Column on poor English utilizes what it denounces

I applaud Thomas Wachtel (“Talk English; you’re in America,” Feb. 1) for pointing out that many Americans are in a poor position to criticize immigrants for speaking foreign languages when they themselves too often “butcher their native tongue.” Unfortunately, Mr. Wachtel is himself guilty of the very offense he reproves in others when he says that “Fairly simple rules of the English language are constantly flaunted.” He confuses “flaunt” (to ostentatiously display) with “flout” (to intentionally disregard). But even if he had chosen the correct verb (“to flout”), he would still have used the language poorly because most people who break the “simple rules” of English do so in ignorance of the rules, not in a desire to flout or deliberately break them.\nCharles R. Forker\nIU faculty