SPELLING

If you have ever said, “I’m no good at spelling,” or “English spelling is impossible to learn,” decide right now never to utter such thoughts aloud again. Certainly don’t say such things in the hearing of your children or students.

One reason that so many native English speakers misspell common words is that children grow up hearing their elders express such negative thoughts about spelling.

Yes, English spelling IS more challenging than spelling in Spanish, for example.

So what? English is not Spanish. A 26-letter alphabet works well with Spanish because Spanish is spoken with about 26 speech sounds.

English is also written with a 26-letter alphabet, but English is spoken with about 44 speech sounds. English speakers must be creative in order to spell 44 sounds with only 26 letters. Instead of complaining about the spelling system, English speakers ought to stand in admiration of the fact that we have devised a system that works!

The place to begin is with the Alphabet. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

Alphabet ABC Song Alphabetical Order
O is not for “owl”
The sound of “ow”
Don’t teach “silent” letters
How not to teach and test spelling
5 spellings of “er”
“ch” is not a blend
Beware “invented spelling”
Monitor your child’s spelling
Mobile devices and spelling
Don’t misspell words that spellcheck apps will catch
“Just” a spelling error
Can you spell these words?

 

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