Lets ‘ignor mispelt’ words

 
Yes, the English language is complicated. Its pronunciation simply doesn’t match with its phonetics, and that my friends, for a person who uses it as second language (just like this writer!), things can get very confusing. But spelling common English correctly is not just a head breaking issue of those like me; just ask to an English native speaker.
That’s why a British academic has suggested it may be time to accept “variant spellings” as legitimate. 

There are about 309–400 million English native speakers in the planet; it is the official language in 53 countries and also an official language throughout the world.
But there is a huge difference between speaking it and spelling it, as you probably know.

“Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I’ve got a better idea,” said British academic Ken Smith, proposing that “university teachers should simply accept as variant spelling those words our students most commonly misspell.”

“Ignor,” “occured,” “thier,” “truely,” “speach” and “twelth” (it should be “twelfth”) are 10 common misspellings that he suggests should immediately be accepted.
But aren’t the differences between the same language around the globe already confusing (favorite-favourite, organisation-organization)?

Instead of accepting grammar mistakes as valid (making the language even more confusing), how about a culture -or school program- that promotes more reading and writing to support a coherent system of spelling?

Especially these days of “wot r u doin 2nite”…

Filed Under Media & Society, Modern Life