discouraged from correcting their pupils, who are also not reading sufficiently widely to learn by experience. I'd better stop now, because I can rant about our basic education system for hours.
Reply
Leave a comment