Words that should be respelt

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Kingswood

If English words were art, they would be classified as belonging to the Rococo period. This is apt because the first dictionaries for English were written during the Rococo period.

This has nothing to do with the alleged "dumbing down" of America. English is spoken in many countries all over the world.

English-speaking students who learn Spanish, Italian, Finnish or several other languages can achieve a greater spelling proficiency in those languages after a year of instruction than they had in English after six years or more. Native speakers of such languages can spell any word reliably after less than two years of instruction. Does that mean their languages have been "dumbed down"? Or is that because such languages have an orthography that is easy to learn?

How does the knowledge of other languages following into increased proficiency have anything to do with being "dumbed down."? I don't get the connection.

What I'm talking about is the penchant for making everything easier. If we make words "easier" then kids will get better grades on spelling tests and we'll have smarter kids? The logic doesn't follow. I was talking about America; I actually do know that there are other English speaking cultures around the world. [/green acres]

Better yet, let's give test answers, let's not make the kids learn to do addition and subtraction without calculators, let's do everything in our power to make life easier because having to learn something is for the birds.

[Kingswood]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

What I'm talking about is the penchant for making everything easier. If we make words "easier" then kids will get better grades on spelling tests and we'll have smarter kids? The logic doesn't follow.

A quotation from The Matrix:

Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

Kids who don't have to waste their time on rote memorization of 500-year-old pronunciations, 600-year-old printers' typos, 700-year-old scribal conventions and other odd spellings can put their time in the classroom to another use. Would kids be smarter then?

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Better yet, let's give test answers, let's not make the kids learn to do addition and subtraction without calculators, let's do everything in our power to make life easier because having to learn something is for the birds.

Do you put a "u" into words like color, flavor, honor? Do you use -er or -re on words like center? Do you use -ise or -ize endings? Do you spell jail or gaol? If you use American spellings for these words, you are already using the products of spelling reform. Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionaries, was a supporter of spelling reform and introduced simpler spellings in early editions of his dictionaries. Some of those spellings became standard in American English.

But you seem to think that changing spelling is a bad idea. Does that mean you will also reject American spellings for such words and use the older British spellings? Maybe you would also put the silent e back onto words such as shop and run? And maybe you would also use "u" for "v" and "i" for "j" because if it was good enough for Shakespeare then it is good enough for you? And while we're at it, let's make all the kids learn them too, because we don't want them to go to school just to have a good time learning easy stuff. Let's make learning as hard as possible for our kids. Why stop at bizarre spellings? We'll make them multiply numbers using Roman numerals, learn to tell the time using a sundial, make them calculate the epicycles in planetary motions and calculate the proper number of gargoyles to place on a new building.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Kingswood

Kids who don't have to waste their time on rote memorization of 500-year-old pronunciations, 600-year-old printers' typos, 700-year-old scribal conventions and other odd spellings can put their time in the classroom to another use.

So you're going to teach them more by...teaching them less? What? Kids could save time in math class by using a calculator the entire time, too, but it isn't going to offer much overall improvement.

Taking the time to learn the rules and exceptions to those rules is the least of the worries facing our education system, today.