In response to Jen Winberry's article ("College-level grammar lost on college students," Feb. 25), college students can in fact speak their native language. Ms. Winberry says that people should use the dictionary definition of the word "ignorant."

But language is constantly changing; we don't use the exact same words with the exact same meanings that were used hundreds of years ago. There is nothing that can be done to stop change from occurring in a language.

In fact, double negatives used to be common in Middle English; Chaucer even used them, but now they are considered ungrammatical.

If people can easily understand what is meant, then there is no problem with a new use of a word.

She also says, "So if you wouldn't write it out on paper, why would you say it aloud?" In almost every language, the written form of the language is very different from the spoken form. In fact, written Arabic, which is based up on the language of the Koran, is so different from everyday, spoken Arabic that learning one form would not allow you to understand the other.

Even when people don't use "proper grammar," they are still following a highly organized set of rules that allow their sentences to be understood by other speakers of the language.