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<DIV><SPAN class=420320515-12042001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I'm a
native American English speaker of a younger generation (early 20s), and until
people pointed out that it sounded odd, "I shall be 17 next month" sounded fine
to me. Before the ensuing debate, I wouldn't have judged it as ill
formed. Now, I'm not sure if I'm tuning into some prescriptive rules but
"will" does sound better in this place.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN class=420320515-12042001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Rachel</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>