I firmly believe that if middle- and high-school grammar had been taught this way, I would have actually understood it.
Tuesday, 2 March, 2010 at 7:16 AM 
Finally, somebody explains the use of the semicolon so that it makes sense. I finally figured it out on my own a few years back; this lesson could have saved me a lot of time.
Matthew Inman over at The Oatmeal has a way of explaining things. Not exactly like the folks at Common Craft who make those clever videos - things are a little more, er, irreverent at The Oatmeal. (In fact, I should go ahead and point out that this prolly isn't a site for your mom. Hi Mom. Here's a link for you, instead: Go watch this video about making stamps for working in clay. It's very cool. You won't like the site I'm writing about here. He has a different page that mentions being punched in the testicles. See? I told you you wouldn't like it. Look how I just saved you the discomfort of having to actually see that link!)
Still, for us visual learning types, this is the way to go. In fact, the longer I spend observing my own successes and challenges in learning, the more I wish the whole question of "learning styles" had been discovered a lot sooner than it apparently was. (Yes. Apparently I'm saying I would have done much, much better in school if all my teachers had drawn things out for me, instead of writing them. Hm.)
Actually, the whole business really gets me thinking. The Oatmeal is presented as a humor site. Which is because it is a humor site. The site is filled with comical pages (which are also available as posters, woo hoo!) But interspersd with the humor? Yea. There are some lessons in there, too.
PS: That he found a way to work hairy knuckles into the lesson about the semicolon is just a bonus.
PPS: I just discovered that Matthew Inman is from Seattle. Just like Lee and Sachi LeFever, the people behind Common Craft. Moral of the story: If I don't move to Europe, maybe I'd just better head on out to Seattle so I can be surrounded by creativity all the time. (Plus, Seattle is just awesome.)
Reader Comments (5)
Oh, man. I have to go to work, but I am in LUV with this site. Thanks!!! I passed the young people audio test so I feel extra good about me today (ha)!!
And anything grammar/punctuation related is just icing on the cake, of course.
How the heck do you find all this stuff!!! You are a machine. :)
I love this site -- I have laughed out loud at work (when, you know, I am supposed to be working) looking at this site! Of course, I understood the semicolon long ago. As one of my grad school professors once commented to me, 'You have an affinity for the semicolon."
I haven't checked it out. At first I thought you might be hinting that I need help in that area.
Karen, we have to stop feeling bad about ourselves because we're aging. (She says in her most emphatic tone, mostly to herself.) And? I have three squillion bookmarks to websites I've found at some time or other, largely through places like StumbleUpon and Twitter. Not as much of a machine as you might think. :)
Joy, you DO have an affinity for the semicolon!
Mom, not a hint at all! I just loved the little video and thought that if I'd known about it when I was making things with clay, like you're learning to do, I would have loved knowing about it! Hope you enjoy it!
I love the semicolon!!! Thanks for teaching me how to correctly use it!!!!