How should I practice spelling?

[emsr2d2]

I had used only "practice" (in BrE) for both the noun and the verb until joining this forum. I genuinely believed that "practise" was used only in AmE and even then I didn't know if it was used as the verb or the noun. The wonderful Piscean put me straight! My method for remembering it now is that I picture the sign outside my doctor's surgery, which says "[name] Medical Practice". Obviously that's a noun so once I've pictured that, I know which one is which and apply the correct ending to whatever I'm writing. I'll be honest - it's still not automatic. Clearly I need more practice. Or I need to practise more. ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

I am surprised that B has any friends asking what he, and it's probably a he, is doing tonight. ;-)

It's semi-autobiographical.

PS In BrE, the verb is practise.

Somebody had to say it. You have no idea how much that awful American spelling has bugged me every time I've looked at this thread. I'm just itching to change the c to an s! (Oddly, even more than Glizdka's unfortunately dysorthographic pacticing in post #1.)

 

[jutfrank]

I had used only "practice" (in BrE) for both the noun and the verb until joining this forum.

You think you know someone ...

 

[Glizdka]

Advise is pronounced with a voiced /z/ sound which the combination "ce" can't represent, so that seems pretty straightforward. If you refer back to advise/advice when spelling practise/practice British style, just follow the same verb/noun pattern. The pronunciation obviously won't help you there.

That's why I keep mixing them up. "-ise is a verb suffix, just remember that one word is always spelled -ice in AmE" is useful advice, but I need to practice more which one, advice/advise or practice/practise, it is.

Another pair I have a problem with is eternal/ethernal, and etereal/ethereal. I don't know why I want a th in ethernal, but I even find it easier to say it that way. Any advice?

 

[emsr2d2]

Another pair I have a problem with is eternal/ethernal, and etereal/ethereal. I don't know why I want a th in ethernal, but I even find it easier to say it that way. Any advice?

Do you mean that you actually pronounce "eternal" as if it contains "th"? And that you pronounce "ethereal" as if it doesn't have "th"?

 

[Glizdka]

Do you mean that you actually pronounce "eternal" as if it contains "th"? And that you pronounce "ethereal" as if it doesn't have "th"?

Yup. That's precisely what happens from time to time. I'd have to focus all the time to keep it right. I have a similar problem with widely/wildly, especially as in "widely/wildly different".

 

[GoesStation]

That's why I keep mixing them up. "-ise is a verb suffix, just remember that one word is always spelled -ice in AmE" is useful advice, but I need to practice more which one, advice/advise or practice/practise, it is.

You shouldn't have a problem provided you know that advise is pronounced differently from advice. They follow the rules — well, suggestions anyway — of English pronunciation. When you're writing "practice" or "practise", think of the matching word from the advice/advise pair and use the matching suffix.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't know why I want a th in ethernal, but I even find it easier to say it that way. Any advice?

You seem simply to have learnt this word visually rather than auditorily. That really just means that you predominantly use your visual memory to access it. This is quite a common strategy for second language learners.

You have therefore to 'shift' it out of your visual memory and into your auditory memory. My 4-step advice is this:

1) Download the 1988 hit song Eternal Flame by US pop-rocksters The Bangles (featuring the lovely Susanna Hoffs on lead vocal and rhythm guitar).

2) Listen to it several times a day over the course of six weeks.

3) Practise singing it four times a day (ideally before meals) in various locations around your home, including but not limited to: in the shower, in the shed, on your way down the stairs, on your way up the stairs, behind the sofa, and next to the fridge. Repeat this step until the song is automatic.

4) Annoy your colleagues by persistently singing it in the workplace, before mentioning how cute you think Susanna Hoffs is, and how she looks even better now at 61 than she ever did in the 80s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cZnNZZDP3s

 

[Glizdka]

I like your 4-step advice. It [STRIKE]helped[/STRIKE] didn't help me with the word rythm, probably not gonna help with with eternal [STRIKE]too[/STRIKE] either.

 

[emsr2d2]

You mean "rhythm". ;-)

 

[Tdol]

It's semi-autobiographical.

An evening of misorthography sounds OK to me. Maybe I should get out more.

 

[jutfrank]

I like your 4-step advice. It helped me with the word rhythm,

Well, I'd probably have suggested this, but okay.

(My 4-step program doesn't help with spelling, unfortunately.)

 

[jutfrank]

It's semi-autobiographical.

An evening of misorthography sounds OK to me. Maybe I should get out more.

I meant it when I said it was only semi-autobiographical. The real story is that I stay in and spend my evenings correcting other people's dysorthography (among other things) on this here wonderful forum.

(Thanks, Tdol, for providing such a great website. :up

 

[Glizdka]

Holy excrement, I actually misspelled rhythm... that wasn't intentional...

 

[Tdol]

This thread is shining a light into many dark corners. ;-)