--- title: How to learn spellings that stick — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «How to learn spellings that stick», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Freddie's mum says «just write it out ten times», and Freddie writes «becuase» ten times. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / How to learn spellings that stick # How to learn spellings that stick Lesson 15 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 26 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/0/) — Freddie's mum says «just write it out ten times», and Freddie writes «becuase» ten times. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/1/) — He has now practised the mistake ten times. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/2/) — Practice only helps if it is accurate, which is why schools use look, say, cover, write, check: look at the word, say it, cover it, write it from memory, then check it letter by letter, and check again tomorrow. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/3/) — Memory likes little and often. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/4/) — Five words a night with a quick look back at last week's words beats twenty words crammed into one evening; this is called spaced practice. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/5/) — Lucas, who tries to learn twenty in one night, may pass on Friday and forget most of them by Monday. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/6/) — Use tools wisely. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/7/) — A dictionary gives spelling and meaning; a phone's spellcheck is quick but can offer the wrong word if your try is far off, so read its suggestion. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/9/) — Memory tricks, mnemonics, work for the hardest words («Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants» for because); rules work for most of the rest. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/10/) — Colour helps only if you colour the tricky bit, not the whole word in a rainbow. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/11/) — Writing your own sentence with each word fixes spelling and meaning together: «I accidentally dropped my sandwich.» - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/12/) — Even keen readers can be weak spellers, because reading skims words without studying every letter; they need to pick a few words and look closely. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/13/) — Spelling still matters in school, jobs and any message people take seriously, even if an older cousin calls it something «for boomers». - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/14/) — And practice fits anywhere: spell the signs, the menu and the car number plates on the way to school. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/15/) — Copying a word without checking can practise a mistake; practice must be accurate. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/16/) — Look, say, cover, write, check is a method for learning a spelling from memory. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/17/) — Spaced practice, small amounts over several days, works better than cramming in one night. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/18/) — A dictionary gives spelling and meaning; spellcheck is quick but may suggest the wrong word, so read the suggestion. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/19/) — Words with silent first letters are found under their real spelling: psychology under ps, knee under kn. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/20/) — A mnemonic is a memory trick; it helps with a few very hard words, and rules help with most others. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/21/) — Colouring helps only when it marks the tricky part of a word. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/22/) — Writing your own sentence with a word helps you remember its spelling and its meaning. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/23/) — Reading a lot helps, but many readers also need to study a few words closely to spell them. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/24/) — Spelling tests check progress; they are practice, not a judgement of the person. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/25/) — Spelling can be practised anywhere: signs, menus, number plates. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/26/) — Slang in this lesson: «boomer» is slang for older people (properly, people born in the years after the Second World War); «toque» is Canadian for a woolly hat; «eh» is a Canadian way to end a sentence; «my lover» is a friendly West Country greeting, and «proper job» there means well done. - ← previous: [Words to know, Years 5–6 (the statutory list, by idea)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/14-words-to-know-years-5-6/) - next →: [Reading for pleasure and the reading book at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/16-reading-for-pleasure-and-the-reading-book-at-home/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)