Read and Spell Blog

English is a particularly difficult language when it comes to spelling. There are so many exceptions to the rules! I before E except after C is a case in point. We received the package (there’s the spelling rule in practice) but what we received was a weird and feisty little monkey (and there are two exceptions).

More problematic is perhaps the fact that in English the same letter(s) can be used to represent different sounds and sometimes the same sound can be spelled with different letters! Additionally, there are inherited ways of spelling that no longer go with today's pronunciation. All in all, it can quickly get confusing. That's why teaching English spelling to children and adults is no easy task, but give a sympathetic thought then to the student who struggles with dyslexia.

Read and Spell Blog

What are the hardest words to spell?

If someone asked you to spell appoggiatura, ursprache or xanthosis out loud, how do you think you’d do? If you’ve ever studied Italian, German, Latin or Greek you might have an easier time of it. But for the rest of us, the task would be a considerable challenge.

That’s because all three of these words have roots in other languages and contain infrequent consonant clusters, not to mention sounds that are not typically represented by their corresponding English letters. For this reason, they are considered very hard to spell.

dyslexia and spelling- what's the connections

Read and Spell Blog

Dyslexia and spelling - what's the connection?

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which often (but not always) affects reading and writing ability, spelling and the sounding out of words.

Children and adults with dyslexia may have highly developed interactive and oral skills and excel at design, problem solving and creative thinking, but they often experience frustration at school given the central role of reading and writing in classroom learning and teaching.

As reading is a receptive skill, the most visible signs can sometimes be related to productive language activities, particularly when it comes to dyslexia and spelling.