Avoiding spelling mistakes
Poetry
Sometimes spelling issues in Thai English are due to unfamiliar graphics of English language typefaces. When we type out words in a font that we are not accustomed to, sometimes we do not react quickly to what the letters look like. So in Thai English, we sometimes see the word poetry spelled wrong as poctry. Thai university students know that the word should be spelled poetry and not poctry, but they may not always look closely enough to see if a wrong letter has been typed. In some fonts, the lower case letters c and e may be very close in appearance. This is not the only example of common errors found even among native speakers and writers of English. One academic research paper points out that commonly confused letters and numerals often occur in English. They include
- lower-case letter l (“el”) and upper-case letter I
- upper-case letter E and upper-case letter F
- lower-case letter l (“el”) and numeral 1
- upper-case letter Z and numeral 2
- lower-case letter o and numeral 0
- upper-case letter O and numeral 0
- lower-case letter g and lower-case letter q
- upper-case letter B and numeral 8
- lower-case letter m and lower-case letter n
- upper-case letter D and numeral 0
- lower-case cursive letter y and lower-case cursive letter z
- upper-case letter S and numeral 5
- lower-case letter c and lower-case letter e
- upper-case letter S and numeral 8
- lower-case cursive letter l and lower-case cursive letter b
- upper-case letter Z and numeral 7
- lower-case cursive letter i and lower-case cursive letter e
- upper-case letter T and numeral 7
- lower-case cursive letter a and lower-case cursive letter o
- numeral 5 and numeral 8
- upper-case letter T and upper-case letter I
- numeral 5 and numeral 3
- upper-case letter D and upper-case letter O
- numeral 7 and numeral 1
This list suggests that many writers of Thai English may have a problem if they type the words
THAMMASAT LIBRARY B0OK BANK
or
THAMMASAT LIBRARY B00K BANK
instead of the correct
THAMMASAT LIBRARY BOOK BANK
In the first two examples, we see that the writer has mistakenly used one of two of the numeral 0’s on the keyboard, instead of the correct capital O. When we look at the correct version, we see that the letter O’s should be round and full like the other letters in the words. In the mistaken version, we see that the letter 0’s are comparatively thin and do not seem to fit in with the rest of the letters. If we take the time to look carefully at what we type, we may catch many of these mistakes. Another example:
THAMMASAT LIBRARY 8OOK BANK
or
THAMMASAT LIBRARY BOOK 8ANK
or
THAMMASAT LIBRARY 8OOK 8ANK
instead of the correct
THAMMASAT LIBRARY BOOK BANK
Again, an error has crept into our typing. Instead of the upper case letter B, we see that the numeral 8 has been typed. In the case where it has been typed twice, we hope that we may notice that there is something wrong. However if the numeral 8 only replaces the upper case letter B once, if we do not examine the results closely, it is possible to overlook the problem. So one of the key aspects of avoiding this error is to look carefully at whatever we type, since we know that these problems do occur. Another example:
Thammasat University Library Schedule for Academic Year 2078
Unless we are planning very much in the future, this should be of course
Thammasat University Library Schedule for Academic Year 2018
Still other examples of mistakes:
Thamnasat University Library
or
Thanmasat University Library
instead of the correct
Thammasat University Library
Choosing a font
One way to resolve this issue is to choose a font that is clear and does not present too many confusions. When we write an academic research paper or thesis, we are often told what font the editor or thesis advisor wishes us to use for typing. In cases where we are given a free choice of fonts, we may consider how we want to present out text. Clearly our main goal is to communicate our data most efficiently to readers. We are certainly interested in avoiding typographical errors due to similarity in the way some English letters loo,, but we also want our readers to understand what we have written. One online guide advises us not to choose too fancy lettering, because this is meant to be appreciated in short texts such as greeting cards or informal messages, rather than in long and serious academic research papers. Popular fonts or typefaces are those found in book or newspaper printing, since they are meant to be read for many pages. For this reason, Times New Roman font is appreciated by many readers and writers. It was designed especially to be easy to read. In 1931 it was created for the British newspaper the London Times. Today the Times uses a different typeface, but Times New Roman continues to be seen in the printing of books and other texts. Notably, it is usually found as a standard typeface on most desktop computers.
Whatever typeface we prefer, and it is a matter of personal choice, we should try to allow for plenty of space around the letters. If the letters seems crowded together, they will be more tiring to read and also more difficult to tell apart. A good test is to see how tall the lower-case letter x is in any typeface. If it is not too small, then the lower-case letters c and e should be relatively easy to tell apart. In most typefaces, the lower-case letter x has the same height as the letters v, w, and z. Curved letters such as a, c, e, m, n, o, r, s, and u tend to be slightly taller than height of the letter x, or x-height, as it is known. One typeface that is known for being clear, even in lower case letters is Garamond. It may be a good idea to try out a typeface or font by typing a few words, such as poetry, on it before committing to using it to write a long academic research paper or thesis. If the words appear clear and do not cause any confusion, then the font is probably the right choice for the research project.
If we are not sure about what some of the letters may be, we may be sure that our readers may also be confused when they see what we have written. It is a basic courtesy to present a text to readers that does not cause unnecessary trouble to understand. We respect the time of busy ajarns and students, and would not want to waste their time by using a font or typeface that creates problems, when another font would be clearer and simpler. Some students find themselves bored with the topic of an assignment and by the time they are asked to present results, add all kinds of imaginative fonts to power points as a way of decorating the data and making it look new and exciting. We sometimes forget that the people reading our research or hearing about it in presentations are new to the material. They have not spent months or years with it as we have, and it is best to keep things as plain and direct as possible, if we expect them to understand what we are writing and talking about.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)