Crossposted from https://sopuli.xyz/post/25634723

I wonder how native English speakers do it, but here’s how I approach this problem.

My trick involves using a consistent spelling system for encoding a random letter sequence into a sound which I can memorize. When writing, you just pull those auditory memories, decode the sounds back to the original alphabet salad, and you’re done! Needlessly complicated, but that’s a common theme in English anyway, so it should fit right in.

To make this method work, you need a consistent spelling system, so you could make one up or modify one previously invented for another language. Basically anything more consistent than English should do, so it’s a pretty low bar to clear.

Here are some example words to test this idea with:

  • carburetor
  • carburettor
  • carburetter

Pronounce those letter sequences using that alternate spelling system. It won’t sound like English, but it’s consistent and that’s all we care about at this stage. The end of each word could sound like this:

  • [retor]
  • [retːor]
  • [reter]

In my system, each letter corresponds to a specific sound like e=[e], a=[ɑ] etc. I’ve been thinking of including the Italian c=[tʃ], but you could use other languages too. Feel free to mix and match, as long as you make it consistent.

The idea is that it’s easier to memorize sounds rather than whimsical letter sequences. Once you have those funny sounds in your head, it’s easy to use that same consistent spelling system to convert the sound back to letters.

Once you know that trick, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to spell common words like “island”, “salmon”, “subtle”, or “wednesday. For example “cache” could be stored as [tʃatʃe] in my head. Still haven’t settled on a good way to store the letter c, so I’m open to suggestions.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    31·
    21 days ago

    Nneedlessly complicated" is rather judgemental. This could be said of pretty much any PIE language, as they all come from the same route, but traveled through different paths to get to today. Try counting in French for example - there’s a reason Lincoln said “four score is and twenty years ago” - French. (I’d say “needlessly complicated” applies to any language today, *from our perspective).

    Modern English is (largely) a result of the heavy influence of French on Old/Middle English courtesy of the Norman invasion in 1066 (I think it was Old English at the time, but I don’t fully recall). There are other influences, but that one is massive.

    The key to determining spelling is understanding the sound of the word, and then using IPA.

    By the way, “carburettor” is a valid spelling, and is the word Brits use. To that end, I recommend learning British English first, it has some consistencies that were eliminated by Webster. Granted Webster did simplify some things, and introduce some other consistencies, but I think from a learning perspective of “received English” may be easier.

    If you really want to understand why English is the way it is, check out the podcast “The History of English” By Kevin Stroud, and the podcasts “Let’s Master English” and “Business English”.