Do U.S. primary & elementary schools teach spelling anymore? If so, why don't people know how to spell?
103529
People think that because they are on the Internet they don't have to spell things properly or edit what they have written.\n\nI've seen so many misspelled words and poor syntax on Yahoo Questions, and it's not just from EAASL (English As A Second Language) speakers.\n\nAlso some people think it's cool to hax0r talk.  Bunch of Un-l33t bastages if you ask me.
1021882
no it is def not you. for example, the person who answered first gave the wrong "its", so there is prove right there. The problem is Microsoft Word. it corrects grammer, punc., and spelling so that people don't have to use their brains anymore. Technology is actually killing education slowly but surely.
815698
Does anyone know how to spell?
1006570
No, it really irritates those of us who bothered to learn proper grammar and spelling in school.  The problem today?  It's called No Child Left Behind (aka dumbing down the curriculum).
1001249
If spelling is so important (and I believe it is) why do we have two 'English' speaking countries spelling words differently? Examples of this is in America, red, green, yellow are "colors" yet in England and Australia they are "colours". \nIn the past the idea of spelling words as they sound was considered, however the word covering this style of spelling is "Phonetic spelling". Yeh, like that will catch on. Maybe if it was called 'Fonetic" it might have stood a chance. Anyway, as the English language is always developing and the original meanings of words are being lost, so is the ability to spell correctly.
661560
Perhaps I can speak from a teacher's point of view: Spelling is taught in American schools however; they usually teach it in conjunction with grammar and vocabulary. I agree that our students have some issues with spelling because there are so many rules. I have a hard time trying to teach my students to memorize the rules. (i before e; etc.) If you memorize spelling rules and apply them, spelling can be a breeze. I also believe that spelling is a subject that you just "have to like". Just like with Math. Everyone does not like math. As for me, I love the language of English. I study it, I read, I define words, I investigate the linguistics of the language but everybody does not find this their main focus. Finally, I don't think that the statement can be limited to "all" Americans. That's too general.  I'll bet there are some pretty bad spellers in Dennmark, Norway, Africa, Russia, The Netherlands, Egypt, Ireland, Alaska...well..you get my drift. (smile)
356723
No, not on the school system. They teach students that it's "I before E except after C", or the difference between "they're", "their" and "there". Trouble is, most students nowadays are too lazy to bother to work at remembering all of that stuff and the school administration has to get them out of the way for the next batch, so they just pass them along. I find it mind-boggling that there are grown people, men and women in responsible positions, who don't know when to use "its" and "it's". Hell, we even have the miracle of Spell Check and people are STILL to lazy to use it.\n--\nOh, and to the people who say "chill out, this is supposed to be a fun site", what's the point of asking a question if no one can understand what it's supposed to be asking? I mean, if you sent me an email asking for the emergency police number for future reference and I typed one back saying "Its 711", wouldn't you be a little pissed to find out it's completely wrong? or if you post a question here asking for the name of the guy who invented the light bulb and someone sent the answer, "Tmos Edyisen", wouldn't that keep you from find out more by doing an internet search since the name is completely mangled? Sending a clear message is a key part of the information process. This site is all about information.
1044114
There are two senses of "bad spelling".  Mixing up "your" and "you're" and spelling "schedule" as "skedool", for instance, are probably a result of foreigners with poor English skills and the fact that English grammar and spelling aren't taught in school any more (as far as I know).\n\nUsing "u" for "you" and "c" for "see" is more lazy than outright wrong and has most likely been spawned by the advent of internet chat rooms and cell-phone text-messaging.
601457
To some extent it's true that schools seem to be getting more lax these days.  I cannot count the number of people who have not been made to learn the difference between 'to' and 'too;' 'it's' and 'its;' 'there,' 'their,' and 'they're.'\n\nOn the other hand, however, I believe it's also partly the environment.  I have many classmates in college who are able to write correctly and coherently in their papers, but as soon as they go online, all such grammar vanishes.  It's part laziness I think, and part lingo.  It's like using slang or an accent to show you belong.\n\nOf course, there's also the group of people who just never really learned to type.  Their sentences and spelling are messed up because they hit the wrong keys and don't see it or don't bother to fix it.
422803
Well, let's see...you have a large number of non-, or little-English speaking participants from all over the world.  And you have a vast number of children who obviously got little or nothing out of their public school experience.  Finish that off with the handful who have no idea how to use a spell-checker, and.....voila!
1041534
Idk- Is it the school's fault that you can't spell and poor at grammer?
1105273
As a teacher of students with special needs in the United States, I can definitively say from both the research articles I've read, and from personal experience, that properly taught phonics greatly improves both a child's reading skills and their ability to analyze any sort of information.\n\nPhonics went out of vogue for a while because many teachers were not bringing in the "bridging" steps to whole-sentence and paragraph comprehension. This failure resulted in "phonics" as a whole being maligned for a while (sadly).\n\nNow, especially in special ed, it is coming back strongly, through the research work and training of special ed teachers and organizations like the International Dyslexia Association.
243130
That is pretty funny. What is even funnier is that everyone who answers this question will be weary of spelling correctly (or vice versa). The education system is lacking; however, I think that when people feel comfortable in an environment where spelling correctly is not an expectation, they just go crazy. Most like that slang, but I truly find it atrocious.
1002194
I wouldn't worry your not the only one. there are tons of people that don't spell good. I don't spell good, I use spell check for everything. I would be lost without it.
442896
The united states is considered a world power.  Spelling rules such as this are why.  By the time U.S. citizens have gone through the educational system being taught to spell these words without an explanation of why, it causes them to be able to acomplish almost anything.  As a second grade teacher I misspelled the word forty when attempting to teach my students.  I got a whole lot of responces from parents, as well as lots of jibes from fellow staff members.  The way I see it, when we are taught spelling with such things as...1. The bandage was wound around the wound...2. the farm was used to produce produce...3.the dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse....4. We must polish the Polish furniture...5. He could lead if he could get the lead out...6. There are many others, but I think you get it.  All I know is that I now know how to spell fourty...ooops, forty!
84029
Ok, this isn't a very good place to make a judgment on how well people can spell. \nFor one, there is a wide age range here. I have seen children as young as 11 here, so obviously they are more apt to make a mistake.\nSecondly, people make typos all the time.  This is an informal setting so they are not as likely to spend a lot of time correcting mistakes, as say they would be when composing a buisness letter.\nThirdly, how do you know who speaks English as their first language, and who doesn't just by reading the question.  I don't think that you can possibly know that.\n\nIf they had this same type thing set up in Spanish speaking countries, or German, Or whatever language, I think you would find just as many people making errors in their own language too.  I think it is a little unfair to single out Americans when I doubt you are actually comparing this evenly with everyone else.\n\nThat all said, it does bother me when there are excessive amounts of misspellings.  A typo here or there, I can understand, but some I've seen are ridiculous.
1124405
This is what happens when kids are not graded, so as to spare their feelings.  \n\nIt's true; there's been a whole movement in the past ten years to allow children to root around and try to find the correct answers, whether in mathematics, or English, with no punishments or demerits for incorrect answers, and yet no rewards for answers that ARE correct.\n\nThe current crop of 12 to 20 year-olds can't read, write, compose or spell, and what's worse, they think their puny efforts are "good enough".\n\nSad, isn't it?