Spooky Spelling
There’s no doubt that spelling is scary. But fear not – Spellzone is here to help. With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve noticed many of our users are looking at spellings related to the spooky celebration.
The Halloween word list was created by one of our users – you can find it here or, if you’d prefer, you can create your own word list here. For some advice on how to get the most out of our word list feature, click here. If spooky spellings aren’t for you, find some of our other favourite word lists here.
Once you’ve found the perfect spelling list for you, click on the ‘eye’ icon at the top of each list to take a ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’ test; click on the ‘ear’ icon to take a ‘Listen and Spell’ test; and click on the soccer ball icon to play games using your words.
Since it’s Halloween, why not try out our spooking twist on hangman Which Witch?
Learn more about getting the most of our tests and games here.
While using these activities and games as much as possible is one of the best way to improve your spelling, it can also be useful to learn where a word derives from. Knowing a word’s origin can help trigger your memory when it comes to working out how to spell it. In our Word for Wednesday feature, we have explored where a word comes from and how it entered the English language. Click here to read about the word ‘Halloween’, and here to read about other frightful words.
Over the years, as well as word origins, we’ve looked at where various idioms and phrases come from. In this blog post, we examine the terrifying origin myths behind three everyday sayings. If you’re a bookworm, you may enjoy this article on scary characters who have entered the English language. And finally, Halloween isn’t Halloween without a bit of hocus pocus – click here to learn about the history of magic spells.
An idiom is a combination of words that has a figurative meaning separate from the actual definitions of the words used. There are an estimated 25,000 idioms in the English language and if you’re new to English, you might still be learning what many of them mean. Every few weeks we take a look at a list of idioms based around a specific theme and translate them for our readers. Click here to learn about idioms to do with monsters, witches, and ghosts. You may also be interested in our list of idioms about the human body – click here and here for skeletons, guts, and warts.
Happy Halloween!
25 Oct 2016
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