Crossposted from https://sopuli.xyz/post/25634723
I wonder how native English speakers do it, but here’s how I approach this problem.
My trick involves using a consistent spelling system for encoding a random letter sequence into a sound which I can memorize. When writing, you just pull those auditory memories, decode the sounds back to the original alphabet salad, and you’re done! Needlessly complicated, but that’s a common theme in English anyway, so it should fit right in.
To make this method work, you need a consistent spelling system, so you could make one up or modify one previously invented for another language. Basically anything more consistent than English should do, so it’s a pretty low bar to clear.
Here are some example words to test this idea with:
- carburetor
- carburettor
- carburetter
Pronounce those letter sequences using that alternate spelling system. It won’t sound like English, but it’s consistent and that’s all we care about at this stage. The end of each word could sound like this:
- [retor]
- [retːor]
- [reter]
In my system, each letter corresponds to a specific sound like e=[e], a=[ɑ] etc. I’ve been thinking of including the Italian c=[tʃ], but you could use other languages too. Feel free to mix and match, as long as you make it consistent.
The idea is that it’s easier to memorize sounds rather than whimsical letter sequences. Once you have those funny sounds in your head, it’s easy to use that same consistent spelling system to convert the sound back to letters.
Once you know that trick, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to spell common words like “island”, “salmon”, “subtle”, or “wednesday. For example “cache” could be stored as [tʃatʃe] in my head. Still haven’t settled on a good way to store the letter c, so I’m open to suggestions.
I’m a native (American) English speaker and i still spell words wrong all the time, as do most people i know. Part of that is that i don’t really care if a computer’s spellchecker says i should use the French “-ible” instead of the more English “-able”, and part of it is that i know English spelling can’t get any better if we never let it evolve and we try to keep it totally static by making any spelling that doesn’t agree with Merriam and Webster a point of shame.
Oh, I totally agree. US english has diverged from UK english by making certain things more sensible, but there’s still a long way to go.
I think I’ve seen some organization try to change the spelling of health to helth. Maybe it was an Australian clinic or something. Can’t remember. Anyway, I totally agree with that sort of spelling reform. Just make the spelling closer the pronunciation and get rid of all the random nonsense.
Unlike many other languages, English doesn’t have a central authority thay could even propose changes, let alone dictate them. Spelling reforms have been attempted many times before, but it doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere.
English is also incredibly widespread, which is beginning to turn into a burden at this point. If you want to change something, your new spelling won’t be compatible with the rest of the world. If you make the spelling match the pronunciation, you need to choose one dialect. Which one though? Oh, I’m sure that decision won’t be controversial in the slightest and everyone will be totally ok with the outcome.