Spelling

[Adobo]

I guess the limited space for tweeting and text messaging, not enough to express all the words that we wanted to write or say, forces us to tread on the correct spelling by abbreviating or writing it in a shorter form. Also, technology like mobile phone with a small keypad has a way of making it hard for us to write a word in full thus making us lazy to even complete the word. I think it also has something to do with rushing on saying what we have to say that we no longer feel the need to taste the word. It’s like the importance of the word is replaced by the importance of time that the word should reach the other person right away. It’s like we return to the World War era where messages were transmitted through short messages or telegraph.

[sayitwell]

i've been thinking about all the time i used to spend learning how to spell words.  all the time i spent memorizing the spelling of words and those poor kids in spelling bees that also spent countless hours learning how to spell obscure words.  what a gigantic waste of time!  the computers can spell the words for us. this wasn't the case when i was in school.  now that it is the case, i reflect on the time and effort that i wasted learning all of those words and it makes me cringe.

[ghanashyam]

Blame the teacher and the schools. They do not insist now a days on spellings. Most of the students do not have even a standard dictionary.  I get so pissed when I see U for YOU and R for ARE.

Thanks has vanished, instead of see TXS. These things are not being accepted in schools until now but I shall not be surprised if you see them in notebooks of students after few years.

[Red151]

I think the internet culture has definitely created a system that makes people want to abbreviate words and get them out as quickly as they can. I don't think it's people not having the proper intelligence, but rather people not having the same set of ideals (to have perfect grammar) than others.

[sayitwell]

i keep noticing people on the internet confuse "they're", "their" and "there".  i can't believe that people mess those words up.  i often wonder if today's youth paid any attention in class.  it's like they didn't even try to learn grammar at all.  the future is bleak.

[ghanashyam]

People have no patience to use the spell checker on the computer, they just write and forget. The rules of myna no longer exist. The formatting of the letter is different than that which I learn in the school. But I hate the use of " advise " and " advice " all in incorrect ways.

[rgaz83]

I know I'm not the greatest speller, but I do try. But there are a lot of people that don't try. I've met so many people who throw up their hands and say "don't blame me for the "typos", that's my spellchecker". My response is: why are you relying on the spell checker so much? True dyslexia is rare, so I don't accept that as an excuse for most people.

It doesn't help that I've seen several articles where schools are going to stop grading kids on things like grammar and spelling, so as not to hamper their "creativity". You don't want to make little kids cry, do you?

Sigh.

[SayItAll]

I've been struggling with it a lot more now because the only real writing I do is when I'm texting and I never spell the full word out. I can't speak for everyone else, but I know this is why my spelling is not at its best. I've had some friends agree and say the same things, so that makes me feel a little better

[LauraM]

It doesn't help that I've seen several articles where schools are going to stop grading kids on things like grammar and spelling, so as not to hamper their "creativity". You don't want to make little kids cry, do you?

Sigh.

Unfortunately this is becoming a trend. 

It's important to learn these basics of grammar, punctuation and spelling.  You can't be freed up to be creative in writing if you don't know these fundamentals.  Relying on spell checkers and autocomplete is just not the same. 

And beyond that, it's terrible for students to be robbed of the opportunity to learn from mistakes and failure.  This is crucial for development as a human being.  We learn the most from our mistakes.  And learning that failure is a teacher, not something to be feared, is extremely important.  It's so detrimental to the students in the long run when they are treated so indulgently.   

[DiesIrae]

Let's leave text speak out of schools. It's already overused outside the school and it's not hard to do, it doesn't really restrict creativity.

Oddly, for me, I get more misspellings in my touch QWERTY keyboard than when I was using the numbered keypad for texting.

[pandandesign]

Spelling has been one of my biggest concerns for a lot of people. I am very strict on spelling because I make sure when I write, I try to spell the words correctly. I'm a Pharmacy student, and I have to spell the prescription words correctly because one single error will get me into trouble. I have learned spelling when I started learning English. I have always make sure the words in which I spell are error-free.

[justusforus]

I really think all the posts make good points and I do dislike the butchering of words thanks to texting, people in a hurry and the proliferation of slang phrases and spellings.  I do type fast and I have made not only spelling errors but sometimes misuse homonyms like "their" and "there".  I know the difference but I think I am either distracted or my mind is not keeping up with my fingers.

