Improve Your Writing and Comprehension

Improve Your Writing and Comprehension
Spelling can be one of those things in life that can be enough of an interference to make life difficult. For others, it can be straight out demoralising. Perhaps you are currently dealing with your own spelling and vocabulary difficulties or are trying to help your child with spelling development. Whatever the reason, there are some basic rules of spelling that can be followed in order to make the process easier.

Some Basic Guidelines of Spelling

  1. The i before e, except after c rule, such as in "achieve" or "friend". Just remember, though, there are exceptions to most rules. The i before e rule does not work in the case of those words that have an a sound to them, such as "eight" or "freight", or with cie such as in "deficient". 

  2. Often, adding a prefix to a word does not change how the main word is spelt, such as "dissatisfied" or "misinformed".
  3. Dropping the y. For words that end in y, and where a consonant (ie all the letters in the alphabet except a, e, i, o, u) is before it, drop the y when adding an ending, such as "worry" to "worried". This does not apply to those endings that start with i, such as "cry" to "crying" nor to words where there is a vowel (ie, a, e, i, o, u) before the y, such as "obeyed". 

 4. Drop the final e. Drop the e  when the word ends with a vowel, such as "advance" to "advancing"; when there is a vowel before the silent e, such as "argue" to "argument". The exception is if the ending begins with a consonant; here, keep the e, such as "advance" to "advancement" (CSU, 2005).

Learning from Incorrectly Spelt Words
Apart from following rules of spelling, another method of improving your or your child’s spelling is to analyse words that are consistently spelt incorrectly. It will potentially signal areas in which you need help. Cabrillo College (2005) suggests that whenever you incorrectly spell a word, you should:
•    1. Write the word the way you have incorrectly spelt it;
•    2. Write the correct spelling;
•    3. Write down why you incorrectly spelt it;
•    4. Define the word in your own words;
•    5. Use the word in a sentence.

Easier and More Enjoyable Way: Spelling and Vocabulary Software
Another method of improving your or your child’s spelling skills is to use computer-assisted learning. For example, Ultimate Vocabulary’s Ultimate Spelling product is software that follows the rules of spelling, can accelerate learning, and makes education fun. It offers 100 spelling lists and has a 142,647-word dictionary and thesaurus. There are also 20,127 high-quality audio pronunciations.
Spelling skills are an important confidence booster at school or in the workplace. There are basic rules of spelling that learners can follow. Computer-assisted learning tools can also be used in order to learn the fundamental rules of spelling and to offer a fun learning experience.