How to Improve Your Spelling

01Hello!

02This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Guillermo in Argentina about how to spell words in English.

03Dear Teacher, When I hear some new words in English, I can find their meaning, but for me, the spelling is always difficult.

04Can you please give me some advice?

05Thank you.

06Guillermo.

07I'm happy to answer this question, Guillermo.

08English spelling can be difficult for several reasons.

09For many letters in the English alphabet, a letter can represent several sounds.

10Let's listen to the sound the letter A makes in each of the following six words.

11Cat.

12Day.

13Father.

14Ball.

15Many.

16Attack.

17Can you hear the difference between the two letters A of the last word?

18Let's listen again.

19Attack.

20Attack.

21The first syllable made the quick schwa sound, a.

22Because an English letter can make different sounds, words that have similar spellings can sound different from each other, as in these examples.

23In addition, words that have different spellings can sound the same.

24These are called homophones, as in these examples.

25Pause and pause.

26Road and road.

27Deer and deer.

28But that's not all.

29In many words, some letters are silent.

30They are not pronounced at all, like the letter B at the end of the word climb.

31You can see from all of the above examples that you cannot only use the sounds of words to know how to spell them.

32So, what should you do?

33Fortunately, English does have some general rules for spelling.

34For example, a famous rule that children learn in school is I before E except after C.

35This gives us the spelling of words such as peace, nice, receive.

36But be careful.

37There are still many words in English that break the spelling rules.

38The word science, for example, breaks the I before E rule.

39For words such as these, you simply have to memorize how to spell them.

40And how can you do that?

41The best way to help your memory is to read as much as possible and practice writing.

42Writing can test how well you know how to spell.

43Most computer programs also include a spell checker where misspelled words are underlined in a color.

44This helps you see any spelling mistakes you have made and also shows you the correct spelling.

45In addition to rules, there are spelling patterns.

46You can group words into the pattern they follow.

47For example, some words that have the spelling O-U-G-H include rough, tough, cough, though, and bought.

48Notice, however, that with these examples, the letters O-U-G-H made three different vowel sounds.

49Rough, cough, though.

50This, again, shows the need to memorize spellings because the sound of the word will not always tell you how to spell it.

51Lastly, becoming good at spelling can be enjoyable.

52Think of it like a game or other activity you enjoy.

53Over time, you will feel good as you learn to spell more and more words.

54There are many books, websites, and apps designed for spelling practice.

55Try to use these and practice your spelling.

56For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?

57We'd like to hear from you.

58Send us an email at learningenglish at voanews.com.

59And please include where you are from in your email, too.

60And that's Ask a Teacher.

61I'm Andrew Smith.

62I'm Andrew Smith.

63I'm Andrew Smith.

64I'm Andrew Smith.

65I'm Andrew Smith.

66I'm