Spelling

[briwiththei]

Please can some one give me tips on how to improve my spelling, are there any simple rules i can follow or use to improve it, for example i before e etc, or is it just a case of reading more. my spelling is poor i feel and does hold me back in the work place and is not doing me confidence any good.

[Lennypops]

Hi

I think you would find the following book really helpful.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-New-First-Aid-in-Engl ish/dp/0340882875/sr=1-1/qid=1156873958/ref=pd _bowtega_1/202-3993873-2380616?ie=UTF8&s=books

It is great for helping with spelling, grammar and the English language in general.

Hope it helps!

[lynlockwood]

Reading more may increase your vocab but probably won't help your spelling. There are some 'rules' but they are generally very complicated and unhelpful. My advice would be to make a list of the words that you know you struggle with but have to use regularly eg. 'friend' or 'address'. Then try to make up your own rule to help you remember it- eg. friend ends in 'end'. But the brain can't cope with too much new stuff so just focus on learning one or two new words a week at the most. keep a list of danger words nearby at work as well as a dictionary. When you are checking anything you have written give yourself chance to focus- check it once for factual content/good sense and then check it again just for spelling and rigorously look at each word. Good luck.

[ALLIGATOR]

Hi There,
There is no easy way to improve your spelling
but Reading and writing and a good book on grammar will help. I am 79 and remember that I was always told that
I came before E excepting after C. Example as follows
RECEIPT, FRIEND, NIECE, RECEIVE.
Hope this helps a little. Good Luck. ALLIGATOR

[reinganum]

I'm not quite as old as you, alligator, but I remember being taught this rule, and then almost as quickly finding contradictions all over the place, e.g.: reign, foreign, neighbour, leisure etc. etc., and then someone told me that the full version was:

I before E, except after C,
when the sound is "ee",
except, if you please,
for that little word "seize"

The rule actually only governs around a dozen or so commonly used words in English!

[mrs p]

Another useful book is "English for further education" by Constance Hawkins and Roger Stranwick (my copy is borrowed from the local library, section 428). They have useful tips such as: :
'Remember the instruction "fill till full" and that each of these 3 words loses an "l" when other letters are joined in front.'
So, awe + full = aweful; beauty + full = beautiful, etc.
There is also some helpful information about spelling, grammar and punctuation - worth a look.
Otherwise, just word awareness helps - looking up words, writing them out, doing crosswords. Good luck.

[mrs p]

Whoops! My spelling's OK but my typing's a disaster. I meant to write "awful", of course, rather than "aweful".