Spelling Tip of the Day

Last time, we looked at WHY English spelling is so difficult.

You can tell simply by the numerous commonly misspelled word lists out there that whether you are five or twenty-five, if you have spelling issues then you are not alone. But what can you do to IMPROVE spelling abilities?

Oxford Learning has put together a series set of Spelling Tips to help spellers of all ages to improve their spelling. Check back often to find an “improve-your spelling” tip that works for you. Or, and add your own tip in the comments—we’d love to hear from you!

Tip One: Create Spelling Tricks that Work For You.

There is no point memorizing formal spelling rules (even if they are cute rhymes) if they don’t make sense or if you can’t remember them.

Create your own rhymes, tips, and strategies and you’ll remember them always. The old stand-by “I before E except after C” is only helpful if you can also remember all the exceptions to the rule. A friend uses this modified version that is much more to the point: “I before E doesn’t work for me!”

Come up with your own strategies to remember correct spellings and you’ll have an arsenal of tools that work for you!

EG: DESSERT vs. DESERT. You can remember this one by thinking that you always want more dessert… there are more of the letter S in dessert, so dessert with double S is the treat after a meal!

There are many more unique spelling tricks out there. Check out these examples from Lifehack.org (Just scroll towards the bottom) Even little ones can come up with their own tips to spell words. Got a trick that works? Stick to it!