English spelling is broken. Let's fix it!
English spelling is broken ...
English spelling is broken. Examples like comb, bomb and tomb, or height and weight, abound. And no-one seems to know whether the down pipe from a gutter is a rone, a rhone, a roan or something else.
English spelling has been chopped and changed by countless scribes, printers, invaders and others since the Roman alphabet was first used to write Old English during the seventh century, and it does not match the way we speak today. The English Spelling Society exists to repair our broken spelling.
In this website you can discover the past, present and future of English Spelling:
• Discover the amazing history of English spelling — how it came to be the way it is, and what happened to previous attempts to put it right.
• Find out just how crazy English spelling is today — and how much that costs in economic and social terms.
• See what The English Spelling Society is planning to do — and how you can help.
English spelling is broken. Together, we can do something about that.
Society news
21-11-24 - Revised Criteria for Personal View. The Committee has agreed revised criteria for submissions in the Personal View series (proposed alternative spelling schemes). To view these criteria, visit our publications page: Publications> Personal View> Criteria.
03-11-24 - Video Conference on the current prospects for Spelling Reform. A special conference for members and non-members alike was held on 21 November 202. It was intended to help in formulating a medium-term policy for the Society. More ►
09-07-24 Shuud Inglish Speling be Chanjed? A lengthy article in the Daily Telegraph by Tim Smith-Laing on spelling reform, including input from an interview with the Chair of the Society. (NB you may need to set up an account to read this article.) More ►
05-06-24 Honour for Society former Chair - We are pleased to announce that Chris Jolly was awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Education in the (UK) New Year’s Honours List. Chris is a former Chair and Trustee of the Society and long time supporter of spelling reform. He is the author of 'Jolly Phonics,' a system which helps children and other learners of English to cope with the profound irregularities of our spelling system. Our congratulations to Chris on a well-deserved honour and recognition of his achievements.
05-06-24 Why America Still Can't Spell. Science shows that spelling knowledge is critical for the development of the brain's reading circuitry More ►
04-09-23 Allan Cambell - We regret to announce the death of Allan Campbell. Allan lived in New Zealand and was a long standing member of the Society. We plan to issue a fuller tribute to Allan in the coming weeks.
04-09-23 - RTE interview - Interview with Stephen Linstead on Irish radio.More ►
04_09-22 - Why English Sux - Humorous YouTube from Oz on the perplexisties of English Speling More ►
24-11-22 - Guud Greef: Times article on Society's latest proposals for spelling reform More ►
21-11-22 - Society's News Release - on TSR and Spelling Reform generally. More ►
19-11-22 - The Spell of Spelling - Why English Spelling is so frustrating - More ►
17-08-22 - Can Teaching English Like Spanish Close the Achievement Gap?– language magazine. The author argues for diacritics as a solution to the unique irregularity of English spelling. More ►
02-07-22 - Mind your P'S & Q's, tomahtos-tomaytos The Economic Times (India). Article about the inconsistencies of English spelling. More ►
11-06-22 - Why Spelling in English is so difficult VOA Learning English More ►
07-06-22 - Why Czech spelling is so much easier to master than English Radio Prague International More ►
International English Spelling Congress
Following the press release announcing the results of the Congress, there have naturally been comments in the press. Most of these, as expected, object to any spelling reform as "dumbing down." These articles are collected here; and as an added incentive to read them, a brief rebuttal has been appended to each.
2021-05-23 — Spelling out a whole load of trouble if we start altering our language Prince Philip was a former patron of the Simplified Spelling Society (now the English Spelling Society) More ►
2021-05-20 — Should spellings of some words be made easier? A new proposal has been put forward by the The English Spelling Society, that the spellings of some words would be made a lot easier. More ►
2021-05-07 — You gotta spell proper, argues columnist John Nurden I have been in this bizness long enough to know that we shouldn't fro stones at greenhouses. More ►
2021-05-01 — Should we write English as it’s spoken? Or just leave it as it is… Despite its anti-phonic spelling, English has become the language of many nations — albeit through colonisation and conquest. More ►
Education
Many news items are particularly relevant to educators at all levels from primary to tertiary. These stories will be coralled in this section.
2021-07-29 — Why our kids can’t read: it’s the ideology, stupid English teaching underwent a dramatic and far-reaching revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s. More ►
2021-07-26 — Phonemic awareness and phonics for learners of every age More ►
2021-07-25 — Universities will be forced to deduct marks for poor written English in students' work and will face tough sanctions if they don't Universities will be required to teach students 'relevant skills under proposals. If 'students not penalised for poor written English' institutions would break rules. It also says that universities may be in breach of their registration conditions. More ►
2021-07-21 — Salt Spring Literacy Summer Camp Begins July 26 More ►
2021-07-14 — Teach phonics in schools to help students master English Three generations of citizens have graduated from our high schools with substandard spelling ability and weaknesses in writing ability. By now, most teachers grounded in phonics have retired. More ►
2021-07-10 — The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy Guidance for schools to meet existing expectations for teaching early reading. More ►
