How to Spell
SIR,—Janus is a trifle hard on people who would like to spell, but simply cannot. May I use myself as an example ? Because my visual sense is far more highly developed than my aural sense, I never had the slightest difficulty in spelling accurately. The shape of one written word appears to me so different from the shape of another that I am instantly aware of any alteration in shape by a mis-spelling. On the other hand, I find it extremely hard to learn through the medium of the lecture or " talk." A child who learns best by reading quickly develops sensitive- ness to the Took of words. A child who learns best by ear oply thinks of words phonetically.
The latter can, and must, make the effort to' see as well as to hear ; but he will never spell correctly simply by instinct—i.e., because his visual instinct will at once be offended if he puts an E in " bird," or one T too few in " little."—Yours faithfully,
Previous page
