Spelling as part of an English language course

learning English as a Foreign language Are you living in an English-speaking country but don't have English as your first language? You may be a capable speaker but want to improve your written English.

Or perhaps you are in your own country and learning English as a foreign language? Many such students complain that English spelling is so difficult. Unlike many other languages it does not follow clear rules such as always using the same letters for the same sounds.

Despite this problem, most language courses do not offer any particular tuition in spelling - they just expect you to pick it up as you go along. This where Spellzone can help. You may even find it helps your pronunciation as well as your spelling, because the words are grouped according to their sound, for example:

1. You will find these words in the same unit because they have the same sound:

fair     bear     share     there     their

2. The letters ou have a different sound in each of these words. You will find them grouped with other words which have the same sound:

cloud   group   double   though   thought

Spellzone now also features a dictionary, text reader and a translator on every course page.

  • Text reader - helps to learn the pronunciation of words. It is a synthetic voice but recent research shows a synthetic voice can be better for learning the sounds of words.
  • Dictionary - If a student doesn't know the meaning of any word they can easily check. This means that Spellzone can also help with vocabulary.
  • Translator - Finally the translator provides another method to check the meaning of words by viewing them in a native language.

Teachers in many Language Schools find Spellzone a useful addition to their own teaching course. Students can work at the course either on a school or home computer or on their mobile phone. As all progress and results are stored online it is always possible to monitor students progress if needed. Please see the 'Questions and Answers for teachers and tutors'.

Please try one of the units which are free to all users:

 

Try Spellzone for free

One of the students has put in a huge amount of effort in completing Spellzone at least 3 times a week since his arrival with us in January. Looking at his scores after the latest GL testing, his standardised score has risen from 99 to 131. This is a truly phenomenal result. I just wanted to share the best result I have ever seen.

Terrie Penrose-Toms, Casterton College

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