i went to visit a private school today and...

[beforesunrise]

... one of the girls in Y10 or 11 (sorry not sure), explaing her choices of GCSE, said "I chose topic x because that's what i am most best at" none of the teachers present made any attempts to correct her either.

this school costs 13/14k per year and they can't even speak properly??? I was appalled....

senua

As I posted earlier , under pressure i once said

" I didn't know where we was did we".

So I think it is entirely possible to misspeak the most appalling nonsense.

NI never use 'most best' tbh. 'most bestest' is much cooler and likely to piss off far more people.

I would hope that a teacher models good speech. Modelling good speech is the most effective way of improving English grammar.

Child: English is my most best subject.

Teacher: I'm glad to hear that English is your best subject, Louise. Teaching you is one of the most pleasurable parts of my job.

Sensua, I rather think you are missing my point. What would you think of someone who pointed out Shakespeare's grammatical or spelling errors? Quite.

I'd probably point out that as he'd been dead for four hundred years he probably wasn't going to change his ways now...

Are you sure she didn't say: "I chose French umm, because umm it's what I'm most umm, best at..... yah"?

Or are you just making this up because you can't really afford the fees?

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I didn't realise that being well spoken and being happy were mutually exclusive.

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The issue here is how bizarre it is to pick out one ridiculously minute slip-up, the sort of which are typical in everybody's everyday speech, in a girl who the OP has described as 'bubbly' and 'confident' as well as being 'pretty' (although don't quite see what that's got to do with the quality of the school). The idea that you would judge an entire school on something so insanely petty is really weird but the idea that the school is somehow responsible for everything that comes out of everyone of its students mouths is also really quite odd. I do think the OP is going to have a very difficult relationship with any school that she chooses if this is her attitude.

It's when they say like every other word that annoys me and these are at schools where the children get some of the best exam results in the country. They almost have to learn two languages one to speak with their peers and one with others. Fascinating issues and yes they may well make grammatical errors. They are teeangers.

I have never seen a private school with a school sign that didn't get apostrophes right - such as "children's play area" or "parents' parking" but I've seen errors in state schools.

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I sympathise with the Birmingham pedants but it is a flaming hassle trying to remember which streets/hospitals/other proper names take apostrophes and which don't. Because there doesn't seem to be ANY general rule. Some have dropped apostrophes over time, some still keep them.

And there are anomalies - I think it's St James's St in London rather than St James' street which always confused me.
I sduppose the Birmingham proles woudl write that as St James St.

Only read the first page of this thread but I can't believe the vitriol poured on the head of the poor OP! Were the words 'private school' influencing their reaction, perchance?

OP: it's probably teen slang so I wouldn't worry. If they are generally articulate & write grammatically then that is what matters.

vitriol?

Hardly.