aFireInside Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 This might sound stupid but I never learned to spell. I never payed attention in school I was daydreaming, and it didn't help that my mother was teaching me to write in spanish while I was in school "learning" to read and write. Where do I approach this, are there a set of rules that I need to learn to become a good speller ? Please lay it out for me, imagine if you where teaching an alien to spell , what do i need to learn.
NGardner Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 I detected not spelling errors in your post. So the problem is?
aFireInside Posted July 12, 2014 Author Posted July 12, 2014 I detected not spelling errors in your post. So the problem is?This is because Im typing through a computer , if I fill out an application or check I misspell things . Does that make sense ? I want to be a good speller
jacbot Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 Well, English is not so hard language to learn, for myself, I made a shitload of typos and symantic errors in the past, Its now a lot better,.., I depended on autocorrect functions, but after a while i remembered how to spell correctly, -- Use spellingschecker as much as possible, it worked for me.
NGardner Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 Did you spell every word wrong? I'm sure you didn't. When the computer correctly changes a word for you write it down on paper 3x. Luckily in the english language many words mean essentially the same thing so you only need a spelling for a couple of them to be error free in your spelling. Simply pick words you can spell when filling out forms. It is really a practice game. I consider myself to be able to spell with a high degree of accuracy but i also don't throw down on paper words that i know i can't spell. I make mistakes from time to time. Even professional writers make mistakes.
aFireInside Posted July 12, 2014 Author Posted July 12, 2014 Ok yeah I think that is where I have the problem , I don't remember the words after they are auto corrected . I think I got in a habit of ignoring the correct spelling
Wuzzums Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 In my native tongue there's a strict correlation between the sound and the lettering of a word, everything is spelled phonetically. You learn how to spell one word, and you learn how to spell all words. I'm kinda ambivalent about this whole spelling thing. On the one hand, if someone corrects my spelling I roll my eyes because English has an idiotic spelling system. On the other hand, when I see spelling errors from a native English speaker I look down at them a little because a foreigner shouldn't be able to tell a native how to speak their own language.
aFireInside Posted July 12, 2014 Author Posted July 12, 2014 Right, i agree its looked down on. If teachers and parents failed me I have to take matters into my own hands
NGardner Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 i know microsoft word will go through word for word with you in the spell check you could use that program and just write out the corrected words Ok yeah I think that is where I have the problem , I don't remember the words after they are auto corrected . I think I got in a habit of ignoring the correct spelling
hannahbanana Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 Do you read a lot? I think that reading has played a major role in my spelling abilities, because I am able to sort of learn through observation; seeing words being used commonly in books helps ingrain the image of the word in my mind, so I can "see" the correct way to spell it when I am using the word myself. Then, it eventually becomes habit. Does that make sense?
J-William Posted July 12, 2014 Posted July 12, 2014 This might sound stupid but I never learned to spell. I never payed attention in school I was daydreaming, and it didn't help that my mother was teaching me to write in spanish while I was in school "learning" to read and write. Where do I approach this, are there a set of rules that I need to learn to become a good speller ? Please lay it out for me, imagine if you where teaching an alien to spell , what do i need to learn. I don't personally regard it as a big issue I can spell fairly well mostly as a result of reading a lot when I was younger. I think being very good at spelling is a useless skill. Now it is useful to be vaguely serviceable at spelling because otherwise spell check won't know what word you want. But I think that anything that a computer can do vastly better than you is best left to the computer. I don't spend my time memorizing Wikipedia or a dictionary because I've got a computer to do that. Or a phone in my pocket. I live in China and honestly most of the Chinese people I know are forgetting how to write Chinese characters well because they just use the computer. The great thing about English is that spelling makes no sense so there aren't very many rules and what rules there are don't do you any good because you can probably remember how to spell the words that follow the rules, and the words that don't follow the rules don't follow the rules… So learning the rules will help you to spell those words. If you really want to learn to spell well you will need to read a lots or spend a lot of time with lists of words practicing to spell them. I'd rather spend a lot of time reading, at least that way at the end of this process you would have done something useful.
aFireInside Posted July 13, 2014 Author Posted July 13, 2014 Do you read a lot? I think that reading has played a major role in my spelling abilities, because I am able to sort of learn through observation; seeing words being used commonly in books helps ingrain the image of the word in my mind, so I can "see" the correct way to spell it when I am using the word myself. Then, it eventually becomes habit. Does that make sense? Yes that makes sense, I don't read allot. I listen to books instead of reading them, the reading that I do is non-fiction and the forums. So i do little reading, that defiantly adds to my problem. I just bought a spelling book for kids so I'm going to be reading that lol I don't personally regard it as a big issue I can spell fairly well mostly as a result of reading a lot when I was younger. I think being very good at spelling is a useless skill. Now it is useful to be vaguely serviceable at spelling because otherwise spell check won't know what word you want. But I think that anything that a computer can do vastly better than you is best left to the computer. I don't spend my time memorizing Wikipedia or a dictionary because I've got a computer to do that. Or a phone in my pocket. I live in China and honestly most of the Chinese people I know are forgetting how to write Chinese characters well because they just use the computer. The great thing about English is that spelling makes no sense so there aren't very many rules and what rules there are don't do you any good because you can probably remember how to spell the words that follow the rules, and the words that don't follow the rules don't follow the rules… So learning the rules will help you to spell those words. If you really want to learn to spell well you will need to read a lots or spend a lot of time with lists of words practicing to spell them. I'd rather spend a lot of time reading, at least that way at the end of this process you would have done something useful. thanks for your response, I agree with you. Im not saying i want to be a master speller but there are times i can't spell words good enough for my spell check to correct them. The thing that made me want to spell better is the fact that filling out forums with misspelling is a little embarrassing.
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