Engrish

So, as a teacher who specializes in language arts, I feel it is my duty to discuss it.

It is imperative, as American citizens, to understand that written language requires the proper usage of punctuation. For example, I have used a tiny jot called a period three times so far. The period is necessary so that the reader knows when to pause. It is necessary. Let me repeat, it is NECESSARY. The period means you have completed a thought. You have expressed it. Done. It is representative of the natural pause given when a person speaks.

Secondly, there is a tiny mark called a comma that is used to signify another pause. This little guy is mainly used to allow for a tiny transition from one thought to another. It may not be a complete thought to a complete thought, but the thoughts are there and there should be a pause. It's almost there for someone simply to take a breath and continue speaking.

People do not speak with commas and periods, but we do speak with natural pauses. Mostly. We are not (generally speaking) ramblers, speaking a flow of words with no end. We have to eat and sleep. Natural pause.

Let's look at a few examples.

"My name is Betty. I live in a house. I have a cat and a dog and I like to eat food that is warm and salty. I drive to work every day. I walk home every night."

"My name is Betty I live in a house I have a cat and a dog and I like to eat food that is warm and salty I drive to work every day I walk home every night."

The second paragraph is not as easy to read as the first. It is also more difficult to listen to, by the way. Imagine a cute kid with a button nose and doe eyes looking up at you with his two missing front teeth talking at top speed about the merits of space travel with no pauses. Cute but hard to follow (perhaps) and hard to endure (nearly always).

Use punctuation. It's our civic duty.