English spelling. Why?!

Hmmm… English spelling.  Another English language learning minefield!  For some learners whose own language has 'difficult' spelling (French or Danish speakers, maybe?), for you English spelling might be a case of, “Oh no, another ridiculous spelling system…but I’ve done it once, so I can do it again”. For others, who have an easier or more logical spelling system (I’m thinking Spanish or Italian speakers, to name a few) it might be a case of, “What?!!! Why?!!!” (or some such reaction, perhaps also using swear words).

So, what’s the best way of coping with learning to spell in English? Well, my first piece of advice is to do it gradually and be patient with yourself.  In addition to that, there are some tips and tricks that might help.  Here are my suggestions:

• Think about the word as it’s spelt, e.g. ‘be-a-u-ti-ful’
• Make up little rhymes for yourself, e.g. ‘beautiful is not too full’…to remind yourself that full has two letter ‘l’ at the end, but beautiful has only one.
• Learn groups of words together that have the same sound for a particular letter. for example, all of the words below pronounce the first letter ‘o’ as an ‘uh’ sound.

Colour, come, comfort, love, glove…

Another useful way for more experienced learners (B2+) is suggested in a book called English Vocabulary in Use (Upper Intermediate)*.  In the unit ‘Words commonly mispronounced’ it groups the English vowels (a,e,i,o,u) with their various sounds.  For example, the letter ‘a’ is pronounced differently in all of the following words:

About  ə

Wander ɒ

Last ɑː (or æ in some parts of the UK)

Ant æ:

Late eɪ

You can check the sound of these words by typing them in to Google Translate (English) and clicking on the speaker icon in the bottom left hand corner of the box you're typing in.  In fact, it's a good idea to always check how words sound, whenever you can. This will help you match the spelling with the sound and help you to become more aware of the diverse sounds that one letter can have in English.

Finally, really don’t underestimate the power of reading in English. The more you read, the more you’ll become familiar with seeing how words are spelt, and you’ll also start to notice various spelling patterns (there are some!). The most important thing here is to find something in English on a subject that really interests you – whether it’s a novel, non-fiction book, newspaper, magazine, comic strip, an article about your hobby or specialist subject, an instruction manual…). It doesn’t have to be anything intellectual or complicated, the most important thing is to make reading enjoyable for you.

One final idea: you’ve probably heard about, or even taken part in, conversation exchanges, where you find an English native speaker who wants to learn your language, and so you speak with them for a certain amount of time in English and a certain amount of time in your own language.  But why not to do the same thing via writing emails to each other, where you can correct each other’s spelling (and grammar if you like)?

As usual, I look forward to hearing about your ideas and experiences! Please don't hesitate to use the "Add Comment' section below.

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*English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press, Unit 18, page 38.