Quick Poll: Can you spell a word with 3 or more syllables without having to write it down first?

[pickledsiblings]

Just curious really .

I was also wondering if the method by which you learn to read has any bearing on whether or not you can do this.

I learned to read using phonics and I can spell long words out loud without the need to write them down. Friend learned by whole word recognition and she can't (she's an Oxford English graduate btw so I'm not suggesting that one is any better than the other).

Like I said, just curious really - thanks!

Yes.
Can't remember how i learned to read except that it was not Ita.

Thanks again for the replies .

Interesting that some people see the word in their head and spell it from there. I don't see the word but say it into myself in syllables and spell it from the sound iskwim.

With mental aritmetic I do often 'do' the sums in my head as if I was writing them down, so they look just how they would look in a school book but in my head. DH thinks that's weird .

My parents taught me to read before I went to school so I'm not sure what the method is called-basically sounding out the syllables of each word and then putting them together. And yes I can spell long words without writing them down.

I learnt to read in another language (phonics) but I can still do that without difficulty. Suspect it's more about individuals than methods.

You're probably right Cory.

My friend learned to read rigorously via whole words from the age of about two as did her DC and they all think that I am cruel by expecting my DC to say their spellings out loud without the opportunity to write them down first to check. That's what got me thinking along the lines of my OP.

I think I will go and read a bit more around the subject as I am sure I'm on to something .

Yes. I learned by phonics and I have a very visual memory, so I would make a picture of it in my head and "read" it out.

I think I learned to read by "look and say", I can remember lessons like that, where the whole class sat chanting out the words on the board. I have no memory of not being able to read. In those days we still learned the alphabet as "ay, bee, see etc", rather than the sounds the letters made.

I can spell multi-syllable words without writing them down. but I've always been interested in phonics - I developed my own phonetic English alphabet at the age of about 10, removing all the duplications of sounds using different letters, and getting rid of C, Y, X and W entirely.

I was a weird child.

Yes I can. Phonics.

Yes, of course, I carry a mental picture of that word in my head and read it out aloud. But then there are loads of things I can't do - such as Maths, IT, etc!

Nope, can't spell things out loud unless we're talking very short words (was never asked to at school) but can spell absolutely fine when writing. It just looks right.
I also can't get it when others spell something out for me, eg surnames.

Yes, don't need to write them down. Learned to spell syllable by syllable and spelling is one of the two things in life I'm good at.

Yes, can do this easily. I too visualise the word in my head.

Don't know how I learned to read. I do think that being an avid reader helps spelling, whatever method is used to teach reading. My girls all learned using phonetics but the two who read the most are much better at spelling.

BabyGiraffes, don't suppose you know when and how you learned to read?

pickled Yes I can . Aged 6 1/2, in Germany and it took me about two weeks to read fluently (because I was more than ready and German is totally phonetic). Probably also explains why I can't 'hear' things being spelled out to me - it's just a lack of practice of having to learn 'spellings' .

Am so old I have forgotten how I learnt to read but guess it was before phonics

Wow that is OLD! phonics was the main method of teaching reading from the 16th century until the 1960s

I have to write things down to check even though I'm usually right (I just don't trust my spelling)

I thought of you mrz when I read that comment Have you ever thought of doing some bona fide research into learning to read?

I've thought about it perhaps when I retire my OH wants me to do my Phd so who knows

I confess at school my spelling was atrocious which probably explains why I still need to check everything I write.