tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post5504876514541934201..comments2024-03-26T19:18:46.162+00:00Comments on The Spelling Blog: 5 reasons why English spelling is difficultJohannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16298865019130446615noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-10288939698292773242012-05-22T06:49:58.097+01:002012-05-22T06:49:58.097+01:00^ I agree.^ I agree.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-86118866046789780232012-03-31T19:09:08.651+01:002012-03-31T19:09:08.651+01:00in my point of view English spelling isn't it...in my point of view English spelling isn't it just needs more practice to be professional or speak like the native speaker but i think spelling English is sometimes confusing as "Radwa" shows an example there are another example as the sound /c/ sometimes it pronounced /c/ like the word (ice) , and sometimes it pronounced /k/ like the word (car)shaimaa Essam Abdelkareimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13161069284116695524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-12529269118473177132012-03-31T09:41:32.127+01:002012-03-31T09:41:32.127+01:00I want to add another reason that English spelling...I want to add another reason that English spelling is difficult as the sounds in English are slightly similar like, the sound/i:/ , /e/, and /i/.<br />this similarity make the learner confused and make it harder to identify to the sound in order to spell it.Radwa Samir Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07144395568497758814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-70999786022957030002012-03-31T09:33:28.989+01:002012-03-31T09:33:28.989+01:00I think that we have to love the language as whole...I think that we have to love the language as whole in order to learn it very well so,loving the English spelling is a good thing...<br />and great job Johanna. Thank`s for this great information it added a lot to me like all of your other writes.Radwa Samir Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07144395568497758814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-3642611030892218192011-09-06T01:12:21.469+01:002011-09-06T01:12:21.469+01:00Hi. It isn't "éscaner" but "esc...Hi. It isn't "éscaner" but "escáner".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-45348475797054077832009-01-04T19:34:00.000+00:002009-01-04T19:34:00.000+00:00John, thanks for your really interesting observati...John, thanks for your really interesting observations, though I am slightly confused about the comments about the Norfolk accents (being a Norfolk gul (woman) myself!!). I really can't hear any difference between a Norfolk 'meat' and 'meet'. Maybe I need to get out into the countryside more!<BR/><BR/>Anyway my biggest problem with spelling reform is: HOW could it ever happen? WHO is going to prescribe that we spell words a particular new way? What about native speakers (admittedly in the minority nowadays among English language users)? Some don't want to change their language. If we were talking about changing the spelling in a language in one country maybe this could be gradually done within the education system, but worldwide?? I mean even in the USA, why did Noah Webster only manage to get so few spelling conventions changed when he had planned for much more sweeping changes?Johannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298865019130446615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-13280185072516314242009-01-03T21:48:00.000+00:002009-01-03T21:48:00.000+00:00A great deal can be done without switching to phon...A great deal can be done without switching to phonetic spelling, which as you say is inherently usable only in one dialect. TS is based on a roughly 14th-century accent, and since then English accents have diversified by two major processes, <I>splits</I> and <I>mergers</I>. In a split, two sounds originally alike are now pronounced differently: for some people, <I>bad</I> and <I>lad</I> don't rhyme. Fortunately, no splits have become universal, so in a universal spelling system they can be ignored.<BR/><BR/>Mergers, however, come in two categories: universal and local. An example of a universal merger is that between <I>vain</I> and <I>vein</I>. All accents pronounce these words the same, and there is no reason to keep the distinction any more. Similarly, <I>mb</I> and <I>m</I> at the ends of words are now pronounced the same by everyone, and there is no reason to keep the distinction between <I>thumb</I> and <I>sum</I>.<BR/><BR/>Other mergers, however, affect some accents but not others. The Norfolk accent, for example, does not have the mergers <I>toe-tow</I>, <I>meat-meet</I>, and <I>lain-lane</I> that are found in most other accents of English. It's my view that we should retain spelling distinctions that are useful to people who have them. It's only a bit more work to learn that <I>ait</I>, <I>ate</I>, and <I>eight</I> are three ways of writing the same sounds, and that the distinction is kept because other people require it. That way we don't get into debates about which accents are more important than others. (It's arguable how far this should be carried: writing <I>poark</I> would be very sensible for people from Scotland or Jamaica, for whom <I>fork</I> and <I>pork</I> don't rhyme, for instance.)John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-60593874988214281812008-12-30T22:19:00.000+00:002008-12-30T22:19:00.000+00:00Joanna, u'r rite! U do speek difrently from me, in...Joanna, u'r rite! U do speek difrently from me, in New Zealand.