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#Post#: 15906--------------------------------------------------
English Spelling: the hardest words
By: Aliph Date: May 22, 2019, 2:41 am
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Well, I know some among you wouldn’t believe a single word
written or pronounced by CNN but still... I found this article
interesting.
And found out that English uses really difficult foreign words
like the French “bondieuserie “ or stumbles on very easy ones
like “Lasi” (Mango Lassi is one of my favorite drinks).
HTML https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/us/hardest-words-spelling-bee-trnd/index.html
#Post#: 15911--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: NealC Date: May 22, 2019, 4:15 am
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Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy? In the U.S. they
are huge contests that start in local schools and end up with
regional and national champions. Spelling lessons take up an
enormous amount of time in US grammar schools, time that could
be better spent in science or math. All to support a language
that prides itself that educated people don't spell words by the
way they sound. It makes me angry to think of it.
Italian is so much easier to spell, it has to be an advantage
for young students. I was watching a US tv show dubbed in
Italian and the characters were watching the national spelling
bee finals, which is usually won by an 11 or 12 year old. It
struck me at the time that Italians would probably wonder what
the hell a spelling bee was and why would it be a big deal in
the US.
As for English I try to stay away from words with three vowels
in a row - a sure sign of French derivation, which means nothing
but trouble in spelling and pronunciation in English.
#Post#: 15914--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: Truman Overby Date: May 22, 2019, 6:28 am
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[quote author=Sofia link=topic=1079.msg15906#msg15906
date=1558510914]
Well, I know some among you wouldn’t believe a single word
written or pronounced by CNN but still...
[/quote]
Well, I suppose you're talking about me, Sofia. And I have to
strenuously object. They once did a very-well researched article
on to how to make ice at home. I found it to be 100% accurate.
#Post#: 15915--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: Truman Overby Date: May 22, 2019, 6:49 am
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[quote author=Sofia link=topic=1079.msg15906#msg15906
date=1558510914]
or stumbles on very easy ones like “Lasi”
HTML https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/us/hardest-words-spelling-bee-trnd/index.html
[/quote]
This may be an easy word for you but it's not used in American
English. Sure, it's in our dictionaries, but in use in American
English? No, not at all. So what seems easy and common to one
person in one country is unheard of in another.
Just because it's in a dictionary doesn't mean that it's an easy
or common word. They pick out difficult words for these bees
when they get to the higher levels of competition. And why
wouldn't they? After all, anyone can spell words like:
capitalism, superior, socialism, sucks, USA, best. Well you get
the idea. Glad I could help.
#Post#: 15919--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: SHL Date: May 22, 2019, 8:39 am
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Answer deleted. Not interested in taking part in this thread.
#Post#: 15939--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: Aliph Date: May 22, 2019, 1:08 pm
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[quote author=NealC link=topic=1079.msg15911#msg15911
date=1558516537]
Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy?
[/quote]
Italian (and Spanish) are a lot easier to write than English or
French. I can’t even remeber that at school they would make us
dictations, like they do in French schools.
But in 2018 the first “campionato di Spelling “ took place in
Italy.
To make it more trendy they use the English word. No comment
about that.
HTML https://www.ilfoglio.it/bandiera-bianca/2018/02/23/news/la-prima-gara-di-spelling-in-italia-certifica-che-siamo-una-nazione-di-ignoranti-180541/
In France, spelling championships have a big success. They are
organized by the journalist Bernard Pivot since more than 35
years. These championships are for adults, usually very educated
adults.
HTML https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Pivot
#Post#: 16041--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: MartinSR Date: May 23, 2019, 5:26 pm
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In Poland we have the spelling contest called 'Dyktando'. It's
organised every 2 years and it's for adults. Many politicians
and celebrities take part too.
Polish language is rather easy to read when you know the rules
but there are a few sounds which can be written different way,
e.g. h-ch u-ó ż-rz. These can make a lot of trouble,
because their using in writing is based mainly on tradition.
Probably they were pronounced differently in the past but they
sound equally now. Of course there are rules about them, which
are taught at school to young children, but these rules are
often unclear and have limited functionality (some of them are
useless in fact). For example:
'We write "ó" instead of "u" when in other forms of this word or
in similar words in other Slavic languages, exists "o" in this
place"
Now imagine a non-Slavic learner of Polish who has to decide...
#Post#: 16042--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: Alharacas Date: May 23, 2019, 6:07 pm
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[quote author=NealC link=topic=1079.msg15911#msg15911
date=1558516537]
Sofia do they have "Spelling Bees" in Italy? In the U.S. they
are huge contests that start in local schools and end up with
regional and national champions. Spelling lessons take up an
enormous amount of time in US grammar schools, time that could
be better spent in science or math. All to support a language
that prides itself that educated people don't spell words by the
way they sound. It makes me angry to think of it.
[/quote]
Looking at the difficult words in the article, it's no wonder
you get angry, Neal. Most of them would only be useful to
experts in biology, wouldn't they?
Still, I'm very happy to have learnt about Bondieuserie (even
though I did have to look it up). I'll certainly teach it to a
friend of mine who collects that kind of Kitsch (can't quite
remember, but I think that's a German loan word, isn't it?).
#Post#: 16044--------------------------------------------------
Re: English Spelling: the hardest words
By: NealC Date: May 23, 2019, 6:49 pm
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They tried to get me interested in representing the school at
the local contest but I told them no way. Why learn a bunch of
words, usually borrowed from other languages (french), that I
will never use again in my life? The whole thing seemed
pointless and I couldn't figure put why the adults just didnt
get together and fix the spelling stupidity.
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