For a person who is trying to learn English as a Second Language (ESL), spelling can pose to be a nightmare. Well, sometimes the native speakers can misspell a word or two. The English language has borrowed tons of words from other dominant languages. The Latin, Roman, Italian, Spanish, French, even Indian languages have played their parts to modify the English language over time. So, it is totally understandable that a new learner will often question – "How can I learn spelling words?"

Am I starting to make you scared? Well, don't be; there are a number of ways of how to learn spelling words fast.

I know some of you are looking for a faster way to master spelling words that are hard for the upcoming SAT, ACT, CLEP,  IELTS or a TOEFL exam ticking like a bomb.

Memorize with Mnemonics

There is no shortcut to memorizing the spelling. But that not a bread and butter for everyone. Actually, a lot of people struggle when it comes to blunt memorizing. You could try a scientific approach – mnemonics. The mnemonics devices incorporate a picture, a rhyme or a song, acronyms, or sentences to form patterns that are easier to remember.

For example, “island” is a tricky spelling for some people to remember. Just remember, an island is land with water surrounding it!

Again, it is always a confusing situation figuring out whether a word has ei or ie in it. Try to remember a simple rule – it is always ie except when it stands after c or sounds like a. For example, there is ie in friends, field, piece, or priest. When it sounds like an a, ei will be used – neighbor, sleigh, vein, eight, etc.

You could make such rules and remember them in your own way! Be smart and excel.

Learn the Grammatical Rules

A lot of words change their form and spelling depending on different grammatical rules. For example, the rule of singular and plural form of words will help you get an edge. Think of words like one goose and multiple geese, one brother-in-law and multiple brothers-in-law, one passerby and multiple passersby, one millennium and two millennia, and so on.

Even when a word can change its base form of spelling. If there is a y at the end of the base form of the word, it will change to ie in most cases. For example, cry becomes cries, try becomes tries when they are used after third person singular number and in the simple present tense.

So, I think you get the gist. Try to learn the basic grammatical rules and spelling will become much easier. You could take help from some websites in this case too. LogicofEnglish and Yourdictionary could help you in this case.

Learn Spelling Words Using Syllables and Word Mapping

Using syllables to dissect the words and spelling them is the most effective way of spelling words correctly. The Spelling Bee competitors try to follow this method when they come across an unknown word. if you are trying to learn spelling words bee, it could come handy. 

So, how do you do it?

The steps are simple. First, you speak out the word. Then stretch it – you will understand how many syllables do the word have. When you are quite sure about the syllables, try to segment them and identify the phonemes. After that, try to spell them phoneme by phoneme.

Let me help you with an example. Suppose you will have to spell the word “Night." First, you will say out the word loudly. Then, you will have to stretch out the word, and you will get /nnnIIIt/. After that, when you segment out the stretched word you will get three phonemes /n/, /I/, and /t/. Finally, you will spell out the phonemes n, igh, and t – you will get the word Night. 

After a few days of practice and knowledge of proper pronunciation, you will become a master of it. Spelling will become much easier for you.

Go Through the Commonly Misspelled Words

There are some words in the English language that have tags of being critical. Even native English speakers tend to misspell them very often. So, the smart idea would be to identify them. So, when you come across these words, you could think twice before spelling them.

 

Wikipedia has a great collection of such words. I would suggest you check out this list prepared by them and remember all of them. It could potentially become a weapon that will help you in the long run.

Use Root Words to Spell

When you go deeper, you will notice that the English vocabulary has a lot of words based on a single root word. For example, Independence is a word that is based on the root word depend. The prefix In and suffix ence were attached to it later on.

Especially, the competitors at Spelling Bee often try this method to excel in the practice sessions. 

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today!

So, when you are trying to learn spelling words, you should try to identify the root word first along with the prefix and suffix.

Learning spelling will become much easier for you if you can do so.

Playing Word Games

Playing word games can help you master the English language spelling in a fun and creative you. You will not even notice that you are learning. But with the time passing by, you will see how much you have improved.

SpellQuiz has a great collection of word games. Don’t forget to check them out. You can always try some spelling tricks jokes. 

Also, SpellQuiz now boasts of a wide collection of idioms and quizzes. Make sure to pay a visit!

How to Study Spelling Words Online?

A lot of you are googling "How to learn spelling English words?" We are living in the era of technology, and you can learn anything faster and in a convenient way with the help of the internet. There are a lot of websites trying to help learners to learn spelling English words with passion and dedication.

You could try our Spelling Quiz section. It's not for only spelling words 3rd grade or spelling words 4th grade, it's for all. It will teach to learn spelling words with dictation. At the same time, you could enhance your listening, typing, vocabulary, and spelling skills. Moreover, you can see your global ranking and keep an eye on your improvement.

The good news is that there are hundreds of free spelling activities available online. 

Final Thoughts

Learning spelling words is not the nightmare you think it is. With proper methods and approaches, you can master the English spelling in no time. So, what are you waiting for? Just go for it and bask in the glory.

Also, try this vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Plus, don't forget to check the complete list of spelling words.