Are you one of the guys who faced toughness in writing correct spelling in English dictation or written exams?
It is quite natural in the English language to make mistakes in spellings of words like in all other languages.
In English, there are words which are written by alphabets which do not sound the actual sound as required by the word.
In few other languages, the alphabet’s carry specific sound and so in writing the words the mistakes will not be much.
But in English, the alphabets sound something and usage of correct spelling by use of these alphabets to make them sound so is tough.
For example, you need to write a word with spelling as “COFFEE” but can’t you write it is “KAUPHY” ? not as per grammar rules.
But in the above two words, the spelling is different, yet the sound is the same for both. Yet for the sake of universal similarity in language one need to write it as coffee only and not otherwise.
But in other languages like the above term coffee can be written by only two or few letters and none can make a mistake, this is the specialty of languages with their own terminology and simple alphabets.
Why correct spelling is important in English:
English has two different types of wording as per my knowledge of U.S English and U.K English.
For example, the word “color” is from U.K English while the same word is written as “color” by U.S terminology.
So one has to stick to one of the types either U.S or U.K type. But whatever is the type we need to follow the correct spelling for the following reasons.
1. To keep uniformity in the English language for better use in the whole world. Different spelling of same word will be very confusing. Since with the expression of ideas has no limits and spread across the globe, it is good to have the same set of spelling for the whole world.
2. To avoid confusion & sound the correct word, i.e., coffee every one understands but not “kauphy.” They may mistake it for something else. Similarly the words “know” and “now” are quite different.
3. To give the actual meaning. For example, discreet, discrete seem to sound similar, but in fact, both have different meanings when used in a sentence. Like discreet (which means avoid causing offense by language), discrete (separate or distinct). So both words have different meaning with a small change in the alphabets.
4. To limit the number of words: English dictionaries are regularly updated to incorporate new words and their meanings. It seems there are thousands of words in English already unlike in other languages. Keeping one spelling for one word limits further addition of words for the same meaning.
5. To keep the English language within certain limits in terms of writing and expression. If allowed to use the alphabets to just sound the word without consideration of actual spelling, the English language will be out of limits for normal usage. For example, while we chat we use a word like “YOU” with just “U”, similarly good night as “GDN8” and many more. This is easy to use, and since chatting a private affair, it seems obvious to use such spellings. But when we use or operate software and apps related to English like in iPhone, mobiles, computers, etc. They are coded to recognize only the exact words and not otherwise. This helps keep the English language in its limits with reference to spelling in words. It is also comfortable to read for everyone as there is only one style of writing spellings.
That is why during schooling teachers stress on usage of correct spellings as it becomes a habit as one grows up.