Related Posts
7 Quick Tips to Improve Your Spelling Skills
Meritnation|Aug 17th, 2015 03:26pm
Do you want to ace your spelling abilities? Check out these quick tips!
We all struggle with our spellings at some point, don’t we. Sometimes on a daily basis as well! Especially during English exams, this struggle seems unending. Do tough words give you a tough time? English spellings may be a nightmare but it is not impossible to turn the tables. Let’s learn few tricks of the trade and become a Spell Bee.
1. Use the Dictionary Extensively:
Always carry a good dictionary with you. You never know when it comes handy. Also, install a dictionary app on your cellphone or tablet if you use any.Looking up difficult words in the dictionary helps in a very interesting way: It provides the source of the word and give you an interesting history of usage, so you never forget it and this improves your vocabulary too. Also, it provides alternative similar words that you can use instead, enriching your vocabulary further. Once you get into the habit of using a dictionary regularly, you will find that your spelling will improve naturally.
2. Read Lots of Books and Articles:
This is a great way to improve your spellings as you can enjoy reading stories, novels and articles as well as improve your spellings in the process.Spelling is not about how a word sounds, it’s about how it looks on the page, which means you have to look at a lot of words on the page to learn how they are spelled. Not only books but everything around you, billboards, newspapers, road signs, food packaging, etc. This will help you to spot your common spelling patterns in your memory and see through words that don’t ‘look right’.
3. Make a Spell Journal:
Found a word which is tough to pronounce and spell? Jot it down in your Spell Journal. Writing these difficult looking words will help you to remember them.Writing is a great way to retain them in your memory.
4. Play Word Games:
You can involve your family and friends and play games like Scrabble, Crosswords, etc. to help you learn new words, their meanings and of course, their spellings. You can also play online games on various sites that are available for free as well as use free apps like Ruzzle.
Recommended Read: Apps Students Can Use To Score Better
5. Ask Your Elders For Help:
There is no shame in asking for help with something you struggle. Get a Spell Buddy with whom you can share your difficult words and learn together. Do you know even great personalities like Albert Einstein, Jane Austen, Leonardo Da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin had a very tough time with spellings? 🙂
6. Spelling Apps:
There are many Apps available online which can help you to improve your spellings in a fun way.
7. Learn English Spelling Rules:
English spellings follow certain rules and becoming aware of these rules can help you avoid some common spelling errors.
Below are four most useful rules:
| Rule 1 : i before e except after c, when sounded like |ay| as in ‘weigh’. This simple rhyme helps explain the difference between the spellings of believe (i before e) and receive (except after c). In general, when the long /e/ sound (ee) is spelled with the letters i and e, the order is ie: shield, field, fiend. Common exceptions are leisure, seizure, and weird.When the letters i and e are used in words with a long /a/ sound, they are usually spelled ei: sleigh, feint, heinous. When the sound is neither long /e/ nor long /a/, the spelling is usually ei: their, seismic, foreign. Some exceptions to this rule are friend, sieve, and mischief.
Rule 2: When adding suffixes that begin with a vowel (-able, -ible, -ous, etc.) to words ending in silent e, drop the last e in the word. (1) This rule explains why a word like desire contains an e and a word like desirable does not. Other examples include, response → responsible, continue → continuous. We do, however, retain the final e when a word ends in –ce or –ge in order to maintain the distinctive “soft” pronunciation of those consonants: notice → noticeable, courage → courageous (2) For reasons of pronunciation, the final e is also retained in words ending in a double e. For example, agree → agreeable, flee → fleeing.
Rule 3: When adding suffixes to words ending in y, change the y to an i. (1) This rule explains the spelling shift that occurs in the following word pairs: happy → happier, plenty → plentiful, body → bodily. (2) As English spelling does not generally allow an i to follow another i, the y is retained when the suffix itself begins with an i:carry → carrying, baby → babyish.
Rule 4: When adding suffixes, double the final consonant of a word only if any of the following conditions apply. The final consonant is preceded by a single vowel: bar → barred. When there is more than one vowel before the final consonant, the consonant is not doubled: fail → failed. When the final consonant is preceded by another consonant, the consonant is not doubled: bark → barking. The word has only one syllable or has the stress on the last syllable: fit → fitted, prefer → preferred. For words with more than one syllable where the stress does not fall on the last syllable, the final consonant is not doubled: benefit → benefited, offer → offered. The suffix begins with a vowel: prefer → preferred. But if the syllable stress changes because of the addition of the suffix, then the consonant is not doubled: prefer → preference. Final consonants are also not doubled if the suffix begins with a consonant: prefer → preferment. If the word ends in l or p, then the consonant is usually doubled: |
Try implementing the above steps for a few months and observe the difference yourself!
If you like these tips, please take a moment to share with your friends and also let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Related Posts
Tags In this Post :
Add Comment Total Comments (11)
1. shankar | October 27th, 2015 at 8:22 pm
I Will FOLLOW YOUR TIPS.
thank you meritnation.
2. Madhavi Garlapalli | September 9th, 2015 at 7:05 pm
Very useful tips for the students thank you very much.
3. sreedev p.s | September 6th, 2015 at 6:23 pm
thanks for giving good tips
4. vishva nath bhardwaj | September 5th, 2015 at 5:56 pm
thanks for tips nice tips many helpful for new students
5. Aarthi | September 4th, 2015 at 2:32 pm
COOL
6. aayushi gupta | August 24th, 2015 at 10:49 am
Hello All,
We can use this website to our spelling check
7. THEESHAN | August 23rd, 2015 at 1:32 pm
REALLY USEFUL
8. bhumi | August 22nd, 2015 at 4:44 pm
Really I will follow them
THANK YOU
9. Fatima al zahra | August 21st, 2015 at 9:59 pm
very helpful
10. abhinav | August 19th, 2015 at 8:25 pm
thank you for my good spelling
11. Vikalp | August 18th, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Nice tips..
Comment