Do you guys think that you are born as a bad speller? My dad, brother and I are all really bad at it. Anna
I was a bad speller. Writing words a lot makes you learn them. I think what helped me was writing, and also taking a linguistics class. I learned which English words were based in which language, you generally get your spellings from the conventions of the origination point of words. English consists of (basically) Scandinavian, Dutch, Latin, and French, as well as ancient Anglo Saxon. It is very hard for non-English Speakers to learn due to the fact that there are so many languages involved, so many rules, and most languages have stricter rules.
As a dyslexic, I can prove that you can be born being a bad speller. Of course with a lot of practice I got over most of it.
dyslexic has to do with reading, not writing correct.so is there a mental point then that reading is attatched to writing in the brain. I quess thats not my problem, i can read just fine and love to, i must just be stupid then.
I used to be a bad speller, but I believe that reading a lot more helps you get over that. You come to look at a word and think, "That just doesn't look quite right." Sometimes, though, this intuition doesn't always work; in other words, you could look at word and think it's spelled wrong when it's actually spelled correctly. They make books that have drills and whatnot in them to help you learn to spell better. I'm no spelling expert, but I would assume that it's like any other "problem" that people have related to the mechanics of language. With some practice and conscious effort, the issues becomes a nonissue.
I don't think there is such a thing as a born bad speller. We used to have English dictation tests in school since third standard. That took care of bad spellings for most of us. I think most bad spelling can be corrected by reading a lot and keeping a dictionary nearby. For confusing words with double letters or 'ie' , 'ei' problems, I think mnemonics help a lot. I had trouble remembering how many times 'c' and 's' occur in necessary till a friend told me, " It is necessary to have one collar and two sleeves". Typos are another thing though.
Dyslexia applies both to reading and writing, despite its name. However, not every poor speller is dyslexic. Overall, misspellings are on the increase, which argues that it is more an educational issue than a medical one. Also,many of the mispellings I see are not transpositions, they are either usage errors, like saying weather when you mean whether, or loose when you mean lose. or purely phonetic spellings, sometimes even on mispronunciation, like proberly instead of probably. or Febuary instead of February. Some errors are picked up by spellcheckers in programs like Microsoft Word. Others will have to be pointed out to you by someone else. In either case, keep lists of the words you misspell, and study them until you no longer have a problem with them. And keep a dictionary handy. If you aren't sure about the spelling, look it up and add it to your list. I don't really believe there is an easier way.
I've been a good speller since day one. What brought me out of using "proper" grammar and spelling so often was a partial reading of a book on linguistics, and a mention in the first sentence of the Christian Bible, that God was a Word who was with itself. Soon after that, I dropped out of school, and thought for myself. Nothing wrong with "bad" grammar and spelling if its for a reason.
here's my problem with spelling. i dont understand it, and honestly, i dont think i ever will. i dont know what a verb,noun,pronoun,adjective or any of what those other things are. I dont know when to use a , or a : or ; or ! so im just doing the best i can and go from there.
That is actually grammar and punctuation, not spelling. Here is a link to a site designed for parents to understand the fundamentals of grammar so they can help their kids with homework. It's a concise overview that should help. And here is a link to a Carnegie-Mellon University quick guide on punctuation. For more depth, pick up a good writer's handbook or two, such as The Little, Brown Handbook or the Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers. I also recommend Strunk & White, The Elements of Style for a higher level view of writing. Finally, decide that you can understand it with a little effort. Attitude makes a huge difference!
I know what you mean. But, as a writer, it is actually very helpful to know these things, and really, there are books and web sites with a lot of this information. How can you even discuss with any knowledge the art of writing if you dont know what a verb is? Well, you can learn. Diagramming difficult sentences can actually be as fun as a "Game." I really hated all this stuff till I began to look at it as a game like "Bridge" with lots of rules. It actually can be fun, and you can become an expert within a very short time (like 3 months) if you give it your all. It is not very hard, but has "thinking on the fly" and remembering rules, kind of like math. Good Luck!
i got a couple books i have been looking through. they have helped some. i will get beter. its just takes time. now since i wanna start writing, i will just have to learn it.
