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iammachine -> RE: spelling (10/24/2007 7:43:31 PM)
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I, personally, tend to care less about spelling than I do grammar. Spelling mistakes happen, and are not directly correlated with intelligence. Being able to understand and communicate within the structure of a language, however, is rather telling about someone's ability to convey their thoughts in a meaningful way, and consequently, their intelligence. I fully admit that I'm a pretentious git like that.
Overall, you do need to take into account whether or not English is someone's first language. That said, oddly enough, I have found that many people whose primary language is not English, tend to put a lot more effort in trying to make sure they are communicating clearly. They know they are at a disadvantage in regards to an understanding of the language, and atively try to make up for it. Sometimes English as a second (or third or fourth) language people can beat (or in this case, write) the pants off of many native English speakers, who in contrast seem rather lazy and careless in their written communication.
I do tend to be a little more forgiving of mistakes made by someone that does not natively speak the language, provided they seem to be making an honest effort. I absolutely cannot stand text message short hand (u r 2 kewl!) no matter who I am interacting with. Again, probably because it comes across as a lazy, halfass and purposeful bastardization of the language.
Poor written communication from a native English speaker I tend to not forgive. I also understand that written and spoken languages are decidedly different, and people that might be able to communicate quite intelligently verbally might really suck at writing. You cannot simply write in the same way that you speak and still communicate effectively in many cases. That doesn't change the fact that we are communicating in written form, however, so if you can't communicate that way, you can't communicate with me!
I can forgive someone for not being an elegant writer. In the same right, if I can't understand what you're trying to communicate, I'm not going to put in a great deal of effort into trying to decipher it. As such, unless someone is specifically requesting that I help them improve their language skills (which I am very used to and happy to do, given the number of non-native English speakers in my family and social circle), I am not going to bother correcting someone. If you can't communicate with me, then you are decidedly probably not compatible with me, and I am not going to extend any extra effort to prove a rather moot point when I could simply move on.
As always, my .02, IMO, YMMV.
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