Sunday, January 17, 2010

Spelling mistakes

My english teacher put a round mark around the word 'ther', I straightened my neck to see what she had written on my classwork notebook. In red ink, she just put a 'i' in between letter 'e' and 'r'. At that time I was in third standard. My teacher patiently corrected a few more silly mistakes. While circling the word 'cheld', her degree of tolerance decreased drastically and shouted, "You make so many spelling mistakes. Your English is very poor." Instead of saying I will improve them, I said, "Actually ma'am, my Hindi (my mother tongue) is also weak." Would she slap me? Amused with witty reply she wrote 'Good'. :)

What do you think does the spell checkers in computer have made writting an easy-to-do task as compared to writting with pen and paper?

35 comments:

  1. Yes, writing now-a-days is easy but memory within is weak too. Maybe learning And remembering an old method. All we need is expression.

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  2. Writing with the help of a pen or paper is an art. It takes tremendous effort as compared to writing with the help of computers.

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  3. The writing is easy. But what we learned from dictation in class, the teachers facial expression, and corrective action, had more lifelong effect, than the today-only spellcheckers.....

    Same goes for by-hearting tables and todays calculators...

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  4. with all these advanced system of software based writting still i make mistakes. I writey any as nay computer doesnt detect it as spelling mistake. i have deslexia. if i use word it helps a bit but if i am in these kind of comment post or yahoo mail i some time write 8reat . it is great. Many a time i cant identify if it is g or 8 both look same to me. e and 3 are same to my eyes. that and taht are same to me. what to do wtih my spellings ?

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  5. Well i have this smsophobia..{if u got that!!] This new years i vowed to get back to writing complate words than the short forms..:)dad still yella at me for that!!

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  6. Of course it is made easy now-but LEARNING was something else.

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  7. I think todays' spell checks system has made us dependent on the system so much that we just don't tend to care about writing the right spelling since we are aware that the spell check will detect and correct it...

    Off line if no you try to spell a big word which we don't use often you will notice that the speed with which we were able to spell the words in school has drastically gone down :)

    But that's law of nature...you move forward and that's what we are doing..we are leaving slow things behind and moving toward achieving the fast track life:)

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  8. It has definitely made it easy, with predictable text coming in now, its becomes easier and easier, But due to all this I think we are loosing a lot of mental ability of our own. I remember when I was studying we had to remember the maths tables by heart..
    Nowadays for a simple calculations kids take out a calculator. We are loosing intelligence I will say.
    And all this is effecting the spoken language too, we are not starting to cut on full sentences or words even...

    Are you there ? -- u thr

    here in Uk.. Hello how are you, or Hello how you doing has converted to one word

    ALRIGHT...

    everything has become Alright.... :)

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  9. Yes writing is easier with spellcheck etc, but learning & improving one's vocabulary has to be done through the good old ways only!

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  10. Yes, I believe spell-check has done it way way easier for all :) and perhaps your teacher should read you online now :)

    Mexican Prickly Poppy [Argemone Mexicana, Satyanashi, सत्यानाशी]

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  11. I can say that spell-checkers are a big boon but also have made writers extremely lazy. They know that if they made a mistake the spell checker would find it for them and perhaps even correct it without they noticing it.

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  12. true spelling check is easier on the comp now. I don't remember to open the dictionary any more...but as Madhu said here sms short forms have also done havoc to me.
    thanks for visiting my blog. looking forward for more.

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  13. @ Hobo ........ ........ ........ : Thanks! :) Well said. Learning and remembering go hand in hand.

    @ Sundeep : Writing with paper and pen requires more efforts. Thanks, Sundeep! :)

    @ Ugich Konitari : Very true, what we have learned in our classrooms stay longer in our memories. Thanks a lot! :)

    @ Known Stranger : These days most of us made such silly mistakes. Thanks for your frank views!:)

    @ Madhu : Thanks, Madhu. :) I also have smsophobia as I write u instead of you. I skip 2 letters. :)

    @ BK Chowla : Made-easy-now things are making our minds dull whereas learning shapens our mind. Thanks a lot! :)

    @ Nu : Thanks for such a wonderful comment, Nu. I appreciate ur efforts for that. :)

    Exactly, spell checkers are making us careless. We do not bother about the spellings as we know spell checker will correct it.

    Spelling speed of a word not in much use is decreasing.

    Fast pace, slow recalling.

    Once again, Thanks. :) Keep visiting. :)

    @ Bikram : Minds are becoming dull as we are using more calculators and spellcheckers.

    We are using shortcuts. ALRIGHT! :)
    Thanks a million, Bikram. :)

    @ lostworld : Welcome to my blog! Vocabulary can be improved with old method of dictation. Thanks! :)

    @ Bhavesh Chhatbar : They are simplifying the way of writing thats why we all r writing blogs. :)
    If this has to be done on paper and pen then most of us would have backed out. Thanks for sharing the valuable information. :)

    @ Vittaldas Prabhu : Blessing and curse are spellcheckers! Thanks for ur nice comment. :)

    @ nituscorner : Dictitionary is replaced by spellchecker. Short forms and short sentences r difficult to get rid of. Thanks for visiting my blog and lovely comment. :)

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  14. Di... i don't know abt anything else but i am missing a red marker here with which to circle the last two "writtings" in ur post...

