Poorly written "Cancer" essay
tags:
Stumble ThisFrom the source:
"In 2002, the lovely Miss V., a professor at a notable New England university received the future classic "Cancer Has Become the Number One Killer Disease" student paper from the astonishingly named Pisit Pornkitti. Due to her remarkable foresight, and Dr. Alex Moffett's scanner, we at Conhugeco Films are proud to bring you an informative video version of this landmark paper.
Don't be panic!"
View the original Flash file and paper from the source site:
http://www.mphtower.com/web/content/view/76/37/
"In 2002, the lovely Miss V., a professor at a notable New England university received the future classic "Cancer Has Become the Number One Killer Disease" student paper from the astonishingly named Pisit Pornkitti. Due to her remarkable foresight, and Dr. Alex Moffett's scanner, we at Conhugeco Films are proud to bring you an informative video version of this landmark paper.
Don't be panic!"
View the original Flash file and paper from the source site:
http://www.mphtower.com/web/content/view/76/37/
http://www.videosift.com/video/Tyra-Banks-reveals-her-biggest-beauty-secret-ever
I sifted another one in the same vein here, since you guys seem to slightly like it:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Poorly-written-El-Nino-essay
Now on the to the tragic stuff.
If English isn't your first language, to get into an English-speaking university, you need to pass an English proficiency test, like TOEFL or IELS. What this video really mocks is not this student, but these tests. They don't actually establish how well you can communicate in English. They only test how well trained you are to write that particular test. For instance, students can search for patterns in spelling so they can deduce the right answer without even knowing why it's correct. There are intensive courses designed to train students in these simple tricks without improving their English skills at all. Most ESL students take a course like this before attempting the test. That's obviously how this student got through.
Don't blame the student for being accepted, trying hard, submitting drafts to be corrected, and doing the honest thing by not paying a native speaker to rewrite the essay, which is how most people in this situation get through. This student did everything right, and does not deserve to be mocked. It's tragic he/she wasted all that time and money because the entrance qualifications weren't well-designed enough. What's worse is that the instructor permitted this student's essay to be scanned and distributed for ridicule.
Messenger: Fantastic.
If this was a native English speaker it would be infinitely more humorous, but it's clearly someone still learning the language and it's just not funny. Sort of like laughing at a newly paralyzed person who falls off their wheelchair down some stairs or an 80-year-old man falling up an escalator due to a heart attack. (The latter is just a joke.)
It's one thing to laugh with the author after explaining to them why, but wholly another story to attempt to get the entire English speaking world to make a joke of and laugh at the poor fellow.
Exactly.
I might not have laughed as much if I had known ahead of time that this was a university paper.