A CHALLENGE for all you teachers/educationalists who think they are good spellers.

[drosophila]

OK I need help. I am and have always been a terrible speller. Trouble is I am returning to work next week and I will be working for Oxbridge types. My spelling has gotten worse since being off work on Mat Leave and I am real worried. I know people judge you by spelling errors.

Typical problems I have:

1. Does a word in in 1 l or 2 l's
2. is it 'ce' or 'se'

3..Some word can never spell despite really trying to commit to memory.

1. Are there 1 or 2 b's in rubbish- Example
2. I always have to rely on spellcheck which as you know has it's drawbacks.

Is there anything I can do at this stage in my life. I worry about DS who asked me how to spell hedgehog recently and my mind went blank. How on earth will he manage to spell with me as a Mum?

I have to go now so will check tomorrow.

I'm neither of the things you mentioned but I think you can spell...or you can't. My Mum was a teacher and is hopeless at spelling - drives me nuts as she loves crosswords but can't actually spell the solutions. If you're worried about the reliability of a spellchecker (and I mostly ignore the corrections mine makes as they're usually insane) then use a dictionary instead.

I can generally 'see' when a word looks wrong - but it's nothing to do with superior intelligence, it's just a knack, I think.

Buy a dictionary. Seriously, not having a go, looking things up is the only way to be certain.

Generally if it's a short vowel sound there are two consonants (like rubbish as opposed to rhubarb). Or hell as opposed to heal.

a lot of english does have to be learnt by memory, some things don't have any "rules" that you can remember.

I agree with marthamoo though, you can either spell or you can't.

I have a very visual memory, so when I think of a word I can actually see it in my head which makes it easier to spell! and like MM a lot of the time things just look wrong!

I wouldn;t worry about your ds, afaik it isn't hereditary!

get a dictionary and try and read lots... it helps if you're seeing words over and over, you eventually just get used to it

should say... i don't mean read the dictionary lots (although i did used to do that as a weird child!)
just read anything

Drosophila, I think that spelling either comes naturally or it doesn't. My ds1 doesn't need to learn his spellings for school, her just "knows" them which is the way I was, poor ds2 can sit learning them for half the night and they still don't sink in. English is the most illogical language too, they forgot all about making any rules when they invented it! Keep the dictionary on your desk and sod anyone who judges you on your spelling. Some of the smartest people I know can't spell to save their lives!

Generally speaking, if it looks right, then it usually is, but if in doubt then check.

Sometimes my mind goes blank too. I'm usually a good speller, but I have my off days.

also try and think of ways to say words in your head that may remind you...

ie dividing words into parts, rub bish will remind you that it has 2 b's
ski ing has 2 i's
say the word in your head with the gap in the middle

little chants like "one c two s" or "one c double s" to remind you of necessary

i think u are good at it or u aren't. i can spell very well but am crap at maths.

at school the kids are told to do this to learn their spellings

WRITE (CORRECTLY)!
LOOK
SAY (PHONETICALLY IF NEEDED)
COVER
(RE)WRITE
CHECK

Should add repeat for each word as necessary.

For your point 2 (cs or se) I assume you mean at the end of words, e.g licence/license?

I remeber these words by using advice/advise as they sound different.

i.e. you advise someone but give advice.

so you practise the violin but go to violin practice.

I'm rubish at all the other points too

You could try making up rhymes to help you remember difficult words. Like Never Eat Crab Eat Salmon Sandwiches And Remain Young (necessary).

I know it's for children but I use a great little book quite a lot to explain rules - Reading and Spelling Rules by Linda Riley. ISBN is 1-84370-005-0. I think I bought it on Bright Minds website. \link{http://www.brightminds.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=prod&sub=68&page=2\Here}

Thanks guys. The thing about a dictionary is that sometime I don't even know where to start a word. Certain words confound me. I have managed to confuse spell check many many times. Also if I am handwriting something I won't even realise that certain I have incorrectly spelt certain words so I don't even realise I need to use a dictionary. I also find the more tense I am the worse it gets. Strangely I find using a dictionary laborious as I don’t always remember the order the letters come in.

I will have a look at the book, thanks.

Also before DD was born I read about 1 book a week. Never helped.

The English language is terrible for exceptions to spelling rules! I too have quite a visula memory so I can usually 'see' if a word is incorrectly spelt. I have found with teaching kids that little rhymes or else mental pictures often helps.

Didn't there used to be a mis-spellers' dictionary? Probably not called that but it had an alphabetical list of wrong spellings with the correct spelling alongside?

Hm. Will google.

The ACE dictionary is often recommended for dyslexics.

I'm very good at spelling which i put down to an elephant-like memory. Dh on the other hand is useless. I'm a SAHM (mostly) and he has his own business. So it proves you don't need to spell to make it in life.

\link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1842992813/qid=1144840723/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/026-0085837-4187675\Dictionary of Perfect Spelling?}

Thanks for the link. I will investigate.

The ACE dictionary is fab if you are good at aural recognition - i.e. how a word sounds.

It works by breaking a word up into syllables, then listening to the vowel sound of the 1st syllable - is it a short vowel, long etc. You are then given a page ref to search, based on the 1st vowel sound and initial letter. BUT all done phonetically as well, so that if the intial letter is unclear you'll find the word in a number of places (e.g. photograph also appears under the letter F).

I've used this very successfully with lots of pupils especially those with SEN, but NT kids who are weaker spellers too. Amazon will probably have it.

There's hope for me yet!!!!!