21 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Spelling and Grammar is Ancestor Worship
The fetishization of "correct" English -- which is to say, white, wealthy English -- is in direct opposition to everything that makes English such a glorious drunkard's debauch of a language.
English came to us from the inventive malapropism and linguistic entrepreneurship of its speakers: from Shakespeare, who coined words wholesale; to the working-class streets with their heterodox cursing and rhyming slangs.
To demand the immobilization of this restless, incontinent language is a form of b...
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17 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Children of the Code
None of us like to engage in activities that cause us to feel ashamed of ourselves. So what happens to children who feel ashamed of themselves when learning to read? They are in serious danger. The shame they feel not only motivates them to avoid reading, it also fosters self-dis-esteem and undermines the cognitive capacities they need to learn to read in the first place. Millions of children are caught in this learning-disabling downward spiral. Not only are they in danger of being poor re...Interesting website, the idea that children feel shame for not learning spelling and reading. While, when considering the waste of mindshare that goes into learning spelling.
See also mind-shame.
13 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Inconsistent Spelling-to-Pronunciation Rules Inhibit Educ...
Since the bulk of human knowledge is recorded in
books, one of the first steps in the education of the
child is to teach him to read. Told that each separate
letter, or group of letters, printed in his primer or
reader represents a spoken word, the child, being
gifted with reason, expects to find an invariable re- lationship between the sound of any given word and
the letters composing it. He soon discovers, to his dis-
may, that no such invariable relationship exists.
Unreason in Sp...13 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Changing Spelling has Happened in the Past
Objection to simplified spelling has been made on the
supposition that it "wil cut us off from the literature
of the past," meaning that those taught in the new way
wil be unable to read the books red today. This can
not be so, because the present spelling wil be no more
difficult to read by one who has learnd to spel the new
way, than is the new spelling by one who has learnd
the old way. Children who hav learnd to spel in the
simplified way wil, in fact, read the books printed
toda...Technology, translation services, will make migration even easier.
12 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Spelling is an Invention, and May be Modified
Spelling was invented by man and, like other human
inventions, is capable of development and improve-
ment by man in the direction of simplicity, economy,
and efficiency. Its true function is to represent as
accurately as possible by means of simbols (letters)
the sounds of the spoken (i. e. the living) language,
and thus incidentally to record its history. Its prov-
ince is not, as is often mistakenly supposed, to indicate
the derivations of words from sources that ar in-
accessible...Note the intentional use of simplified spelling in the text.
30 NOV -0001 by ideonexus
Should Spelling be Modernized?
The time taken to teach the decimalised system for currency, temperature, weights and distances is far shorter and more certain than when 240 pence equalled a pound, 32 degrees Fahrenheit equalled the temperature of ice and pounds and ounces were taught. Already there is a generation that was spared these ancient measurements.
To improve literacy in the general population, modernisation of the spelling system will bring similar benefits to what decimalisation brought.Folksonomies: phonetics
Folksonomies: phonetics
It takes just one generation to fix spelling and improve literacy for future generations. Just as it took one generation to move to the metric system or change currencies in Europe.
30 NOV -0001 by ideonexus
Spelling is the Problem
Now let me get to a lower level still in this question. And that is, all the time you hear the
question, "why can't Johnny read?" And the answer is, because of the spelling. The
Phoenicians, 2000, more, 3000, 4000 years ago, somewhere around there, were able to
figure out from their language a scheme of describing the sounds with symbols. It was
very simple. Each sound had a corresponding symbol, and each symbol, a corresponding
sound. So that when you could see what the symbols' sounds w...Folksonomies: phoenetics
Folksonomies: phoenetics
Putting letters together into words is one of the most basic skills required for literacy. If this basic skill is so hard for so many people to grasp, then, Feynman argues, there is a problem with the way words are spelled.
30 NOV -0001 by ideonexus
Benjamin Franklin's Reasons for Reforming the Alphabet
Franklin's own impulse in creating the alphabet was quite different. He was a man who looked closely and with curiosity at the world around him, seeking ways to improve it wherever he saw the opportunity. His alphabet was conceived in the same spirit as his less smoky, more fuel-efficient house-heating stove, or his more easily cleaned and repaired street lamp. The alphabet, for Franklin, was not unlike a household tool, something to repair, rewire, and update. Improving the writing system wo...Folksonomies: phonetics
Folksonomies: phonetics
Franklin was not interested in forging a national identity for America, but was more focused on cleaning up the inefficiencies in our spelling. He came from humble beginnings to greatness through his habit of voracious reading, and he wanted to share the gift of literacy with others. Simplifying spelling was a means to that end.
30 NOV -0001 by ideonexus
Examples of Phonetic Spelling Failures in English
With spelling erratic, many English words become ideograms that must be learned as a whole, with its parts giving no clue or, worse yet, false clues. If you don't know in advance and just judge by the letters, can you know that "through," "coo," "do," "true," "knew," and "queue" all rhyme? If you don't know in advance and just judge by the letters, can you know that "gnaw," kneel," "mnemonic" and "note" all start with the same consonant sound?
Why can't we say "throo," "koo," "doo," "troo," "...Folksonomies: phonetics
Folksonomies: phonetics
Words that rhyme, but are spelled in a wide variety of ways. We see the fact that children instinctively spell phonetically as childish, but it actually demonstrates that such a method of spelling is more natural.
