The need to be a good speller or a better speller goes far beyond just preparing for a spelling bee. To a very large extent, your ability to read and write perfectly is dependent on your ability to spell words. So as a student, aside preparing for a spelling competition, in order for you to excel in your academics, there is a need for you to learn how to spell. Imagine being in an examination hall and looking for who to spell a word for you or just guessing the spelling of word because you actually don’t know the correct spelling, that’s terrible!
Now, to become a good speller, you really need to be intentional about it. You need to be so conscious of every word you come across. Personally, what really helped me to become a good speller is the fact that it is very rare for me to come across an unfamiliar word in a book or any place and allow the word just elude me like that without learning the pronunciation, spelling and meaning of that word.
So as a student, when you come across any word that you are not familiar with in a textbook, do not just view the word as not being important, learn it because you might need to spell that word in an exam or even outside the academic environment. Now, it goes far beyond just learning unfamiliar words in a book. The words could also be on a Bill board, captions on TV programs, Inscriptions on the wall, etc
As a student who wants to improve his/her spelling abilities for the purpose of excelling in his/her academics, it is important to note that when reading a given passage you are expected to have a jotter where you write out difficult word. The words should be written in a chronological order and numbered. Do these frequently for every difficult word you come across in a piece of writing and endeavour to learn them.
Here are 7 tips to make you a better speller
- Have a notebook titled ‘spellings’.
- Identify difficult words either from a textbook, magazine or any other media platforms and write them in your spellings book.
- Get a dictionary (online / offline) and use it in sourcing for the correct pronunciation and meaning of the words.
- Practice the spelling of each unfamiliar word and have them dictated back to you.
- After Dictations, ensure that you go through the book where the dictated words were written while you tick the words rightly spelt (✓) and cross (X) the words wrongly spelt.
- Identify the wrongly spelt words with their correct spelling and write them down as corrections.
- Do not depend only on words from your textbooks. You can research for words from other sources to enable you build your vocabulary and increase your spelling process. Here are sample spelling words to build your vocabulary.
Are you planning on registering for a spelling competition and do not know the processes involved? Here is a complete guide on how to register and prepare for spelling bee competition.
