People with degrees that are a bit thick really

[Tex]

How are you with speaking and writing in their languages?

I’m not trying to get a degree in the Far East so I do t have to worry about it.

If you’re having a dig for fun then fair doos. If you actually think that some kind of leeway should be given to foreign students coming to English / American universities who have little to no command of English ... well beefy has given plenty of examples of how dangerous this positive discrimination can be. Along with that, as a student how would you feel paying a king’s ransom in graduate level tuition fees only to be taught by a foreign professor or grad student who is trying to explain complex scientific concepts with barely basic level English? I would never be so arrogant as to go to a foreign country and take up a position when I’m so poorly able to be effective.

 

[JohnAin]

The spelling, grammar and handwriting from our 2 university graduates is shocking like. My GCSE teachers would have told me to fuck off if I'd handed in similar for homework.

Sadly it is not "cool" to write properly any more.

Take a look at this site.
SO BE CHIC, WRITE BADLY.

i blame txt speak, predictive text, and the idea that being 'thick' is somehow cool and funny, which comes from what the kids watch on tv etc..

Well said.

 

[Abu Dhabi Red and White]

I’m so poorly able to be effective.

Thanks for being Frank with your answer.

 

[Deleted member 36123]

Is there a thread for people without degrees who are quite bright really?

 

[Hair Flick]

Is there a thread for people without degrees who are quite bright really?

Any of mine.

 

[Tex]

Any of mine.

So what? They booted you out at Leeds before graduating? Should have come up the road to Beckett Park.

 

[taipeisafc]

Chuff me beefy your lectures must have been a barrel of laughs.

Mind, I’ve had classmates from the sub continent both as a student in England and in America and I found it common that even with those who spoke flawless, accentless english like worr aa dee, (and not like Apu!) when I read their written work it was atrocious. Can’t explain how or why but it was surprising to me that it could be so poor when they spoke so well.

There were others (orientals mostly) who I have no idea how they got accepted but their spoken English was largely unintelligible and I count more than a few professors who were like this along with students. I made sure to avoid those professors like the plague when it came to choosing classes.

My daughter is currrently at university in the UK and as she did a bunch of her schooling in China knows quite a few Chinese students studying at the likes of UCL, Imperial college etc. a few of them have asked her if she can edit essays for them (or in some cases write them) including one who is doing an english degree - she says the standard of written english is shocking and a lot of them simply pay third parties to write essays for them. I struggle to see the value in going to university is all you are going to do is pay someone to do your work for you.

 

[pillars of hercules]

I would expect that on all measures of intelligence, the degree educated cohort would outperform the non-degree educated cohort, controlling for age and that.

From experience working with graduate and non graduate alike there is no difference. Of course, if you take the least intelligent in society into account they obviously would bias the statistics. I'm talking about everyday people working in similar industries.

I would disagree with the all measures of intelligence bit as well. The team that I work with is made up of some with PhDs (very clever people) who can't seem to grasp basic practical concepts while some with no degree, while not very academic have a great problem solving capacity. So while you are right what you're saying, intelligence comes in many forms, some of which make me thick as mince

My daughter is currrently at university in the UK and as she did a bunch of her schooling in China knows quite a few Chinese students studying at the likes of UCL, Imperial college etc. a few of them have asked her if she can edit essays for them (or in some cases write them) including one who is doing an english degree - she says the standard of written english is shocking and a lot of them simply pay third parties to write essays for them. I struggle to see the value in going to university is all you are going to do is pay someone to do your work for you.

It must be difficult going from Chinese to the Latin script even if their spoken English is really good.

 

[Tex]

One of my classmates during my doctoral degree was Vietnamese with very poor English. He was a medical doctor in Vietnam. He asked me to help him with proof reading his dissertation and as he was a whizz at stat analysis he would help me with my analysis in return. I was happy to help him out, after which he suddenly did a Captain Oates back to Vietnam as soon as he graduated and while he e-mailed me a few times before fading away, he never did fulfill his promise to help with my analysis. The twat. Another classmate who had spent a lot of time in the Far East and knew my story reckoned when the Asians come over here for grad school they quickly group up and all help each other out, playing to each others’ strengths. I guess they didn’t have anyone good at English in their group so I ended up being their patsy.

