Spelling, explained
How Many New Words a Day? The Honest Math of Spaced Repetition
Every new word becomes about eight future reviews. The plain arithmetic of spaced repetition, what research says about session length, and how to pick a pace you can keep.
October 11, 2026
OET Spelling for Nurses and Doctors: What the Examiners Penalize
How spelling is marked in each OET subtest, from zero-tolerance Reading answers to the Writing Language criterion, the medical words that go wrong, and a plan for busy clinicians.
October 11, 2026
For Teachers: The Words Educators Misspell on the Board
Why good teachers misspell words they know, the school and subject words that go wrong most, what to do when a student catches you, and a private ten-minute routine.
October 11, 2026
The Six Syllable Types: The Key to Spelling Long Words
Closed, open, silent e, vowel team, r-controlled and consonant-le: what each type says about the vowel, why rabbit has two b's, and how to split any long word.
October 11, 2026
English Spelling Mistakes Russian Speakers Make, and How to Fix Them
Why Russian speakers write "adress", "teory" and "wery": the habits behind the errors, forty words to practice, and a Russian school trick that works on English too.
October 11, 2026
Your Teen Spells Badly: What to Do When School Stops Teaching It
Spelling teaching stops around age eleven and the gaps stay. How to raise it with a teenager without a fight, find their real error list, and build a routine they will run themselves.
October 11, 2026
Spelling for Customer Support and Sales: The Words Customers Notice
What a misspelled reply costs in trust, the words in almost every ticket, the errors spell-check lets through, safe templates, and a ten-minute weekly routine for teams.
October 11, 2026
Mnemonics for Spelling: Which Tricks Work and Which Waste Time
What the research says about memory tricks, why "a rat in separate" beats a nine-word acrostic, why tricks fade, and how to pair a good one with spaced practice.
October 11, 2026
Affect or Effect? 40 More Confused Pairs Settled With Real Examples
Affect or effect, lose or loose, principal or principle: 41 near-twin words, each with a two-second test and real sentences. For careful writers, not beginners.
October 11, 2026
Five Minutes of Spaced Retrieval That Replace the Friday Spelling Test
A daily five-minute spelling routine that mixes old and new words, uses real errors, and outlasts the Friday test, with the classroom research and a grading plan.
October 11, 2026
Duolingo English Test Spelling: What the Machine Marks
Where spelling counts on the Duolingo English Test, task by task, how the grading engine treats it, the fake-word trap, and a four-week plan to prepare.
October 11, 2026
Why English Has So Many Ways to Spell One Sound, and How to Choose
Rain, play, make, eight, great, they: one vowel, six spellings. The short history, then the position rules that predict the right spelling for every long vowel.
October 11, 2026
English Spelling Mistakes Vietnamese Speakers Make and How to Fix Them
Why the ends of English words vanish for Vietnamese speakers: final consonants, clusters, ed and s endings, th. Forty words and a listening-then-typing method.
October 11, 2026
5th Grade Spelling Words: The Greek and Latin Roots That Matter
A 150-word fifth-grade spelling list organized by Greek and Latin root, the subject words that count, and a short home routine a ten-year-old will tolerate.
October 11, 2026
Why You Cannot Learn Spelling Just by Reading More
You read constantly and still cannot spell accommodate. What eye-movement research shows about reading, why it skips the letters that matter, and the fix.
October 11, 2026
Tion, Sion or Cian? How to Choose the Right Shun Ending
Action, tension, discussion, musician: four spellings for one sound, and the base word inside each one tells you which to use. The rules, sixty words, and the traps.
October 11, 2026
English Spelling Mistakes Turkish Speakers Make and How to Fix Them
Turkish spelling keeps its promises and English does not. Silent letters, vowel pairs, double letters, w and v, th and loanwords, with forty words to practice.
October 11, 2026
Homeschool Spelling: How to Teach It Without a Curriculum You Hate
What to teach in what order, how to build a fifteen-minute week, how to use your child's own writing as the word list, and what to look for if you buy a curriculum.
October 11, 2026
Middle School Spelling: The Academic Words 6th to 8th Graders Need
The spelling list stops in sixth grade; the hard words do not. Which academic words matter, the roots that explain them, and how your child can run their own list.
October 11, 2026
How to Teach Sight Words Without Memorizing Shapes
Sight words are not stored as pictures. How children really learn said, was and of, the heart word method, and a five-minute routine that works better than flashcards.
October 11, 2026
Spelling and Self-Esteem: Undoing Years of Being Called Careless
If a misspelled word still makes your stomach drop, this is for you: why spelling errors get read as character, why that is wrong, and how real confidence comes back.
October 11, 2026
IELTS Task 2 Spelling: British or American, and What Costs a Band
How spelling is really marked in IELTS Task 2: what the band descriptors mean, whether American spelling is safe, the essay words that go wrong, and a three-minute check.
October 11, 2026
Plurals That Trip Everyone Up: Potatoes, Analyses and the Rules
Potatoes or potatos, leaves but roofs, criteria or criterion: every English plural pattern, the reason behind each one, and the few old forms you just have to know.
October 11, 2026
English Spelling Mistakes Italian Speakers Make, and How to Fix Them
For Italian speakers: the five habits behind most English spelling errors, from comedy and committee to the missing h, with forty words and a method that fits them.
October 11, 2026