Why am I the one who is stuck with being terrible with my spelling?

Question

I'm a bad speller. what i want to know is whether its my spelling teacher from long ago, if it runs in the family, or if I'm just stupid.

i read a LOT but i cant spell worth a c**p.

since i read shouldn't i be good at spelling?

Answer 1

I know others who had the same spelling teacher as I did who can't spell worth a darn, but I can spell pretty easily.  For me, it has very little to do with the teacher and much more to do simply with how I'm wired.  It's just how I'm made.  Spelling things correctly comes very easily to me.  I would guess that not spelling well, especially for one who likes to read, is simply how you're made.  You have obviously found a way to work around it, since your question is spelled very well -- including the oft-misspelled word "a lot."   Whatever you did, keep doing it.  It works.  

I'd wonder if, in the rest of your life, you're more of a big-picture person or a detail person.  I always thought part of my spelling easily was because I'm a detail person.  I don't know for sure if they go together or not, but it would make sense that they might.  I'd be curious to know that.

Answer 2

Welcome to the English language. No, you are not stupid. It is the nature of English. We borrowed, some say stole, words from German, Latin, French, Spanish and the various Indian languages. Then we Anglo-Saxoned them by changing the pronunciation. Couple that with regional dialects and you have a disaster in spelling.

Remember that Andrew Jackson said, "I have no respect for any man who knows only one way to spell a word."

Answer 3

It could just be you.  I read a lot and have a job that requires me to be an accurate speller, so I'm a pretty decent speller.  I also use my spell checker a lot, so that helps.  English is one of the tougher languages to learn and to spell.  Think about it, we have words that sound the same, but have different meanings and are spelled different, ie. to, too, two.  Or words that are spelled the same, but sound different, ie. read and read (red).  Why would you put a K in front of the word knife, or a G in front of the word gnat?  Why does pheasant start with a PH when it sounds like an F?  We say HI to each other in greeting, but exclaim how HIGH a building is when we look at it.  I tell you, it's crazy.