These days, are spelling tests at all important?
The current methods for detecting and correcting errors are not perfect and still require the author to have good command of the language they're writing in.
I write spell checkers for a living.
This seems to be a case of "if it doesn't work, do it harder." I don't see the point in being a hardass about it. What percent of people actually care their spelling? And the people who care if their writing is taken seriously will always put effort into correct spelling.
The time I spent memorizing spelling words could have been better spent learning why they're spelt the way they are.
Perhaps the same percentage that care their grammar and proofreading?
> The time I spent memorizing spelling words could have been better spent learning why they're spelt the way they are.
Knowing proper spelling is important if only to assist in word and term recognition when reading. What is far more useful is knowing _why_ words are spelled in a particular fashion and to know the history of the word and its roots. Not only does etymology help you know how to spell a word, it assists in selecting to proper word or term to get your point across in the most efficient and least ambiguous manner possible.
I have an excuse though. This is my fourth day on the colemak keyboard layout, so every word I type is extremely painful. That particular error came from shortening the sentence from "What percent of people actually care about how they come across?" I accidentally edited out the about. Anything that has to do with typing right now is frustrating.
> Knowing proper spelling is important if only to assist in word and term recognition when reading. What is far more useful is knowing _why_ words are spelled in a particular fashion and to know the history of the word and its roots. Not only does etymology help you know how to spell a word, it assists in selecting to proper word or term to get your point across in the most efficient and least ambiguous manner possible.
Yes. You said it better than I did.
My brain completely skipped that when I started thinking about this.