Important Spelling Tips Everyone Should Know

Spelling in English is no fun! Are you confused with the English alphabet? If so, that’s easy to understand!

Why Is Spelling in English Important?

If you are studying English, you must learn English spelling. You may believe that English writing and spelling are not crucial for regular conversation. But if you think you only need to write in school, you are wrong!

Today, more people are writing than ever before. We are constantly reporting on our Facebook walls and texting one another. We are composing reviews of eBay or Amazon purchases, etc.

Friends and colleagues receive emails daily. We distribute invitations and compose reports. Numerous additional activities involve writing. Even if you don’t realize it, writing is a significant aspect of your life.

Therefore, spelling in English is crucial! Correct spelling helps others understand what you’re saying. It improves your comprehension of what you read. The more you study spelling, the more you know the way words function. This information can help you determine the meaning and pronunciation of new terms.

Spelling Variations: What Country’s Spelling Are You Adopting?

Before you learn to spell English words, determine which country’s spelling you want to use. American, British, Canadian, and Australian English have different spellings for some words.

For example, the word “color” in America would be spelled “colour” in British.

Which country’s spelling you choose should depend on your purpose for learning English. Are you planning to study in Great Britain? Work in the U.S.? Are you learning for leisure? Decide before you learn, so you don’t have to re-learn the correct country’s spelling later!

Improve Your English Spelling: 8 Easy Ways

There are easy ways to improve your English spelling exponentially. It might be easier to do than you think, especially when following the tips below. These tips can be done at home or in the office and help take your grammar to the next level.

Let’s go through the seven most uncomplicated ways to improve your English spelling in no distant time.

1. Practice Misspelled Words

Even native speakers misspell some words. Misspelled word videos are available.

Many often misspelled terms aren’t necessary. Here are five typically misspelled words you may need to spell:

Accommodate, calendar, session, assault, across.

You shouldn’t learn all these words at once. Start with your most-used words.

2. List Difficult Words

Maybe you can spell common misspelled terms (good!). Or maybe you don’t use “accumulate” often.

Make your word list instead of studying someone else’s. Write down even simple words you can’t spell. Learn or memorize their spelling rules. Some word-groups may be difficult. Pre or per? Knowing what to learn is crucial.

3. Root Words and Origin

Greek and Roman roots give English several terms. Roots help you spell and understand more words.

Check a word’s definition and part of speech in the dictionary. But checking the source can be helpful (where something comes from). Many dictionaries list word origins.

Ever wonder why “tricycle” is spelled that way? The Greek word cycl means “circle.” A wheel’s form makes this easy to recall. The Latin tri means “three” tricycles have three wheels.

Now you can use cycl to guess a word’s meaning. It’ll also help you spell. What does bi signify if a bicycle has two wheels?

4. Chop It

Long words are hard to spell. Use chopping in certain circumstances. Chopping divides a word into smaller bits. You won’t have to memorize a long word, only a few small ones. 

For example:

“Harassment” can be chopped into:

harassment

These three short “words” will help you spell “harassment”.

Chopping helps you remember difficult words.

5. Speak Aloud

This easy spelling method is taught to young children. Say a word slowly out loud if you can’t spell it. Then take notes.

Not every word works. “Friend” doesn’t sound like it’s written. Use a different strategy for words that don’t sound how they’re spelled.

Many basic words can be spelled correctly (or nearly so) simply pronouncing them. If you confuse “bleak” and “bleed,” say out each word. You’ll spell and speak better.

FluentU uses subtitled movies in its language training to help students associate sounds with spellings.

You’ll grow used to the spelling as you watch the videos and listen to what’s spoken. You can pause to examine a word’s definition or pronunciation.

6. Sketch and Draw

Drawing is another mnemonic. Have you ever noticed that the word “comb” looks like a comb?. Visualizing words helps you recall spellings.

Create images for hard-to-spell words. Make an image for any word you can’t remember. Let the letters become images.

7. Practice With Word Games

Word games such as Boggle, Scrabble, and Dominos are a great way to practice spelling by playing against a computer or another player. They help your brain concentrate on spelling and not use up too much energy.

Make sure you get a dictionary and play Scrabble online as not to get rusty in the process of learning good English spelling.

Spelling City, SpellTower, and Scattergories also help with spelling and are fun games and apps for practicing.

8. Activate Spellcheckers

A spellchecker is a good place to start when correcting your spelling. It will flag any word combinations that don’t make sense in English. 

However, leaning too heavily on spellcheckers is dangerous. As you write and revise, you may become less aware of spelling and lose confidence in identifying the correct spellings. In exams, students who rely too heavily on spellcheckers are more likely to fail than those who don’t.

Turning off the spellchecker and dedicating at least one rewrite to spelling will help you build a better sense of correct spelling. 

Lookup a word if you think it’s being misused. The only way to improve your spelling is to participate in the process actively.

To be safe, you can switch the spellchecker back on at the end of this process to ensure you didn’t miss a typo. If you made a mistake, study the word so that you don’t make it again.

To Wrap Up

Even people who can read and write in English have a hard time spelling the same word consistently. Many words in English have multiple spellings and variations. That’s why spelling words is an important skill in any language, not just English.

Now that you know how to improve your English spelling, you need to work on it. Spelling in English is essential, but that does not mean it must be confusing. Check out the variations that exist and pick the easiest.

Keep in mind that spelling properly will make your English better, provide you with more confidence, and even enhance your professional development.