<BR/>Our present traditional spelling (TS) is ruffly (very ruffly) based on the two principal dialects, Received Pronunciation (Brit) and General American. We out here in the distant outposts mor or less cope with that as well as do peeple in Yorkshire, Scotland, Louisiana, Indias, Canada, etc. <BR/>New spellings would, i think, still be based on those two major dialects, as expressed by BBC and NBC newsreeders. We all would then cope eeven better than we do at present.<BR/>Actually, its not so much fonemicity that is needed, as regularity.<BR/>Pay and display, but paid and displayed. End, send, and bend, but friend. Lope, rope, and cope (not kowp!), but soap, boat, float. <BR/>And as for the long ee sound, about 13 difrent spellings!<BR/>Its the irregularity that throws us, especially when we ar lerning at ages 6-11 (what a long time!). Italians lern is a yeer or so.<BR/>Eeven we adults can be thrown by our spellings, as i was recently in the garden shop. Unless we hav herd a word, we cant confidently sound it from its spelling; and vice versa, we cant be sure of its spelling from its sound unless we'v seen it. <BR/>Litracy lerning for English speekers takes up to three yeers longer than for lerners of most other European languages. This is a huge cost, in resorces (remeedial reeding), lost time for other subjects, emotional helth of the lerner, extra costs for busness traning new employees, etc.<BR/>Its time we took a long-term vew and started fixing up this blunt, broken, and unreliable tool.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-24339911624748637502008-12-30T18:45:00.000+00:002008-12-30T18:45:00.000+00:00Thanks fe ye koment, Allanstr. Akchaly I downt agr...Thanks fe ye koment, Allanstr. Akchaly I downt agree that speling riform iz the yarnsa bikoz the way u speek may bi very difrent te how I speek sow hou kan we rite fonetikly? Fe rexample u rite "Alfabets and spelling wer desined to help us reed and rite". Fe me (British) the 'r' in 'wer' is just as ridundunt as thee 'e' so wy not get rid ov that too? Orlso how wud you rite 'jumped', 'roared' and 'started'? Orl with difrent endings I spose? That meens we karnt imeedietly rekognaiz that they a parst tenses. But my mayn argyument iz that it is just too difikult te chaynge a langwidge and I like te help peepl kowp with wot we hav. Few!<BR/>Best wishes<BR/>JohannaJohannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298865019130446615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-52547840466377040442008-12-28T20:51:00.000+00:002008-12-28T20:51:00.000+00:00'How to love English spelling'??? U've got to be k...'How to love English spelling'??? U've got to be kidding! <BR/>We love the language, but its spelling is atrocious. Alfabets and spelling wer desined to help us reed and rite. They do in languages such as Italian and Korean. <BR/>Michael asks about a co-ordinated international campane to standardize English spelling. There ar actually two organizations working to this end<BR/>The spelling society, based in London<BR/>www.spellingsociety.org , and the American Literacy Council, New York<BR/>www.americanliteracy.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-68989156945713116212008-12-28T08:19:00.000+00:002008-12-28T08:19:00.000+00:00Thanks for your comment, Michael. There have been ...Thanks for your comment, Michael. <BR/><BR/>There have been numerous attempts to simplify English spelling. The most successful I suppose has been by the Americans, e.g. changing 'our' to 'or' ('colour' to 'color') and 're' to 'er' ('litre' to 'liter'), etc. But even these reforms were much less sweeping than those Noah Webster had originally planned. <BR/><BR/>The Spelling Society is an organisation dedicated to spelling reform. Reforming English spelling enough to make a real difference in ease of learning would be a massively complicated job though. I can't imagine it happening 'artificially', although it may just change through usage e.g. 'you' may become 'U'. <BR/><BR/>Spelling reform is an interesting subject and I'll try to blog about it in more depth soon.Johannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16298865019130446615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1355643440964865816.post-3219871619769642252008-12-27T22:47:00.000+00:002008-12-27T22:47:00.000+00:00What a novel idea for a blog!I'm a little surprise...What a novel idea for a blog!<BR/><BR/>I'm a little surprised there hasn't been an international campaign to simplify and standardise English spelling.<BR/><BR/>I studied German at school and its spelling is much easier to learn, despite having similar historical influences to those you described for English.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com