Lets say I'm 16 how do i improve my spelling and vocab for english???

Question

Provide ideas or concepts....

Answer 1

First of all, to Richard (and whoever gave him a thumbs up): Turn off the computer and hit the books!

I suggest NOT using spell check on the computer. Use a dictionary instead. One very important tool is READING, READING, READING, as much as you can and even more. Your eyes will get used to recognizing the words and your spelling will improve. However, remember that reading your friends' text messages will definitely NOT help you to improve your spelling. It may actually hinder your progress.

Here is a good word to start with: grammar (not grammer).

Also, try writing words 10 times across on a page. Don't write them one under the other. Write across on the page. An elementary teacher told me this trick and it really helps.

Good luck and don't give up.

Answer 2

Reading good books is really the only thing that will improve your vocabulary unless a teacher specifically tells you which vocabulary words to study, but, when you read a good book and you come to a word you don't know, you can look it up. This may be difficult sometimes because some good books use words that aren't part of the English language, but you can usually figure those out from the context. Like, in the book Ellen Foster, the narrator is a little girl from the south, so she's going to use words that don't make sense. Like, instead of saying rheumatic fever, she says romantic fever, but it's still a good book. This also helps with spelling because you're reading words the way they're suppose to be spelled and it helps you learn what spelling to use in certain cases. Like the difference between effect and affect. Effect is a noun and affect is a verb if you want to know. Some stuff I'd recommend to read are Ellen Foster, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Julliet, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar or anything else by Shakespeare, A Raisin in the Sun, Antigone, poems by Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings, there's just so much good stuff out there. Just looks stuff up.

Answer 3

Joe, I'm glad to see a young man trying to educate himself.
Go to the library or an old book store, there should be highschool English grammer text books there. Buy your self or checkout one of these old text books, it will not cost that much and start studying that book from beginning to end.
Get yourself a pocket sized dictionary and start studying a page a day. Do not try to go from A-Z do A one day B the next C the next etc etc.
Lastly, start reading more. Buy books or magazines that you have an interest in and start reading them, everytime you come across a word you don't know the meaning of, look it up.

Answer 4

I have horrible spelling, and sadly I'm a pre-med student. The way I improve my spelling is I write stuff out and I work with phonetics; then I had a friend that is good at writing and grammar to edit the thing i write as i watch. I have my friend explain what she is doing and why and i look up any misspelled words to try and remember there spelling for future reference and also take time to prof read your writting before hand. improving writing takes time.

Answer 5

Find a good novel that you will enjoy! That's what I did at that age. That will very much keep you up to date on proper grammar and vocabulary.

Watch news channels such as CNN and Fox News. You will always hear big words often and if you don't know the word, write it and spell it to the best of your ability and look them up later.

Answer 6

The thing that really worked for me was reading. A lot. Of anything from books, fiction or nonfiction although nonfiction is probably better, essays, magazine articles, newspapers... Because you see words over and over again, they kind of sticks in your mind. That helps you in your professional writing skills also.

Answer 7

You seem to have a better grasp on spelling than the majority of people on this site. Perhaps the best advice I can give is not to abbreviate- abbreviations make you lazy

Answer 8

Read as much as possible. Write as much as possible. Try not to use the spell check feature. Try to spelll the words on your own.

Answer 9

Try crossword puzzles and the game Scrabble. Challenge yourself everyday. Try reading books about things that interest you and look up any difficult words in a dictionary. Keep a journal. It will help you see your progress. Have fun and keep trying.

Answer 10

1) Capitalize your "I"
2) Use apostrophes
3) Stop spending so much time online
4) Stop trying to get other people to answer assignments for you on Yahoo! Answers