The Idiosyncrasies Of Crawldaddy Part I

Hmm.

Ok, here's a brand new addition to my already burgeoning list of blog series, including the infamous "The Legends Of Zelda", "Mother's Love", "Clutch That Matey!" and "Brother Dearest"..and many, many more.

So what's up with this brand new series? I'm not going to make it too obvious.. but let me touch on one subject of my personality when I do post a post.

Today's subject: Spelling, grammar, punctuation and pronounciation.

Coming from a family where the English Language is spoken as the main language.. followed by Hokkien and Chinese, I am one person who is meticulous and obsessive with spelling and grammar.

It was a long time ago, when I was just like any other kid, learning how to speak and write English properly. I had some problems spelling simple words and piecing words together to form a simple sentence. I remember how my determination to master the language came from a simple word: 'banana'.

I was in class in kindergarten, when the class was required to do dictation (a horrific experience for myself then, due to my spelling being next to mediocre). I had been required to write down the word 'banana', and I was confused as to how many 'n's and 'a's I had to write down.. and I eventually asked my classmate.

In the end, he snubbed me and I was left hanging onto nothing.. and I eventually wrote down 'banana' as 'bananana'. Yes... it was that bad in kindergarten. So it was that experience which made me learn my English doggedly and almost religiously.

So it comes as no surprise, after going through phases in my life which included reading any book I could lay me hands on to perfect my mastery of the language, reading became sort of a serious passion, and my parents even complained and nagged at me to do my schoolwork instead of burying myself under a pile of storybooks.

Eventually, i managed to go through whole essays with minimal grammar and spelling mistakes... and one of the main reasons I got a C6 for my O Level English (to much surprise from the people around me) was the fact that I couldn't answer the questions accurately, but my grammar, spelling and punctuation was impeccable. Sigh... so sad yet true.

Even now, I'm commonly consulted by my classmates to spell words, because according to them, 'His ang moh very pro one lah'.

I suppose it's also an issue when I see spelling mistakes whenever I go onto public transports, blog online or simply have an email conversation with my friends.. I always try and ensure my english is written properly.. albeit my horrendously illegible handwriting.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy