Avoiding more accidents in spelling.

Here are some more tricky words that are often spelled wrong. You do not need to remember exactly how each one is spelled, but it is useful to recall that these words can be difficult, so they are worth double-checking with a spell-check program or by Google search to make sure that you have them right:

Millennium

Based on the number of times it is spelled wrong, the word millennium is clearly a challenge to Thai writers of English. It is spelled wrong at least 15 times, as millenium. Also the word millennia, or more than one millennium, is spelled wrong as millenia. The good news is that the past millennium year of 2000 is far enough away that the word does not appear as often as it once did. Still, for cataloguing and writing research papers or theses, the word millennium can be necessary, and so it is important to get it right. The most common error is to leave out the second letter n in millennium, so if you find a way to remember this detail, chances are you will avoid making any mistake. If you divide the word up by syllables, or mill-enn-i-um, it becomes clearer that we need mill and enn in order to spell millennium.

Portuguese, Belgium, Beijing.

A common error, even for native English speakers, is to write the word Portuguese wrong, as Portugese. It just does not seem natural to include the second letter u, but it is necessary to do so. It is particularly important to show respect for nations and the people who live there by spelling the names of their citizens right, including people from Portugal, or the Portuguese. There is no easy rule to remember, just that when you look at the word, it should have Portugu-ese and not just Portug-ese.

Along the same lines, the name of the country is Belgium and not Belguim, as it is sometimes wrongly spelled. Keeping in mind how this word is pronounced is one way to avoid such errors. The city is named Bel-gi-um and not Bel-gu-im. While not all English words are spelled the way they sound, it can be useful to think about how they are pronounced when you are looking for tips about spelling.

The standard spelling in English of the capital of China is Beijing and not Bejing. Naturally, this spelling is a transliteration. You may recall when the standard spelling of the same city was Peking. Then it changed to Beijing. In order to pronounce it correctly, it requires both letter i’s so that it sounds like BAY-ZHING and not BEH-ZHING. Spelling and pronunciation are often linked in this way, and thinking of both at once can help you, whether the challenge is to spell or pronounce something correctly.

Cambridge

A city in England where a famous old university is located is Cambridge and not Cambrige. There is an easy way to remember the correct way to write it. To write Cambridge, you must include a bridge. There is no Cambridge without the bridge. If you recall this, then you will not be tempted to spell it wrong as Cambrige.

Technology

A common and useful word, technology is far too often spelled wrong in Thai English as technolgy. It is another instance of confusion caused by Thai English pronunciation. If you pronounce the word in standard English, both of the letters o are heard clearly. Unfortunately, the word is often not pronounced as it should be, and this makes it easier to spell it wrong. It may help to remember the standard ending for words in English, ology, meaning a subject of study or field of knowledge. Words such as theology, biology, ecology, geology, zoology, psychology, archaeology, and mythology all share this ending. If you visualize all of these words and see what they have in common, in all likelihood you will spell technology right.

Promotion, the.

On occasion the word promotion is spelled wrong as promation. There does not seem to be any logical reason for this error, since in Thai English, people do not say pro-ma-tion when they mean promotion. It may just be due to a typing error, yet it is odd that this same typing error happened so many times. At any rate, it is good to keep in mind that this mistake does occur now and then, and if you must use the word promotion, try to double-check to make sure you have not typed it the wrong way. In a comparable way, the word the is frequently spelled wrong as teh. Again, all Thai people who have studied English know how the word the is spelled and pronounced. Yet when typing something quickly or without full attention, a common mistake is to write teh instead of the.

Development

The noun development means the process of developing or being developed. It should not be spelled developement. Clearly the word develop is essential to its meaning. Few people would spell that shorter word wrong as develope. Yet in the longer word, sometimes writers of Thai English are tempted to add an extra letter e where is not wanted or needed. Here again faulty pronunciation may be in part to blame. Some people may say the word develop as if it rhymed with the word hope. It does not. It should rhyme with the word up. If you can remember that, you may not see any need to add an extra letter e.

Research

Research is another essential word which all educated Thai people are familiar with. There is no reason for it to be spelled wrong as reserach, yet this often happens. It is surely the result of people working in a hurry, trying to get as much typed as possible, and hitting the wrong letters on the computer keyboard. When writing a foreign language, it is especially important not to go too quickly. Remember that it can take much longer to clean up a mess after it has been made, than it is to carefully approach, double-checking as you go along.

Parliament

A parliament or legislature is often pronounced wrong in Thai English, which is certainly the reason why it is also sometimes spelled wrong, as paliament. In general, it is best to avoid foreign language etymologies for English words, since they can difficult to remember, and it is already enough of a challenge to get English correct without worrying about other foreign languages. In the case of parliament, however, it may be useful to remember that it derives from the French word parler, to speak. A parliament is a place where people speak (parler). Lots of talking obviously goes on at any parliament, and it would be wrong to leave out the letter r, or not to pronounce it, when using the word.

Library

Another word that all TU Library staff know very well is library. Yet it is sometimes seen spelled wrong as libary. Again an important letter, in this case r, is left out of a word. This may possibly be because of the way it is wrongly pronounced in Thai English. Each time when you enter the TU Libraries, if you think of the word library, and enjoy saying it with both letters r’s, it is not likely you will ever want to spell the word libary. The reason that two r’s are needed is that the word library derives from the Latin word for book, or liber. It is not necessary to remember that, or to know Latin to spell library correctly. Just try to recall that two letter r’s are needed in the word. It is a good thing to spell correctly the name of the place where you work or study. Among uneducated native speakers of English, leaving out the second letter r in library is common. So in English speaking countries, if people say libary or liberry instead of library, they make an illiterate impression. Naturally, if you are a speaker of English as a foreign language, you will not be held to the same exacting standard as native-born speakers. Even so, it will please and impress native speakers if you take the extra trouble to pronounce and spell a word such as library correctly, especially at ASEAN international library events.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)