 

[mysticmackem]

Is there a thread for people without degrees who are quite bright really?

Would they cotton on ?

I've done that. Just the once, and for about a minute.



Americans always seem to refer to the sea as the ocean. Let's go for a swim in the ocean just doesn't sound right to a Brit. Maybe the Yanks do it because their continent on both sides is bounded by seas that are oceans.

Sailors are said to go to sea. They should be said to go to oceans, too shirley ?

I did my degree at home over 6 years from the Open University. I also worked for 2 years as a full-time proofreader and I was disappointed with the standard of writing in books and university submissions. Although it did make me a few quid...

I am now happily retired as a part-time wasp pilot and wicker-bottomed chair repairer.

There's ointment for that

 

[Grammar Police]

Just offererd to proof read a lad at work’s college assignment. He has a degree in automotive design, so should be pretty competent, I thought.

I thought wrong. I’m no English Professor but fuck me it looked like it was written by a child. Spelling, punctuation and grammar all over the shop. Different spellings of the same word (raiser/razor). Clunky sentence structure. I spent about 2 hours re-doing it for him.

What are they teaching kids these days when you can get a degree with a complete lack of English skills?

*Offered.

Proofread is one word.

Poor start.

 

[Hair Flick]

So what? They booted you out at Leeds before graduating? Should have come up the road to Beckett Park.

Actually I must be quite thick, I thought it said people with degrees

 

[Charmless Man]

From experience working with graduate and non graduate alike there is no difference. Of course, if you take the least intelligent in society into account they obviously would bias the statistics. I'm talking about everyday people working in similar industries.

I would disagree with the all measures of intelligence bit as well. The team that I work with is made up of some with PhDs (very clever people) who can't seem to grasp basic practical concepts while some with no degree, while not very academic have a great problem solving capacity. So while you are right what you're saying, intelligence comes in many forms, some of which make me thick as mince


It must be difficult going from Chinese to the Latin script even if their spoken English is really good.

When I started mine, someone on here told me it was a test of sheer bloody mindedness rather than just intelligence.

How right they were!

 

[Dave Herbal]

*Offered.

Proofread is one word.

Poor start.

Nee nar nee nar. I’ve already explained I can’t see what I’m typing on my phone so I have to guess Didn’t know proofread was one word mind. But if I was writing a technical document I’d have looked it up.

 

[Kevj]

Nee nar nee nar. I’ve already explained I can’t see what I’m typing on my phone so I have to guess Didn’t know proofread was one word mind. But if I was writing a technical document I’d have looked it up.

Should have proofread it Dave.

 

[Coeus]

People are different.

Some work in details, others work in idea's, others work in entirely different ways. All needed to create a balance.

 

[Boris Bear]

Just offererd to proof read a lad at work’s college assignment. He has a degree in automotive design, so should be pretty competent, I thought.

I thought wrong. I’m no English Professor but fuck me it looked like it was written by a child. Spelling, punctuation and grammar all over the shop. Different spellings of the same word (raiser/razor). Clunky sentence structure. I spent about 2 hours re-doing it for him.

What are they teaching kids these days when you can get a degree with a complete lack of English skills?

Clever lad...getting you to do his college assignment

 

[Dave Herbal]

Clever lad...getting you to do his college assignment

I didn’t change any of his content, just made it look more professional. Mind, his lecturer may smell a rat if all of his other assignments are of his original standard.

 

[Al]

i blame txt speak, predictive text, and the idea that being 'thick' is somehow cool and funny, which comes from what the kids watch on tv etc..

There's only one thing you can say about dumbing down due to the proliferation of txt-speak.

 

[Horatio Pugwash]

I didn’t change any of his content, just made it look more professional. Mind, his lecturer may smell a rat if all of his other assignments are of his original standard.

They won't all be that bad