Even though we write less and less by hand and use autocorrect and grammar software daily, the importance of spelling correctly still remains, says Lindsay Dow, language consultant at Lindsay Does Languages.
"It does but it’s something that perhaps doesn’t matter as much as in the past because we can rely on tools like spellcheckers and Grammarly to ensure we’ve got things right. And then if you do make a mistake, you have the excuse of calling it a typo! However, it does, of course, still help to speed up writing and editing for yourself," she says.
The words she personally struggles to spell are resource and language. "Two words I write a lot in my line of work—and they often end up as resoruce and langauge if no auto-spellchecker is on."
As for others, she noticed that some modern abbreviations in spoken language don’t always get a set written form for a while. "For example, we might shorten the phrase “as per usual” to something like (and I hope you can understand my spelling attempt!) “as per ughe”!"
Some typos could be harmless and even funny (like these on the list), but a slip of a finger also has the potential to make us look less intelligent to others than we are. In fact, it was proven that a lack of proficiency in writing could be a barrier to people getting a job or even a date. It creates confusion as well, hindering our basic ability to communicate.
It's hard to say if our ability to spell is getting worse because we rely on auto-correct and spellcheck. We are writing more and faster and more efficiently than ever and that might be the reason the number of typos is increasing, says Lindsay.
"One interesting point made in this article is that we type more (and quicker) than we write "manually," and more people are typing nowadays, all factors that increase the number of spelling errors. So it may not be as simple as spellcheck making spelling worse. There are a few other factors at play."
While there's no concrete research proving that our spelling is getting worse, it doesn't hurt to try and keep it up or improve it—to make our communication clearer, appear more intelligent, and avoid losing job or dating opportunities.
For this, Lindsay recommends practice. "Much like anything, the boring answer is practice! However, as I say to my clients when they’re learning foreign languages, ensure that you’re making the process fun, flexible, and functional. There are endless ways to improve spelling, but if it’s boring rote exercises and you find them tedious, then you’ll learn nothing!"
"One thing that I have discovered by accident that might help is to switch the language of your keyboard," she added. "That way, spellcheck will be wanting to change almost every word, and you’ll be forced to pay attention!"
