2.1 Spelling

Spelling is a key aspect of writing. It helps to express our ideas clearly and makes a good impression when people read what we have written:

• If you want people to understand your ideas and what you express in writing, you need to be able to spell the words you want to use.

• For better or worse, we are judged on the quality of our spelling. People who spell well are respected.

Don’t panic if you struggle with your spelling. Spelling well is very different from spelling perfectly. Perfection is not a realistic aim. Good spelling is spelling that allows you to express yourself freely in the first place and then to correct any errors later.

It is worth remembering that although there are many words in English – about half a million – you do not need to be able to spell them all. Focus on learning to spell the words you need. If you find yourself struggling to spell the same word on several different occasions, make a note of it. Keep a list of the words you want to learn. Try targeting five a week.

Syllables

Every word has at least one syllable. Many have more than one. Some have as many as five or six.

What are they? Syllables are vowel sounds, with or without consonants. Syllables are useful for spelling as they help you to decode words by chunking sounds together. Here are a few examples:

• ‘eye’ has a single syllable made up of a vowel sound alone

• ‘my’ also has a single syllable made up of the same vowel sound, but with the consonant sound ‘mmm’ attached

• ‘ago’ has two syllables: a-go

• ‘photograph’ has three: pho-to-graph

• ‘independent’ has four: in-de-pen-dent.