The Wisconsin weekly blade. [volume] (Madison, Wis.) 1916-1925, 1916-06-15
SPELLING is EASY.
New York Official DispeIs Idea
Words Cannot Be Mastered.
URGES ORTH0GRAPHY STUDY.

Albany, n. Y. Can we learn to
spellY' the state department OF educa-
ton asks. and an essay on the subject
by Charles. f. Wheelock. assistant
commissioning of education, Is issued
by the department showing that spell
ing may be easily learned. The state
is to have big spelling bee Sept. II
on the state fair grounds at Syracuse
"In almost every community there
Is found a considerable number of per-
sons who are poor spoilers and who
are thoroughly convinced it is impos-
sible for them ever to learn to spell"
Mr.. Wheel0ck says.
The fact is that. while there may be
now and then a person who cannot
spell because of some mental defect, In
the great majority of such cases per-
sons holding the belief that they can
never learn to spell are mistaken re-
garding their own powers. AS in ev.
cry other field of endeavor, the one
who starts out feeling to a certainty
that he is going to fail is In a fair
way to have his expectations realized
ut seems to the writer that it Is
time for some one to come to the de-
Tense Of the poor old English language
which. while it is not perfect by any
means. Is still not so perfectly awful
and terrifying as many writer's would
have us believe, 1t is possible to paint
a fearful picture by simply referring
to the words supersede, exceed. etc.
How is it possible ever to master
the spelling of language where such
things are printed? When. however,
we become aware of the fact that it Is
necessary to learn as individuals only
four of these seed words. namely, SUI
persede, exceed, proceed. succeed, and
that all the others end In cede, the
whole group is mastered without seri-
GUS difficulty
Another group that is often referred
to as being beyond the capacity of the
ordinary intellect is that containing lie
or Ell, but the backbone of the difficulty
In this group is easily broken by the
old rhyme (or rime If you prefer:
Write l before f except after c..
| Or when sounded as 4.
AS In neighbor and weigh
1.-THE boy or girl who will thoroughly
master this rhine and who will then
learn as an individual the words that
seem to have neither rhine nor reason
either, seize. counterfeit. forfeit, sur
felt. sleight, weir. leisure. height,
| heifer-will have no further trouble
with the combination lie or Ell Ger
| tainly 1t does not require massive in
tellect or extraordinary effort to master
| this group. which is so often used as an
| insuperable difficulty of English spell
/ ing.
"a large proportion of the errors of
| the ordinary high school pupil is made
/ up of failure to drop the final Q, of fail
ure to double the final cOnsOnant in de-
| rivatives, and of failure to note that
/ the adjective termination is ful not
| full, all of which are matters that re-
| quire for their mastery no special gift
| Of intellect. but are easily within the
reach Of the ordinary fourteen year-old
pupil.
THE reason for the spelling OF refer,
referring, reference, once thoroughly
understood, will make it impossible TO
misspell these words thereafter. 1t re-
quires only ordinary intelligence to ap-
/ preciate the difference between hoping
and hopping. The student who has
/ been fortunate enough to have been
well taught in Latin will find real de-
light in accounting for the difference
between such words as emigrant and
immigrant, in explaining why there are
only one and two c's in desiccate, in
the reason for the double letters I'm BIZ
ennial, centennial. Mediterranean, in
nOcent, inn0cu0us and In accounting
for special features of hundreds OF
other words. 1t is possible for a spell
| ing lesson treated in this way to be-
come almost as interesting as a story
by Sherlock Holmes. The detective in
stinct finds here abundant opportunity
for exercise.
"Of course it must be understood that
after all the classification of words and
the disposal OF difficulties by groups
there will still remain till and until,
SNtuAANtf - - - IlAItSts.
hemorrhage and many other like dis
agreeable complaints. which fortunate
ly are for the most part infrequent and
are to be dealt with only when neces-
sary. A list of POO or 800 of these ter
rors would Include all that one would
need to consider. and certainly 1t is not
beyond the capacity of the fourteen
year-old pupil to master 300 or 300
hard words Five words a day would
make 100 words month. so two or
three months at this rate would clear
them all up.
If you have acquired the notion that
the difficulties of spelling are insuper-
able get the notion out Of your head at
once. II you have been led to believe
that you lack the particular brain cells
In which are stored the proper arrange
ment of letters In words get rid Of that
notion too. You should enter at once
on the job of convincing yourself that
you can do it, and remember always
that there is no royal road to knowl-
edge. Persistent hard work Is the only
sure way TO success in any field. and
about three months If real work are