Prompted by the below:
The thing from the above that particularly struck me was the bit I've highlighted in bold. I've been struck by the poor quality of written communication that seems common when corresponding with companies or other organisations. I'm by no means perfect but I'm often taken aback by how difficult so many people seem to find written communication. Just the basics of putting a point across and succulently saying what they want/mean.
A recent example of this that I came across was a planning application on the local council website which garnered a number of responses the majority of which were just terrible. Not necessarily spelling and grammar wise but in formulation. It wasn't clear what the point of their message was (were they in favour or opposed?), why they were objecting (if they were), many of them were just rude and many weren't exactly putting a coherent argument (either way) forward.
So, is the art of letter/email writing specifically that related to communicating with organisations or companies a dying art? I was reflecting back on my school days and I can recall being given a little bit of training on writing a letter when we were doing our General Studies A-Level but I can't recall anything at GCSE (but that could be faulty memory it was fifteen odd years ago). I did go to University and get a degree in History but that wasn't exactly letter writing (but obviously essay writing requires a lot of the same skills just in long form!).
Is this stuff just not taught and we expect people to pick it up by osmosis? In which case should it be taught? It seems like it would be a useful skill being able to communicate clearly in writing!
Or am I just horribly out of touch?
It must be a thankless task having to go through complaints emails. I try to be reasonably polite and constructive but they must get a rather mixed bag. I was once shown a set of complaints to a local bus company and I would not have wanted to deal with some of them (downright rude, not actually saying what action they wanted and with absolutely no understanding of the reality of running commercial bus services).
The thing from the above that particularly struck me was the bit I've highlighted in bold. I've been struck by the poor quality of written communication that seems common when corresponding with companies or other organisations. I'm by no means perfect but I'm often taken aback by how difficult so many people seem to find written communication. Just the basics of putting a point across and succulently saying what they want/mean.
A recent example of this that I came across was a planning application on the local council website which garnered a number of responses the majority of which were just terrible. Not necessarily spelling and grammar wise but in formulation. It wasn't clear what the point of their message was (were they in favour or opposed?), why they were objecting (if they were), many of them were just rude and many weren't exactly putting a coherent argument (either way) forward.
So, is the art of letter/email writing specifically that related to communicating with organisations or companies a dying art? I was reflecting back on my school days and I can recall being given a little bit of training on writing a letter when we were doing our General Studies A-Level but I can't recall anything at GCSE (but that could be faulty memory it was fifteen odd years ago). I did go to University and get a degree in History but that wasn't exactly letter writing (but obviously essay writing requires a lot of the same skills just in long form!).
Is this stuff just not taught and we expect people to pick it up by osmosis? In which case should it be taught? It seems like it would be a useful skill being able to communicate clearly in writing!
Or am I just horribly out of touch?