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  15. I am a stickler for spellings myself :). One problem with technology is that we rely too much on it for doing simple things like spelling, calculations etc.

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  16. Thank you aso much for posting a comment on my blog around Christmas!
    I have very little patience for negativity among teachers any more!
    I feel that she should complement you and give you many happy assurances!
    hugs,natalie

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  17. Yes, it is easier now
    But I would really like to know how teenagers addicted to SMS are doing in classrooms :)

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  18. Hi...thats an interesting post. There is a certain old world charm about writing with a pen on paper.A good old professor patiently taking you through the nuances of English grammar is unparalleled.Sure , the computer has made life simpler but somewhere I think there's no substitute for going back to the basics!

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  19. haha. that's kinda funny.
    I'm having hard time with this spelling thing too.
    But thanks to computer Im doing my post nicely.
    Good luck with us:)

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  20. @ Abhi Saini : I added it intentionally to make it funny. ;-) Thanks and hugs.

    @ Rachna : Welcome to my blog! :) Very true we r depending too much on the technology for simple spellings and calculations. Thanks! :)

    @ natalie : Thanks for ur nice comment on my blog! :) I admire ur genuine views.

    @ Bhagyashree : Thanks, dear. :) I will write a new blog on that. :)

    @ Samyukta : Glad to know that u liked it. :)The rules of grammar taught by my teacher are still fresh in my mind. Basics can only be made strong with the old method of paper and pen. Thanks a lot! :)

    @ ambiguous_angel : Glad to see a smile on ur face. :) In blogging spellcheckers are really very helpful. Thanks for nice wishes. Happy blogging! Visit again. :)

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  21. I prefer pen and ink. It gives real vent to my thoughts.

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  22. Life as bcom more easier with spellcheckers.. But even now i sumtimes write my draft post on paper...

    Rememeber a joke of an english professor who scrawled sumthing on the answer sheet which was not eligible. so the student enquired as to what was written and the professor cooly said, "Improve your handwriting"

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  23. Lovely story to read :-)
    Good writing is not always easy !!
    You write great lines ...

    (@^.^@)

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  24. I would be lost without my spell checker. I'm an avid reader but that has not helped my spelling.
    Marnie

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  25. the other day this kid of ten had to collect some information related to his class project from the internet. his father saw that his son had misspelt words on Google search and asked him to correct it, the son promptly replied that Google would take care of it and it did.
    frankly, i strongly believe that the kids show entire dependence on such auto-checks for spelling mistakes and in this way they do not really retain the correct spelling for later use. the stress on spelling and grammar that happened at schools in days from not really very long ago engraved it deep in our minds, never to be forgotten.

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  26. @ Tulika : Pen with ink. :) Thanks a lot!

    @ Tulika : Thanks for comment! :)

    @ Suresh Kumar : lol. Thanks for sharing ur views and a nice joke with us. Keep visiting. :)

    @ Anya : Thanks for lovely comment, Anya. :)

    @ Roses and Lilacs : Thanks for sharing ur experiences with us. :)

    @ blunt edges : :-D Thanks!

    @ Tongue Trip : Hats off to Google. :-D I agree with u on that. Old methods of learning spellings engraved them deep in our minds. Thanks a million! :)

    @ sm : Thanks for compliments! :)

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  27. I think for speed we need to have the spell checkers even if it may hinder us in other ways.
    Sometimes I think it helps me because I always try my best to spell correctly & look with anticipation to see if it says: no misspellings found.

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  28. Its no wonder to say that people forgot writing manually after usage of computers. But language is one which we should not forget

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  29. its hard to learn a foreign language but with constant practice, one can improve it.

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  30. @ Lily Hydrangea : Its a great idea to write the spellings correctly and then check it using a spell checker. :) Thanks a million for sharing ur views and being my blog buddy. :)

    @ Jaggu : Thanks, Jaggu. :) Its true that one should not forget language whatever the mode of writing one uses.

    @ imelda : Very true. Thanks! :)

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  31. I think spelling mistakes leave a bad taste. I have seen spelling mistakes in published books too - although these go through editing, spell check, etc. Spell check is not perfect - this has been my personal experience. I prefer to write, consult the dictionary in case of doubt and then finish with a spellcheck - most of the time I end up using 'Ignore once' at least 2 - 3 times. Spell check is a tool to achieve an end, which has been, and will be, to have error free writing. So a language is more than a spell check, I believe - old school of thought. I must confess that I have yet to reach perfection, but I do keep trying.

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  32. Thanks a million, J P Joshi. :) Spelling mistakes can be corrected only by old method of learning. Keep visiting. :)

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