Has anyone else noticed a decline in the ability to spell words in the English language? It seems more and more people spell at a first grade level. How can this be fixed? It seems like an epidemic.
by 
Penny The Wise
ANSWERS: 12
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People do not read (books)anymore, children watch TV and if anything read magazines. The dreaded sms txt shorthand style used today also does not help!
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myself im not to flash at spelling i used to be but starting a trade young and not having to write much at all in the last20 yrs,ive just lost it and now i find that putting pen to paper really frustrates me.i do think practise and a will to do so might fix the problem
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AB is a treasure trove of bad spelling and text "spelling". Conceaded (conceited), yolk (yoke), rediculous and rediculus (ridiculous), u(you), b(be, I mean come on it's one extra letter for crying out loud). I don't know how it can be "fixed", but clearly what is being learned in school is not being retained. As for the younger crowd, I agree that reading has taken a backseat to TV and the use of text spelling doesn't help remedy the problem. The other thing that seems to be an epidemic is improper word usage. If I had $1 for every time I came across some fool who obviously relied to heavily on a thesaurus to write something to make it sound "smart", I would be filthy rich. Sigh.
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It's laziness and lack of need. People, especially ones who text, have set new and different standards among themselves and don't feel the need to change. They don't read proper things anymore, only each others messages. They don't write letters, they don't write proper emails, no business correspondence. But I think a huge part is just plain laziness and wanting to get things done quick and easy. To change things, you'd need some kind of motivation and if being able to communicate with others to be understood isn't motivation enough I don't know what is. Maybe find scientific evidence that cell phones kill or retard, even ruin your sex life, and then they would stop texting lol!
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The culprit is text messaging, all the LOL and OMG and whatever else people use as shortcuts..you get better at what you practice all the time..the ones that are always textmessaging are "practicing" and of course they get "better" at mangling our language! :( Next time I'll tell you what I really think, sis! Happy Thursday! :) ((hugs))
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The youth of today ARE getting dumber and dumber. Period. There's no argument. They're all idiots. And I'm dissing myself because I'm only 18. And even I think they're idiots. +2
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My spelling had really become quite bad. This is a little ironic considering your question refers to a first grade level, but I have a son in first grade and it's as if I am relearning all the rules with him. My point is my spelling has improved dramatically just by practicing with a first grade student.
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This happens because proficiency in spelling and grammar is not positively reinforced. People routinely make errors, and no one bothers to care enough to correct them. Even worse, some people think that garbled and mangled illiteracy masquerading as "text-speak" is somehow "cool." How can this be fixed? Primarily by example - your question is a fine one. And by upholding standards. So the next time you see a dealership with a sign that says " Car's on 'sale'!!", explain the difference between a possessive and a plural, and the proper use of quotation marks. :o) +4 for ?
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Yes, yes, yes, and yes. People these days just seem to not care so much about spelling correctly and correct grammar. My school even has a lot of people that say "They is" "You is" etc. It's strange how much English can evolve from generation to generation.
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Remember that governments such as the US actually want this. It suits their purpose to have a population who more and more do not know how to reason, have no critical thinking skills and cannot communicate very well.
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It is possible that this is the case, or it is possible that more people actually communicate by writing these days and reveal the REAL percentage of people who have been to school and can spell. I have letters from my great great grandmother which reveal a lady who is literate but lacking in the spelling department (late 1800s). Her command to her daughter to "right" to her is amusing. I suspect that there has always been a large percentage of literate people with spelling problems, but they hid it by just not writing much. Nowadays when writing is being pushed so much, the gap between the can an cannots is being revealed.
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I was never a good speller and thanks to spell check and IE spell I have learned to spell better. I have been working on increasing my vocabulary and improving my spelling for the last few years. One of the best feelings I have is when I run spell check and there are no misspellings. IE spell works great and even has a dictionary option all for free. I do get a little miffed at people who do not use these features when they write something. Little mistakes, everybody makes but proof read your stuff and use spell check. The IE spell is free software. I think the American version of the English language is evolving or devolving depending on how you look at it. Maybe things like text messaging is going to change the spelling of a lot of words into a short hand version. In all honesty our whole language is outdated and the spelling illogical.
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