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Why is spelling so important?

(54 Posts)
EllanVannin Fri 22-Jan-21 14:10:31

Being as half the school leavers can neither spell nor string a sentence together, it doesn't seem to matter in the 21st century.

Dragonella Fri 22-Jan-21 14:09:35

Shakespeare could spell his name. He chose six different spellings because the idea of one 'correct' standardised spelling wasn't introduced until Johnson's dictionary in 1755.

Butt eye tayke yore poynt. Yew kan undarstannd thiss beecos ov ther contexxtuel clews, bute itt iz mutch eezeer aned kwicker tew rede wen yoo cann bee shor watt thu werds mene.

Galaxy Fri 22-Jan-21 14:02:12

I think it will become less important as we write less.

vampirequeen Fri 22-Jan-21 13:56:13

Why is spelling so important? I mean I know you have to be able to make yourself understood but does it matter as long as it makes sense. Reading is about more than just the word. You can usually glean the meaning of a word from the rest of the sentence. If I wrote 'the bow fell of the tree with an almighty crash' you wouldn't think there had been part of a ship in the tree or a rather heavy ribbon. You'd know that a branch broke off because it was from a tree. We already use meaning. 'I read a book yesterday.......I am learning how to read.' Even if I wrote 'I red a book yesterday....I am learning how to reed', you'd know what I meant. So why is spelling so important? After all William Shakespeare couldn't even spell his own name and he did OK.