[Alfonso]

I think the Internet has caused this phenomenon.  Twitter, texting and facebook all encourage the use of short words with few characters.  The result is pathetic abbreviations with a high amount of misspellings. 

My pet peeves are "their" "they're" and "there" and "it's" versus "its".  Really though, there are a million more common spelling errors.  Part of the problem is reliance on spell check.  And the fact that hardly anyone reads anymore.

I agree with you here. Hardly anyone reads, I myself do most of my reading online, when I read on paper its probably the news paper. I kind of miss reading a book now that I think about it.

[JessiFox]

I know if you look on the internet it seems very bleak, but I'm not sure about in real life examples. I know many people who struggle with spelling, and just rely on spell check to fix things for them if they really need things to be flawless.

[Baburra]

I think it's just a case of things being a lot more visible now, and we can't expect everyone to know English as well as we do. Most people who misspell are probably not native English speakers, and if they are, only then will it be a shame, in my opinion. It's not the worst thing in the world, though.

[MyDigitalpoint]

People think that is "groovy" misspell the words because they use to do it on their phones to cope with the SMS limit and even on Twitter where you can only type 140 characters.

Typos when at the computer sometimes are inevitable, misspellings sometimes necessary to meet the maximum limited allowed, but when used on a regular basis, they aren't cool nor trendy, at least not to me but deplorable.

[KellyValentine]

I think I have become so dependent on spell check and word prediction that I don't really realize when it is time to do something without using one of those I may be lost. I don't think that it's lack of education on my part but lack of practice.

[Dame6089]

I think technology definitely has something to do with it. I myself use abbreviations, but that doesn't mean I do not know how to smell. I too am annoyed when people can't tell the difference between their, they're, and there. That is just basic grammar.

[LauraM]

I think technology definitely has something to do with it. I myself use abbreviations, but that doesn't mean I do not know how to smell. I too am annoyed when people can't tell the difference between their, they're, and there. That is just basic grammar.

I agree.  The confusion of their, they're and there seems to me to go beyond just a spelling error.  These words have completely different meanings and are used in completely different circumstances.  I think it's a fundamental lack of understanding of how and when to use these words.  I think this could be indicative of laziness, indifference or perhaps even lack of critical thinking. 

[pandandesign]

I'm very strict when comes to Spelling. Technology does change the way people can use any software that has spell checks. Microsoft Word does offer spell check while people are typing. I think that's very convenient and at the same time, spoil the way people spell words. I have always paid attention to spelling because I try not to reply on the technology too much.

[MyDigitalpoint]

I have always tried to observe good spelling, but typing makes one fall into many typos or -- in my case -- write down a word the way it is pronounced rather than the way it should be written, and doing this certainly makes the sense of such word many times 

However, I try to double check my typed text to avoid those spelling pitfalls, as a result of criticism and mocking that I received in the past for misspelling words accidentally.

[writeletters]

It's true, spelling is becoming one of the things people are ignorant about. I think the main reason is spellcheck. Now that we have spellcheck, people don't care to learn how to spell a difficult word, they just wait for their spellcheck to fix it.

[Katya S]

Yes I agree, it does seem like the majority of people are getting worse at spelling. They rely on spell check, which is alright I suppose if they're using a computer, but it's really not very helpful when you're writing things out by hand. In my class, we haven't had a spelling test for ages - it sort of seems like the teachers have given up on it.

[diprod]

Is it just me, or are people now days not able to spell very well? Is it because we are all typing so quickly or just a lack of proper education? It's hard to blame it on keyboards when the words that are misspelled have corresponding letters that aren't anywhere near each other on a standard keyboard in the first place.

I blame texting for people who no longer care about spelling. Lol Even autocorrect is so not really correcting. It makes things worst!

[ejazu]

People don't care about spelling as long as they can get their point across. Those that use shorthand to type "i lk 2 txt u'. I hate you guys. It's so annoying and is a pain reading. I don't know who told these people that it's "cool" to type that way. People! Please use correct grammar with proper capitalization. This also reflects when writing professional reports and resumes with bad grammar are thrown aside 99% of the times.