I am putting this here because this area gets quite a bit of traffic from soon-to-be members and/or people looking to become members and thought a thread on this topic might save some people from some unnecessary flaming
Mods, feel free to move it where it should be, if not here.
I've been on here for a bit while I wait (P.A.T.I.E.N.T.L.Y.) for my chosen trades to open up, but in that time I have seen countless posts where the grammar has been, quite simply put, frightening! Now let me state for the record that I AM NOT at all a grammar wizard and in fact I did poorly in grammar while I was in school. My spelling can be quite atrocious, but by and large, I make an effort to use such tools at my disposal as "Spell Check" and some ancient pieces of grammatically priceless literature called "Thesaurus" and "Dictionary", to correct any short comings I may have in the grammar department.
All joking aside though, as some of the staff on here (not to mention current members) have alluded to, you will need to do a bit of writing in BMQ and a lot more writing in BMOQ if you are aspiring to join the CF. And although I have not gone through BMQ, I can assure you that the flaming you get from the staff on here is like a hug from a teddy bear compared to what you'll get from your staff if you write like that on course.
So, ok... maybe I am being a bit harsh. Granted you might write on the internet one way and be a regular Oscar Wilde when writing for real. And granted in some light hearted threads, the internet standard of piss poor linguistics (My term for it) is fine, and in some rare instances, perhaps even saves one time. However, this brings me to my next point.... laziness.
This forum is not a chat room, ICQ or MSN messenger. You do not need to use social abbreviations and acronyms to get your point across, and in fact , using them on this forum is about as inappropriate as wearing nothing more than a g-string and bow-tie to meet the in-laws (Sorry...it was the first thing that came to mind).
At no time does this hold more true than when one is asking questions of the members and/or the staff.
Personally, nothing strikes fear into me more than reading a post from someone who wants to be an officer, someone who might very well hold MY life in their hands someday, and writes there queries in the manner: "ne 1 no how mny pshups i need to do?".
Take your time to write properly. If you don't have a clue how to, or are like I was and suck real bad at it, then take the time to at least use the spell check. The creators of this site have kindly included one into the reply window tools (Its right there beside the "Post" and "Preview" buttons) Or, if you find yourself wanting to improve yourself, then reading a lot will also help. It did for me.
Writing well will get you a lot farther than trying to be witty and cool with people. It speaks to your maturity and gives people the idea that you take yourself seriously. And those are the type of people the CF is looking for.... or at the very least, the type of people I hope to someday serve with.
Food for thought people.
As Always My
JB
