http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Quiz/Quiz.aspx?QuizID=51

(Edit: only this one in the poll, the spelling ones depend too much on whether you've ever seen the words in the first place)

Damn those bastards. They caught me on one. 9/10. You?

A spelling one:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Quiz/Quiz.aspx?QuizID=103

Again, they got me. 14/15. You?

Another spelling one:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Quiz/Quiz.aspx?QuizID=71

7 :shame:

One more spelling quiz:

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Quiz/Quiz.aspx?QuizID=36

Again, failed one. 14/15.

[ December 13, 2003, 00:21: Message edited by: chevalier ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 36 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: How incorrect is your English? (36 votes.)

How incorrect is your English? (Choose 1)
* 10 - 8% (3)
* 9 - 19% (7)
* 8 - 19% (7)
* 7 - 28% (10)
* 6 - 11% (4)
* 5 - 3% (1)
* 4 - 3% (1)
* 3 - 0% (0)
* 2 - 0% (0)
* 1 - 0% (0)
* 0 - 6% (2)
* Results, please. - 3% (1)

9/10

That surprises me! :)
Had to think about the affect/effect/infect-one.
The Lay/Laid/Lied-question was the only one I had wrong.

Quite tricky, IMO.

Woohoo! 10. But I suppose that's to be expected given that I've been a native speaker of English for 30-some years. :)

I had to think about the "lay" question, so on a different day maybe I wouldn't have gotten that one right.

EDIT:
12/15 on the second
9/10 on the third
14/15 on the fourth.

[ December 13, 2003, 00:32: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

First one: 7
Second: 10 :nolike:
Third: 6 :sosad:

I screwed up bad man... but i think on the poll I put 6 instead of 7.

First: 7
Second: 15
Third: 9
Fourth: 15

Though it's possible some of my mistakes can be attributed to language and spelling differences between the Usa and Australia.

8 on the first :D
And then the others can go with out been said :p
Yes, they where that low.
Spelling's never been my stronge point, but like Aldarzar did, I'll blame the US spelling, that's always been.. different. ;)

Yeah, I was looking for the option which said "None of these stupid ways is the way you spell stupid mediaeval you big stupid head" But it wasn't there so I quit.

The grammer test was good. We don't actually get taught grammer over here, so it was nice to see the reasons for the different habits we are taught.

Only got 7/10 I think, I outsmarted myself a couple of times by always chosing the fanciest phrase. Ahh well, that'll learn me :D

Grrr.
9, 14, 9, 14

Can't believe that I missed one on each of these.

Keep your "Grrr" to yourself, DMC...

9/10 :)
9/15 :o
8/10 :rolleyes:
12/15 :(

That's strange, cuz me always feels my English are very much too gooder.

Must be one of chev's tricks to humiliate me!

Of course, in America, it's not how well you can talk...it's how loud...with rhythm (or is that rythym?)

9/10
11/15
7/10
11/15

Ahm, I should use dictionaries way more. Way more. Way, way more.

bloody hell.

10/10 :eek:
13/15
7/10
9/15

I'm just wondering if American spelling makes a difference to anything, because one word in the last test I've always spelt correctly yet I was told it was wrong in the test. But I'm bad at spelling and grammar anyway, so probably just me.

do we vote how many we got wrong or how many we got right?
Because 'How incorrect is your English'
voting 10 could either mean you got none right in the test or you got 10 in the test...

Me iis tha bestest anglisch speeker arund fur mijls.

I gots mure punkts on zhe feerst ones: 8/10
secund oones: 9/15
Theerd lees goods: 4/10
Furth:10/15

Eet wuld bee besser if i kapisched thee queschtions. :lol:

Manus, it's hard not to agree with you. I too was surprised when I noticed there was no such option.

The tests don't seem to have any American-specific questions. I'm only prone to think that a Brit test would actually include 'mediaeval', not just the 'medieval' thing.

I suppose the biggest problem one might have is with knowing the words at all. I didn't know some of them, for example insouciant, psoriosis (or whatever that thing is) etc.

But screwed up 'embarrass' and 'lightning', heh. Bad, very bad.

EDIT: Oops! On the very first one which the poll is for i got 7/10. Damn, lol.

12/15 for the first Spelling one.

5/10 for the second spelling one
:shame: .

9/15 on the third one.

God, my country spawned the bloody language but nobody actually speaks it currectly, rofl.

Man, I be stoopid...Especially since English is my native tongue...Maybe it's because I speak American... ;) :p

10/10 - Whoohoo!

14/15 - I missed daiquiri...Hey! I never drink them...Plus, it's a foreign derivative.

9/10 - insouciant...I had to look it up. Never heard the word before.

