Out loud, your kid nails it. On Friday's vocab quiz, the paper says proffesor, possible or esta without its accent. Spanish is actually spelled the way it sounds, but English keeps getting in the way. Here is how to spell Spanish words correctly. The short answer: look, cover, write, check, and treat accents as letters.
How to Spell Spanish Words Correctly: 5 Tips
1. Look, cover, write, check. Your kid looks at the word, covers it, writes it from memory, then compares letter by letter. One mistake? Right away, one more time.
2. Treat the accent as a letter. In Spanish, an accent can change the meaning: papá is dad, papa is potato. está means "is", esta means "this". A word without its accent is a misspelled word, so it gets learned together with the word.
3. Watch the cognates. Many words look like English, with fewer double letters: profesor, posible, clase. Your kid's hand wants to write the English version. A short "almost English" list at the front of the binder helps a lot.
4. Quiz in writing. When you quiz your kid, have them write the Spanish word instead of saying it. You both see right away where it breaks down. 6 rules for quizzing.
5. Misspelled words go back to box 1. Words that came back wrong on the quiz return to box 1 of the flashcards and get a quick daily rewrite.
Almost English, Not Quite
Three cognates with one letter less in Spanish:
Practice Spelling With an App
With VocaScan, an iOS app for the iPhone, your child photographs the vocabulary page and the app turns it into a quiz in both directions. In "Translate" mode, your kid types the translation instead of picking it. From English to Spanish, that means practicing the Spanish spelling at the same time. Tip: on the iPhone keyboard, press and hold a letter to get the accent, like á or ñ.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my child misspell Spanish words they know?
Because many Spanish words look like English ones, and the hand writes the English spelling. Saying a word out loud trains the sound, not the letters.
Do accent marks count on a Spanish quiz?
That is the teacher's call, and many take them seriously because accents can change the meaning. When in doubt, ask.
What is the best way to practice Spanish spelling?
Look, cover, write, check, plus a list of cognates with their Spanish spelling.
Spelling, One Word at a Time
With VocaScan, your child photographs the textbook page and types the words in.
Download on the App Store