Why english is important

[Christopher Browne]

On 1/14/07, Robert Brockway <rbrockway-wgAaPJgzrDxH4x6Dk/4f9A at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> I have a printed visa for Syria in my old passport.  It contains a number
> of basic spelling and gramatical errors in the printed text of the visa.
> Eg, "Numbar of Journeys?".  Next time I'm in Australia (where my old
> passport is) I'll scan it for the amusement of all.
>
> Every country on Earth has a large number of people fluent in English.  I
> expect the University of Damascus has an English department so I am at a
> loss to understand how a sovereign nation could make such basic mistakes
> in an important official document.  Oh well, it was a good laugh :)

No, this doesn't surprise me.

In a lot of 3rd world nations, getting exact English grammar correct
on bureaucratic documents *isn't* the #1 "best usage" of the people
that are highly skilled at colloquial American/British English.

The *best* usage of such people is likely to be in the area of sales
and marketing, making sure that local stuff gets sold abroad or that
foreign stuff gets purchased with the greatest effectiveness.

If the grammar on government documents is more "approximate," as long
as it isn't actually causing problems, it's not so much a priority.
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