14/15 - Can you freaking believe I missed mischievous?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

I speak Russian for rest of day. :grin:

Are You Grammatically Incorrect?
Not bad
But you may want to think twice about pursuing a career as a copy editor.
You got 6/10 correct. :help:

Easy Mistakes: Commonly Misspelled Words
Are you a lexicographer?
Your spelling power places you firmly among the word elite!
You got 14/15 correct. :)

Could You Win the National Spelling Bee?
Nice work!
You are an excellent speller. Learn even more from our dictionary.
You got 10/10 correct. :cool:

How Well Can You Spell?
Not bad.
But you probably won't win the big spelling bee.
You got 12/15 correct. :o


Not bad for a native French speaker I guess.

1. 9/10 (screwed up the is/were one :doh: )
2. 14/15
3. 8/10 - hadn't even heard of the two I missed :rolleyes:
4. 14/15

9 on the grammatical one. The bad/badly/awfully one, strangely enough. I just assumed the formation I used naturally had to be incorrect...

Some friends of mine reckon that the best way to check if something is correct is to ask someone who learned to speak the language as a second language - since they learn the language formally and avoid picking up bad habits.

There is no such thing as incorrect English, just non-standard. Thats one of the very few things I remember about studying English at school :p

Got 8 for the first one

12 for the second

3rd I got 6

and 13 for the fourth got me on 'absorption' and 'playwright' - swines

7/10 for the first
13/15 for the second
7/10 for the third
12/15 for the fourth

On a side note I would be surprised if very many people got the spelling of 'sarcophagus' wrong considering the group of people we have here!

No lich-hunting RPG player would ever get sarcophagus spelt incorrectly.

Consistently scored 60-66% so I voted for 6. I'm surprised... I thought I'd be better at english. Although I have to admit the second spelling test had 4-5 words that I've never seen before, so...

9/10

14/15

13/15

8/10

'Nuff said :cool:

8, 10, 3 :eek: , and 7 respectively.

Manus:
Yeah, I was looking for the option which said "None of these stupid ways is the way you spell stupid mediaeval you big stupid head" But it wasn't there so I quit.They also manage something along the same lines later on in that quiz. Minuscule and miniscule are the options, and after answering that one correctly, I consulted my dictionary. I was right, and both are perfectly valid.

Minuscule is the original right one. Miniscule, though listed by some dictionaries is allowed at best, but not really right. Perhaps it's a result of pronunciation mess.

8/10
13/15
6/10
12/15

And now a quiz in Dutch...

Who got 0? :lol:

Interesting. I got 8 on the first one. I messed up with that 'he acts as though he blank the coolest guy in school' one, and also the 'Andrea and blank.'

Thing is, That second one is exactly the opposite of what I've been taught every year in grammar class. As far as I know, the quiz is wrong. Whoa...

The second one is absolutely correct. 'I' is subject and 'me' is object. One can't say "Give it to him or I", or "Come to Sally and I", as "I" is one of the few words in English that have case forms. Therefore, it's not only the preposition that changes according to the case other than nominative. So,

"It's I" and not "It's me" - even though 99% people say "It's me".

"To him and me" and not "to him and I" - again, many people would not decline the object at all.

Teachers are humans, too. I don't believe many teachers stick to "It's I/he/she/we/they" etc.

The only ones I really had incorrect was with the words I didn't know.

Chevalier, dictionaries do not (well with the exception of the Scrabble ones I guess) allow or disallow words, they reflect the language as it is used. Whilst minuscule may have been first, it isn't the only one in use (and indeed a search on Google reveals significant usage of both). And as for variant spellings of words, you'll find such words as favorite (sic) showing pretty strong usage.

"Favorite" is perfectly legitimate in American sl.. dialect :D

As for frequent use in google, try search on the words 'definate' and 'definately' :D

Dictionaries can't force you to speak one way or another, but they sort of legitimatise poor spelling or sucking grammar when they include it as a word. In this sense they allow or disallow it. People are more likely to use not really proper forms if they find them in a dictionary, aren't they? And so people will adopt oddities into their language. Some dictionaries will strive to maintain some at least half-decent standard of moderately appropriate English, some will just collect everything you hear on the street, including "d'oh". Some will even miss the proper form if it's rarely used. Just take a random dictionary, look up 'often' and check the pronunciation they give.

[ December 16, 2003, 01:44: Message edited by: chevalier ]

7,13,6,12

MMMM... Not so bad for a non-native english speaker eh? Considering that the only place were I really use english daily is Sorcerer's because I just don't read there I actualy (damn I can't remember if it take one or two *t*) write there too.

Me Engliss is veri good, isinit trough?

I really like my *isinit* :D :D :D

6/10
11/15
5/10
9/15

7,12,8,8 :( I could've kicked myself over the first one. I should've known them. I guess my England isn't as good as I thought it was. :rolleyes:

7/10
14/15
7/10
11/15

Oi. No comment.