learn the spelling rules and practice the most commonly misspelled words. You can find these books in your library and at bookstores. Just ask the reference librarian or bookseller to help you find them.
Keep a spelling list. Everyone has words which are just plain troublesome. Every time you spell the word, it is wrong. When you find you are repeatedly having trouble with a particular word, add it to your spelling list. Keep this list in a small notebook or your iPod. Refer to your list when you need to use the word and that way you will spell it correctly each time.
Turn on “spell check”. Spell check functions in word processing and e-mail programs will catch many bad spellings, so it makes sense to use this line of defense against poor spelling. However, having said that, I need to give a word of caution as well. Spell checkers rely on dictionaries supplied by the program. Often these dictionaries are short versions so they do not contain many words. You might get an error message about a word when there is no problem what so ever with the word. Pull out a more extensive dictionary to check your spelling if you know the word exists.
By practicing these techniques, you should see a big improvement in your ability to spell English words correctly.
Celia Webb, President of Pilinut Press, Inc., publishers of advanced readers for children and ESL students. Check out http://www.pilinutpress.com for more free articles on developing reading-related skills, word games and puzzles, and activity sheets for the company’s entertaining and educational books.