I can't spell, but chance me for...what??

Parent Cafe
21

The 'your/you’re" mistake is everywhere on Facebook and elsewhere. On this site I wouldn’t expect to see it as much, and I don’t…but it does show its ugly face now and then.

It does seem odd that a student with the stats to be choosing among the Ivies and other elite schools would not know the difference between “accept” and “except” or “affect” and “effect,” begging the question: “How did you get that 2340 again?”

And while the original content on this site is not a formal research paper and, thus, should not be scrutinized to the same degree, I imagine most of us probably want to avoid appearing uneducated – especially the students who create the “chance” threads.

22

Even a fair number of adults here write CalTech instead of Caltech.

My pet peeve is site/cite/sight confusion, because I see a lot of elementary teachers mixing those up in letters to parents.

DS just showed my that his AP Biology teacher wrote “celcius” multiple times on a worksheet.

23

Well, post #19, that’s an easy one. Chance=0.

24

It’s Friday afternoon… gonna have some fun here (way too easily amused. hehe):

What are my chances of being excepted too the following? I am a world champion dog groomer and an enthusiastic gamer. Will that effect my chances?

Colombia
Call-Broccoli
Yail
University of Chicago, Illinois
University of Pennsylvania State
Washington DC STLU
Cornelle [the French spelling…]
Prinston
Two Lane
Rodchester
Stafford
Duce
John Hawkins

25

That depends - do u play an unusule musacal instrament like the accordian?

26

Like totally! I play the tamberine in are orchestra!

27

Well, there’s no spelling test on the SAT, so I don’t know why anyone thinks that there’s any correlation.

I’ve met many smart students, some brilliant ones, who don’t spell well.

I do put in a few minutes in my first-year comp classes reminding of affect/effect, but spelling is not one of my bigger concerns.

28

^ I wouldn’t expect grammar/spelling/punctuation to be the main (or even a…) focus in your teaching duties. But rightly or wrongly, assumptions are made based on writing and spelling ability.

29

@garland - Well, there’s no spelling test on the SAT, so I don’t know why anyone thinks that there’s any correlation.

Writing scores probably. Or even CR. Or actually just your English grades.

30

^But the SAT writing does not grade on spelling. The question was how does it relate to the SAT.

31

Maybe there is no spelling portion, but knowing when to use the correct form of a word, proper grammar, and differences in homophones can all show up on your SAT test or be graded in your writing sample. Just wondering, do students abroad receive the test packet and write their essay in their native language? If so, I can certainly see how some of those international chance threads are seriously lacking in English skills, but if not, I too question some of the 2400s who can’t tell a possessive pronoun from a contraction (your/you’re).

32

Affect/effect, your/you’re, etc. aren’t spelling errors – they are usage errors. Big difference to me between spelling and usage errors.

33

You know, some people, like me, simply have problems spelling. Yes I am in my 40s, have been writing a long time, and have 2 master’s degrees. Still my husband, who does not hold a college degree and who learned English as an older teen/young adult, completely massacres me in Scrabble!!! It is genetic - he also runs rings around my mother, who holds a PhD. Unfortunately, I have passed this on to one of my sons who has never passed a spelling test in school, ever, and he is 13. We gave up.

For some of us, it is not carelessness!

Oh by the way, I had to take several words from the above paragraph and cut and past them into Google to make sure they were actually the words I thought I was using. I am still unsure about “massacres” it just looks weird, but Google says it is OK. Fingers crossed…

34

Not sure I could spell massacre right on my own (cer?). I just avoid using words I don’t know how to spell for sure! Unfortunately, the two words I have the hardest time with are tomorrow (always want to put two m’s) and necessary (mix up 2 s’s for two c’s) and those words are used often!!!

35

I blame it on my eyesight. That darn middle-age…need glasses but refuse to get them. I could increase font size, but then that would be admitting I need glasses. I often discover errors after the fact (usually in the morning when my eyes are seeing clearly) and am shocked as I didn’t see them at first. I always thought it bothered me more than others, but now I know that may not be true! :((

36

Some of us are perfectly fine spellers, and perfectly awful typists.

37

Post #33, I have the same problem with the word tomorrow. My sister was making fun of me on text message. Somehow I have two m’s always.

38

I have a buddy who uses “2mar” instead of “tomorrow.”