English Language Discussion Forums


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Quick Links
Sites for Teachers



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-Mar-2007, 00:31
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 55
Current Location: Chicago
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Starstreams is on a distinguished road
Question Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

I was just wondering, since I’ve used MS word for over 8 years to correct my spelling I have gotten horrible at spelling to the point that I have to rearrange what I want to write in a class room environment.
Well I have an English 102 class starting in two weeks, is there anything anyone could recommend that I can do to at least master my most commonly used words so that I’m not so helpless

Advanced Thanks!
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2  
Old 02-Mar-2007, 03:09
rancher247's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Country: United States
Posts: 275
Current Location: IL
First Language: English
Member Type: Other
rancher247 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

There are a bunch of online resources you can use to improve your spelling.
Just google "improve spelling"!
Here are some links I found which may be helpful.
Spelling it Right - Learn to spell confidently
Learn English - English Spelling Guide - How to improve your spelling
Improve Your Spelling « LearningNerd
Yahoo! Answers - What can I do to improve my spelling?

You may also want to use a book:
Spelling Success Express - General spelling helpers

Hope this helps!!

Last edited by rancher247; 02-Mar-2007 at 03:28.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-Mar-2007, 03:26
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 55
Current Location: Chicago
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Starstreams is on a distinguished road
Thumbs up Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Nice links rancher!
I guess there is no quick trick but them books do look cool, I'll grab a few.
I saved them links, thanks for posting them!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-Mar-2007, 07:20
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Tdol has disabled reputation
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Be conscious of words you have difficulty with and use synonyms.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-Mar-2007, 22:45
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 55
Current Location: Chicago
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Starstreams is on a distinguished road
Question Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Hi Tdol, interesting.
Synonyms? What do you mean by “use them”? How?.

One trick I just learned from them links posted above was to separate compound words, Ex:
Packaging
Pack-a-ging
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-Mar-2007, 05:42
rancher247's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Country: United States
Posts: 275
Current Location: IL
First Language: English
Member Type: Other
rancher247 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

I think Tdol means that you should take each word that you say and try to think of or do a search at thesaurus.com for synonyms which are more difficult to spell and so learn how to spell those harder words, if that makes sense. :)
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 04-Mar-2007, 06:53
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 55
Current Location: Chicago
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Starstreams is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Yes, I see now
I do that now, I guess I just need to start writing stuff out and get away from the MS word Spell check. Although I never did fully learn all the grammer rules when I was in school I am doing so now.

Thanks guys for your advice!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 04-Mar-2007, 09:06
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Tdol has disabled reputation
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

I know I have difficulty remembering a word like 'de(s)si(c)cated', so I would avoid it in class or learn it once and for all. Try to be aware of letter patterns that cause trouble, say ones like -ence and -ance, and try to master them and try not to use them when unsure.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-Mar-2007, 18:33
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Country: USA
Posts: 55
Current Location: Chicago
First Language: English
Member Type: Student or Learner
Starstreams is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Good advice.
Those are good ones. It would be cool to have a web site where you could hear certain sounds like that, Dictionary.com use to let you listen and download the .wav sound files if you paid and logged in, but now it seems they put a stop to the downloading of the files. it was nice becouse I would save the sounds and refere back to just the ones I needed if I forgot during my English 101 class.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 05-Mar-2007, 08:08
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh
First Language: English
Member Type: English Teacher
Tdol has disabled reputation
Default Re: Spelling in two weeks, how can I?

Merriam-Webster Online let's you hear the files.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
It's been two weeks patbyw Ask a Teacher 2 05-Nov-2006 20:36
Re-Romanization of English Apcbg General Language Discussions 11 17-Apr-2006 16:01
What's the point of spelling competition? YTG General Language Discussions 13 14-Oct-2005 20:00
Spelling Help for an Eight-Year-Old Russian Girl Steven D Teaching English 5 14-Oct-2004 01:35
International English spelling hermes General Language Discussions 8 05-Nov-2003 20:54


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:19.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.3.0
Copyright © 2002 - 2009 UsingEnglish.com