Why care for orthography? 

Orthography makes good readers and writers

Spell-checkers are great tools, but not solutions. They leave plenty of opportunity to embarrass yourself. Orthography, literally the "art of writing right", is largely concerned with spelling. Orthography has to be "on auto-pilot" to inspire your reading and writing. Neglect it, and your confidence and speed suffers.

Bad orthography creates unenthusiastic writers and struggling readers. If you don't have a good foundation in orthography, writing becomes a frustrating struggle, limiting the way you share your thoughts.

Orthography tutoring builds MOI

People with solid spelling skills quickly decide how to write based on what "looks right.” Their well-trained brain also lets them skim through text efficiently by making nearly instant "looks like" decisions.

Slow readers typically have a limited vocabulary. As readers advance, they no longer read by decoding (as they did in the first months of reading), but by quickly associating the words on the page with a library of Mental Orthographic Images (MOI) built over a lifetime of learning. Building a powerful collection of MOI through vocabulary instruction is the first step to creating confident readers, writers and spellers. Some more information about this is found at our blog post "Cna yuo raed tihs?"

You employer is not hiring your spell-checker

Your future employer cares about your orthography. Also people you interact with on a daily basis do. Lack of orthography is taken as a sign of inferior education. It carries a negative stigma. Spelling errors reflect negatively on your work. It can also damage the reputation of the company that employs you.

Surveys show that spelling errors on applications are more strongly weighed by most employers than grade averages or previous work experience. Many employers now require a hand-written sample of their future employees’ orthography skills.

A 2006 study revealed that 80% of employers found the orthography skills - namely spelling and grammar - of high school graduates insufficient to meet the demands of the work place.

It's easy with the right tutoring

Learning how to write correctly and confidently takes only a small effort and will reap big rewards throughout your life and career. LearnThatWord is free, and premium tutoring very affordable. 

Invest a few minutes a week into your future!