BigDaddy wrote:
I've always found it interesting that about everyone that walks into first grade can already speak English. The next 12 years they are taught English, and most of them walk out of high school speaking exactly as the did when they walked in. They have no clue how to replace a light switch, fix a commode, build a deck, change a tire, or do much of anything useful, and they still can't diagram a sentence, or spell worth a damn.
Your experience is completely different from mine and my education. Most of my classmates have gone on to be writers, businessmen and women, teachers and so on with an excellent command of the English language. But they have also attended classes in Home Economics and Shop where we did learn to fix common electrical and plumbing problems as well as basic carpentry skills. I feel sorry for you that your school apparently did not teach those subjects. Truly a loss for humanity.