ID:182533
 
For as long as I remember I have been horrible at spelling. Approaching college I need to learn how to spell much better and fast. Its easy to write on a computer thanks to spell check, but if I get a job after a couple of mouth I think my Boss will get fed up with my atrocious spelling.

Hlep !

Examples:
besuase - Because
iorn - Iron
Etc.
Wow...

I think that there really is no solution that I know of that will not make you seem like a complete idiot. Only thing I can think of is getting a spelling book.

George Gough
sounds like dislexia <.<

and 1. u expect to get a job a couple months after STARTING college?

and 2. y wouldnt u be able to use spellcheck at work?
In response to Falacy
During College I am hoping to become an intern.
Interns usually take notes write schedules ect. lots of writing. So I am screwed
In response to Falacy
Falacy wrote:
and 2. y wouldnt u be able to use spellcheck at work?

He might not have the ability to use a computer at certain times.

George Gough
In response to KodeNerd
most profesional type jobs would REQUIRE you to turn in documents in a typed format. and type writers arent so popular anymore =P
In response to Falacy
Also, spellcheck is terrible. It shouldn't be your front-line defence against making a mistake.
In response to KodeNerd
haha what?

why would someone having poor spelling mean they're an idiot?

I'd say that to say such a thing would make someone an idiot, themselves.
i t3ach u 2 spell u give me GM!!!!1111oneoneone

Seriously, why are you asking here of all places? Would not a book serve you better than the copious and varied denizens of the internet?
Genjura wrote:
For as long as I remember I have been horrible at spelling. Approaching college I need to learn how to spell much better and fast. Its easy to write on a computer thanks to spell check, but if I get a job after a couple of mouth I think my Boss will get fed up with my atrocious spelling.

Well, first the good news: You spelled "atrocious" correctly, and it's not as easy a word as they go.

The bad news:
"It's", not "its" (it's = it is, its = belonging to it)
"months", not "mouth"
"boss", not "Boss" (inappropriate capitalziation)

In my experience, long-term trouble spelling some of the basics like "because" and "iron" can be from two things: Not reading enough, and dyslexia. The former is easy to fix. The latter is something that, if you have it, you probably should have learned coping strategies for years ago--but if you were never diagnosed I can see how that'd be difficult.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any crash courses in spelling. There probably are some, and likely 95% of them are crap. But the easiest way to learn to spell is through familiarity with the words. And chances are if undiagnosed or poorly treated dyslexia is part of the problem, it will hinder any attempt to learn rapidly.

In college you don't have to worry about this for the most part, except for your entrance exam (usually an essay is involved) and in some cases essay questions on a test. Most of the writing you'd do, though, would be on a computer. A computer's spell checker will catch somme stuff but miss others, so for working with one I'd focus on telling the following words apart:

it's / its
your / you're
there / their / they're
then / than
to / too / two

There are several other homophones like that to watch out for, but that's the short list.

Lummox JR
Reading and writing is the best cure. I don't do a lot of reading, but I do more than most people, and I write a ton, even if just as forum replies like these. If you look back on my history under my Scoobert key, you see a strong change from 2001, my key's creation date, to 2006, when I moved to this key. This all came as a direct result of reading more, and trying to correct my spelling mistakes when I can.

Also, when Firefox 2.0 added a spellchecker, my writing got a lot better. If you check the release date of the beta of Firefox 2, then look at my posts around that time range, you will probably see a huge change.
In response to Danial.Beta
My spelling has also been improved a lot by Firefox's spell checker. Thanks, Mozilla!
Read. A lot.
If you find me in the real world, odds are my overly large pockets will have at least two books in them, with another in my hand and a few more in my messenger bag.
Does that make me a perfect speller? Absolutely not. However, it does help to increase your vocabulary, and as you become more familiar with words, you find it easier to spell them.

Lummox mentioned dyslexia... Unfortunately, that does seem like the more likely cause. If these mistakes were only made on a computer, I'd say that your problem is likely to be because you type too fast for your fingers to really catch up. I tend to swap letters around while I'm typing if I'm not too careful.

Ultimately, your only real solution is to read, and, the horror of all horrors, practice. People think I am insane, because on occasion I will actually write an essay just for the practice so I can keep myself in the habbit of being able to write well for schoolwork and the college entrance exams and etc.
In response to Jamesburrow
Jamesburrow wrote:
Ultimately, your only real solution is to read, and, the horror of all horrors, practice. People think I am insane, because on occasion I will actually write an essay just for the practice so I can keep myself in the habbit of being able to write well for schoolwork and the college entrance exams and etc.

Are they any good? Do you publish them?
In response to PirateHead
I've published a couple in the school's "journal"
Most of the time though I just show them to my English teacher and get her to go through it and check it out.

My only problem is 5 paragraph essays =.= While I can write papers, short little essays get on my nerves because I try to say more than I can fit, lol.
In response to Jamesburrow
The number 5 is not magical, no matter how hard your high school instructors try to make you believe that it is.

One the one hand, you can let your essays take as long as they need to. On the other hand, it's crucial to take a critical look at what you've written and winnow it down to its best parts.
In response to PirateHead
PirateHead wrote:
One the one hand, you can let your essays take as long as they need to.

Not in any respectable university!
In response to Vortezz
Vortezz wrote:
Not in any respectable university!

professors that grade based on length are idiots
"You know how to copy and paste 5 pages off the internet!? You get an A!"

"Whats this? you made a completely valid and clearly expressed point but only used up 3 pages? D FOR YOU!"
In response to Falacy
Falacy wrote:
professors that grade based on length are idiots
"You know how to copy and paste 5 pages off the internet!? You get an A!"

"Whats this? you made a completely valid and clearly expressed point but only used up 3 pages? D FOR YOU!"

th-that's not what I said, haha

PirateHead essentially said "don't worry pal, you can make your essay as long as you want to! :3"

and I was simply saying

"not at all!"
In response to Vortezz
You misread a key word - I said "need". Not to be mistaken, I followed it up with a clear statement that brevity is valuable and that only the points that need to be made should be made.

When you're writing an essay, there is no magical number of paragraphs or of pages or of words. You might be forced by an assignment into following certain magic numbers, but that doesn't necessarily improve the essay.
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