AP: Spelling Bee protesters

Fri Jun 4 08:47:36 UTC 2010

These protests have been going on for a few years.  I was invited to attend the first but declined.  To change tradspel smartly, one needs an end design toward which to head.  They have none.  To mix truespel in with them would not be right.  Basically it's a pronunciation guide spelling.  

Truespel design is scientific based on the data in my books (books 1 and 4).  These books are nothing but spreadsheets of word counts and phoneme spelling preferences.  All English teachers should be familiar with the data; the sounds of USA English and how spelled, especially in regard to frequency of occurrence of words (sounds) in text.  This relates to frequency of spoken sounds.

In Finland there are no spelling bees.  Finnish spelling is simple, phonetic.  Simpler is better.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+ 
see truespel.com phonetic spelling

> Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 04:16:36 -0400
> From: aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM
> Subject: AP: Spelling Bee protesters
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: AP: Spelling Bee protesters
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I can think of at least one person kicking himself now for missing an
> opportunity.
> 
> VS-)
> 
> http://bit.ly/cvas8d
> 
> > In DC, even the Spelling Bee draws protesters
> >
> > By LAUREN SAUSSER (AP) – 2 hours ago
> >
> > WASHINGTON — The nation's capital always draws its share of
> > protesters, picketing for causes ranging from health care reform to
> > immigration policy.
> >
> > But spelling bee protesters? They're out here, too.
> >
> > Four peaceful protesters, some dressed in full-length black and yellow
> > bee costumes, represented the American Literacy Council and the
> > London-based Spelling Society and stood outside the Grand Hyatt on
> > Thursday, where the Scripps National Spelling Bee is being held. Their
> > message was short: Simplify the way we spell words.
> >
> > Roberta Mahoney, 81, a former Fairfax County, Va. elementary school
> > principal, said the current language obstructs 40 percent of the
> > population from learning how to read, write and spell.
> >
> > "Our alphabet has 425-plus ways of putting words together in illogical
> > ways," Mahoney said.
> >
> > The protesting cohort distributed pins to willing passers-by with
> > their logo, "Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much."
> >
> > According to literature distributed by the group, it makes more sense
> > for "fruit" to be spelled as "froot," "slow" should be "slo," and
> > "heifer" — a word spelled correctly during the first oral round of the
> > bee Thursday by Texas competitor Ramesh Ghanta — should be "hefer."
> >
> > Meanwhile, inside the hotel's Independence Ballroom, 273 spellers
> > celebrated the complexity of the language in all its glory, correctly
> > spelling words like zaibatsu, vibrissae and biauriculate.
> >
> > While the protesters could make headway with cell phone texters who
> > routinely swap "u" for "you" and "gr8" for "great," their message may
> > be a harder sell for the Scripps crowd.
> >
> > Mahoney had trouble gaining traction with at least one bee attendee.
> > New Mexico resident Matthew Evans, 15, a former speller whose sister
> > is participating in the bee this year, reasoned with her that if
> > English spellings were changed, spelling bees would cease to exist.
> >
> > "If a dictionary lists 'enough' as 'enuf,' the spelling bee goes by
> > the dictionary, therefore all the spelling words are easier to spell,
> > so the spelling bee is gone," Evans said.
> >
> > "Well," Mahoney replied, "they could pick their own dictionary."
> >
> > ___
> >
> > Online: http://www.americanliteracy.com
> >
> > http://www.spellingsociety.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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