Thursday 24 September 2009

Grammar wins again

Today was my first Ethics of Journalism class.

The course actually began two weeks ago, but I switched in late. The class is only once a week (gotta love journalism courses) for two hours, so missing two classes was not stellar. When I decided to drop an elective and pick up this third year course, I went to the JSchool to make sure it would be OK to join, even though it's still technically within the course add/drop period. I got a stern look from the secretary, and piece of paper with the course instructor's email on it.

I wrote him a short inquiry and, after a couple of emails, he let me into the course . Today after class, I approached him to thank him for allowing me to join and to let him know that I enjoyed the first class.

"You know," he said, "I was very impressed with your correspondence, which is why I let you into the course."

I didn't really know what to say, so he went on.

"I told my wife I was impressed, and half because all the commas were in the right place."

I stammered something about loving good grammar, thanked him, and scurried off. And did a happy dance.

See kids? Good grammar always wins.

2 comments:

msa said...

That's awesome! Not just for you, but for me. I've often feared that the younger generation doesn't know a thing about proper punctuation and, worse, doesn't care. Glad to see there's at least one twenty-something that knows how to write in her own language. :)

Milan said...

Nicely done. I have always believed that careful writing is an essential way of showing respect for your readers.