Musings and Snippets from a recently retired JP. I served for 31 years, mostly in west London. I was Chairman of my Bench for some years, and a member of the National Bench Chairmen's Forum All cases are based on real ones, but anonymised and composited. All opinions are those of one or more individuals. JPs swear to enforce the law of the land, whether or not they approve of it. Nothing on here constitutes legal advice.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Oops!
Apparently 'O' level English is no longer a requirement to work for the Ministry of Justice:
I often find it irritating when changing sentences from singular to plural, or vice versa — having to alter the noun, the verb, and maybe some other words in the sentence. Then I think about how hard people have to work, when writing in almost any other European language, to do the same thing, and I rejoice in the comparative simplicity of English.
[/smug] I would hope that new entrants to the Civil Service are not required to have O Level anything, since O Levels disappeared from the curriculum in 1988. And people say that the magistracy are out of touch? ;) [/endsmug/]
O-levels still exist, but they are mainly sat abroad. I think some UK schools are considering reverting to them.
(Apropos riens du tout - has anyone else noticed in the media coverage of the recently released GCSE marks that according to teachers when grades go up it is because students are improving but when they go down it is because the exams are getting harder?)
Also known as Hartman's Law of Prescriptivist Retaliation, the Iron Law of Nitpicking, Skitt's Law, and McKean's Law.
In any case, when a colon is followed by a complete sentence, it's a matter of judgment whether that sentence begins with a capital letter or not. "I told him: get lost" would not be improved by rewriting as "I told him: Get lost."
Thanks, Matthew. Language teaching in the UK has always been pretty poor, now it's even worse (even our much-beloved Bystander struggles - often in vain - with apostrophes). It's good to see someone look for a proper evidence base. Precisely the sort of qualities they're looking for in the magistracy, as I understand. You haven't thought about applying, by any chance?
Neither does it appear to be a requirement to be able to pronounce words when being interviewed on the Today programme as an expert in English where GCSE marks have apparently risen "inexORably" until this year.
Itz probly cos at skool we were tort that spelling and grammer dusent matter as long as it can be undastood. Yoo peeple need to get with the new libral trendy ways. Next thing you will want to hang and flog peeple.
I am delighted to see that Bystander (and his team) appear set to continue educating, informing and enlightening us about the realities of life in and around the magistrates' courts. It would have been an enormous loss to the magistracy an an "institution" to lose one of its finest chroniclers, but more importantly he has done as much as any other individual, along with some of the outstanding MA chairmen of recent years, to inform public debate on the big and little issues of the day in the area of "summary justice". Great news!
Posts are pre-moderated. Please bear with us if this takes a little time, but the number of bores and obsessives was getting out of hand, as were the fake comments advertising rubbish.
I often find it irritating when changing sentences from singular to plural, or vice versa — having to alter the noun, the verb, and maybe some other words in the sentence. Then I think about how hard people have to work, when writing in almost any other European language, to do the same thing, and I rejoice in the comparative simplicity of English.
ReplyDelete[/smug] I would hope that new entrants to the Civil Service are not required to have O Level anything, since O Levels disappeared from the curriculum in 1988. And people say that the magistracy are out of touch? ;) [/endsmug/]
ReplyDeleteNot very clear on HTML, or any other kind of, markup, are we.
DeleteI believe the correct internet response to anyone who fails to get such a hoary old HTML gag is " ".
Delete(Which should have read "[whoosh!]" but with these - < and > - brackets. Curse the lack on an edit facility...)
DeleteSo 40+ years olds should be excluded from joining the civil service ?
DeleteOh dear. I was commenting on you "opening" the "element"... with a /.
DeleteFor reference: <enlightenment>It's done like this.</enlightenment>
O-levels still exist, but they are mainly sat abroad. I think some UK schools are considering reverting to them.
Delete(Apropos riens du tout - has anyone else noticed in the media coverage of the recently released GCSE marks that according to teachers when grades go up it is because students are improving but when they go down it is because the exams are getting harder?)
Sigh......
ReplyDeleteLive by the pedantry, die by the pedantry.
DeleteAnd shouldn't 'today' be capitalised?
ReplyDeleteI love it when people on the Internet get all smug about how uneducated people are, then go and make a mistake themselves :)
Capital T only if you also believe that the preceding colon should have been a full-stop. I think I'll go with BS on this one.
Delete"then go and make a mistake themselves":
DeleteMuphry's Law
Also known as Hartman's Law of Prescriptivist Retaliation, the Iron Law of Nitpicking, Skitt's Law, and McKean's Law.
DeleteIn any case, when a colon is followed by a complete sentence, it's a matter of judgment whether that sentence begins with a capital letter or not. "I told him: get lost" would not be improved by rewriting as "I told him: Get lost."
A recent blog post by none other than Bystander himself was entitled "Maybe its because I'm a Londoner."
ReplyDeleteNot as good as the cake shop in Wolverhampton that sells "Gateau's".
ReplyDeletePerhaps not, agreed. But they probably do better puff pastry, whereas BS likes to present himself as the master of puff.
DeleteAnd he can't even do French GCSE either... Retournons À nos Moutons, please!
ReplyDeleteWhen I studied French you never put an accent on a capital letter.
Deletehttp://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-capitalization3.htm
DeleteThanks, Matthew. Language teaching in the UK has always been pretty poor, now it's even worse (even our much-beloved Bystander struggles - often in vain - with apostrophes). It's good to see someone look for a proper evidence base. Precisely the sort of qualities they're looking for in the magistracy, as I understand. You haven't thought about applying, by any chance?
DeleteNeither does it appear to be a requirement to be able to pronounce words when being interviewed on the Today programme as an expert in English where GCSE marks have apparently risen "inexORably" until this year.
ReplyDeleteI know - I should get out more.
Itz probly cos at skool we were tort that spelling and grammer dusent matter as long as it can be undastood. Yoo peeple need to get with the new libral trendy ways. Next thing you will want to hang and flog peeple.
ReplyDeleteI presume that the team need to get a French expert on board, who may or may not be a JP.
ReplyDeleteBut if he was a JP, he couldn't possibly say so.
ReplyDeleteI am delighted to see that Bystander (and his team) appear set to continue educating, informing and enlightening us about the realities of life in and around the magistrates' courts. It would have been an enormous loss to the magistracy an an "institution" to lose one of its finest chroniclers, but more importantly he has done as much as any other individual, along with some of the outstanding MA chairmen of recent years, to inform public debate on the big and little issues of the day in the area of "summary justice". Great news!
ReplyDelete