by Elena Turner, Beyond Wordz

Spelling is defined as “the forming of words with letters in an accepted order”.. It sounds so simple and yet many of us today experience difficulty with spelling. This leads one to wonder why.

There are likely many causes. One is that some of us try to spell words by sounding them out. This is a serious error because English is not a phonetic language. Words aren’t always spelled the way that they sound. Hence, spelling by sounding out can be very frustrating, even futile. There is however, a solution to this problem. Instead of relying on how words sound, great spellers visualize words. They can “see” the word to be spelled and simply read it out. Where they see the word varies from person to person. Some see it in their mind and may or may not close their eyes to do so. Others can see the word pretty much anywhere they want to. They can superimpose it on a wall or have it hanging in the air in front of them. Once they see it, they just read it out, letter by letter. It is as though they have a snapshot of the word in their memory.

Some of us have a great capacity for visualization but are poor spellers. That is because we were never taught to apply this skill to spelling and must be shown how to do so. Others of us have a limited capacity to visualize and thus to become great spellers we must learn to increase our ability to do so. It is simply a matter of practice.

This leads us to yet another cause of difficulty with spelling. That is, word retention. In order to place a snapshot of a word in our memory, it is necessary to view that word in a special place while learning it. Once the word has been successfully locked into that place, it can be retrieved at any time by visualizing it and then reading it out as mentioned earlier. This special location is where each of us stores visually remembered information. It too can vary slightly from person to person. Once we find that location and place the word to be learned there, it will be retained. A simple assessment is all that is necessary to find each person’s “special location”. Anyone can perform this assessment.

A third cause of spelling difficulty is fear of embarrassment. If we have had a hard time with it in the past, we may be afraid of making an error and being laughed at. Once that pattern is ingrained, we might intentionally avoid situations where spelling is necessary and rely on others to pull us through. It might also lead to an avoidance of reading. One can only imagine the implications that this might have on a young life.

Knowing how to spell is a critical skill and lacking this ability can lead to a great deal of stress. “Super Spelling” is an effective easy to master technique that will have you or someone you care about spelling like a pro in no time. Some of you have already taken advantage of this method and have seen very positive improvement in a short period of time. Try it today and never worry again about spelling mistakes.

The “Super Spelling” handbook is available from “Beyond Wordz”. Please mail a cheque or money order in the amount of $18.00 CDN to our address below to receive it by mail (to points within Canada only). For orders outside Canada, please call the number below. You can also visit our web site to order at a cost of $16.05 CDN. Online purchases allow you to download the handbook directly to your computer.

For more information: Beyond Wordz,
1063 King Street West, Suite 139, Hamilton, ON L8S 4S3
Tel. (905) 547-6393
beyondwordz@on.aibn.com
www.beyondwordz.com

Tips for Family Literacy

Keep teens reading by giving them books, newspaper articles and magazines about things that interest them or by encouraging them to make use of the library services in your area. Literacy and learning are family affairs and can be fun. Talk together about what has been read, ask questions, listen. Use the Internet to look up places you would like to go to on a holiday. Read for the fun of it! Research shows that reading ability is like a muscle, if you don’t use it once and a while, you will not be able to maintain the same level of reading ability as you get older.

[This article was taken from the Port Hawkesbury Literacy Council website, in the Literacy Speaking articles section. These articles are part of a weekly column published in The Reporter, a community paper in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, and on the web. For more information, visit the Council website at : www.nald.ca/phlc.htm]