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There, their, they're

How good is your spelling?

Chris Evans
Teacher, Bristol

My spelling's appalling because I'm dyslexic. I'm fine with numbers. I think at school we probably learned to spell phonetically - c-a-t - using the sounds of the words, though it never worked for me. I teach the sciences, and I think it's true that there is a difference between "numbers people" and "words people". It bothered me more when I was younger that I couldn't spell; because I couldn't spell well, I couldn't read well, though I developed that skill later on. You develop certain strategies to cope. I used to get bs and ds the wrong way round, but now I think of the word "bread" and can remember which is which. Also, as you get a bit more mature, you realise that not being able to spell isn't because you're thick. My handwriting is pretty shocking, too, though when I was in primary school, it was very good. I blame going to university, when I started taking notes and writing and thinking faster. I think it's easy to tell female and male handwriting apart. When I'm looking at homework, the girls' books are much neater.

Carolyn Drew
Parent, Somerset

I think I'm a reasonable speller. Stopping to think about words sometimes makes me doubt myself, I reach for the dictionary and usually find I was right the first time. I always find myself going through "i before e except after c" when I'm writing words like receive. We had weekly spelling tests in school, learning a list of about 20 new words each week. If we got any wrong, we had to do them again for homework and we were tested again the next day, so that was a great incentive to get them right first time. My initial reaction was that spelling is very important, but I'm the mum of a dyslexic son and, understanding the trouble he has with words, I'm not so sure. For him, spelling was a complete nightmare. He had spelling on a Monday, and Sundays became a really bad evening for us. On a good day he'd get three or four out of 10, and he gave up trying. It had a real impact on his self-esteem, and it took years for him to get his self-confidence back. Society unfortunately still uses spelling as a gauge of intelligence. One teacher told me that my handwriting tilts slightly to the left and that meant I was backward.

Megan De Meo
Age 15, Hertfordshire

I think I'm relatively good, not amazing, but I must be readable because I never get any complaints from my teachers. I remember really early in primary being given cards of simple one-syllable words and I was expected to just pick up the spelling. I don't think that was a good way to teach. I couldn't spell at all to start with. I picked it up more in year 4, when I got more interested in school. I think spelling's really important for communication. Emailing and texting can be used to close friends, but if you want to write a letter to somebody a bit more important, or you need to communicate with colleagues when you go to work, you need to be able to communicate clearly. I get mixed up with words that sound the same - like there, they're and their - and have to think for a little while. I think it's just a matter of practising loads and getting it into your brain. I think some people are just brought up to get their points across; when it comes to putting things down on paper, some people are just better with words than others.

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