If someone asks you how to spell a certain word, does the word appear in your head as you’re spelling it out for them, or does it seem to come out of your mouth automatically?
If it comes out automatically, would you describe yourself as being adept at language (always finding the right word to describe something, articulating your thoughts easily, etc.) or is it something you struggle with?
I tend to have trouble with words—it can take me a long time (minutes) to recall the proper word to describe something, and when speaking I frequently have to start a sentence 3 or 4 times to get it to come out right. (I also struggled for a while to replace the word ‘automatic’ in the above paragraphs with a more accurate description. I was unsuccessful.) Words also don’t appear in my head when I’m spelling them aloud, which suggests to me that I might be missing some pathways that connect my language centers to my conscious functions.
If someone asks you how to spell a certain word, does the word appear in your head as you’re spelling it out for them, or does it seem to come out of your mouth automatically?
I never see words. I feel them.
If it comes out automatically, would you describe yourself as being adept at language (always finding the right word to describe something, articulating your thoughts easily, etc.) or is it something you struggle with?
Great with syntax. Access to specific words tends to degrade as I get fatigued or stressed. That is, I can ‘feel’ the word there and know the naunces of the meaning it represents but can not bring the actual sounds or letters to mind.
I have often troubles with finding proper words, both in English and my native language, but I have no problems with spelling—I can say it automatically. This may be because I have learned English by reading and therefore the words are stored in my memory in their written form, but generally I suspect, from personal experience, that ability to recall spelling and ability to find the proper word are unrelated.
I can visualize sentences, paragraphs, or formatted code, but can’t zoom in as far as individual words; when I try I get a verbal representation instead. I usually can’t read over misspelled words (or wrong words, like its vs. it’s) without stopping. When this happens, it feels like hearing someone misparonounce a word.
When spelling a word aloud, it comes out pretty much automatically (verbal memory) with no perceptible intermediate steps. I would describe myself as adept with language.
In retrospect, spelling words out loud, something I do tend to do with a moderate frequency, is something I’ve gotten much better at over the past ten years. I suspect that I’ve hijacked my typing skill to the task, as I tend to error correct my verbal spelling in exactly the same way. I devote little or no conscious thought or sense mode to the spelling process, except in terms of feedback.
As for my language skills, they are at least adequate. However, I have devoted special attention to improving them so I can’t say that I don’t share some bias away from being especially capable.
I’m adept at language and I never visualize letters or words in my head. I think in pronounced/internally spoken words, so when I spell something aloud I think the letters to myself as I am saying them.
When I spell out a word, I don’t visualize anything. Using words in conversation, typing, or writing is also innate—they flow through without touching my consciousness. This is another aspect of my maxim, “my subconscious is way smarter than I am.” It responds quickly and accurately, at any rate.
I consider myself to be adept at the English language, and more objective evidence bears that out. I scored 36⁄36 on the English portion of the ACT, managed to accumulate enough extra credit through correcting my professor in my college level writing class that I didn’t need to take the final, and many people have told me that I write very well in many different contexts (collaborative fiction, business reports, online forums, etc.).
I would go so far as to say that if I make an effort to improve on my communication by the use of conscious thought, I do worse than when I “feel it out.”
I have pretty good language skills and I think I am above average at both spelling in my own writing and spotting spelling mistakes when reading but I do not find it particularly easy to spell a difficult word out loud, it is a relatively effortful process unlike the process when reading or writing which is largely automatic and effortless. With longer words I feel like short term memory limitations make it difficult to spell the word out, for a difficult word I try to visualize the text and ‘read off’ the spelling but that can be taxing for longer words. I may end up having to write it down in order to be sure the spelling is correct and to be able to read it out.
Growing up in England I was largely unaware of the concept of a spelling bee so this is not a skill I ever practiced to any great extent.
My experience of spelling words is quite visual (in contrast to my normal thinking style, which suggests that if “thinking styles” exist they are not monolithic), I literally have the visual representation of the word floating in my head. (I can tell it really is visual because I can give details, such as what kind of font—serif—or what color—black—they are the words as they’d appear in a book.)
I’d also describe my spelling skill as “automatic”, i.e. I can usually instantly spot whether a word is “right” or “not right”, I absolutely cannot stand misspellings (including mine, I have the hardest time when writing fast because I must instantly go back and correct any typos, rather than let them be), and they tend to leap out of the page; most people appear to have an ability to ignore typos that I lack. (For instance, I often get a kick out of spotting typos on the freakin’ front page of national magazines, and when I point them out I mostly get blank stares or “Oh, you’re right”—people just don’t notice!)
After a bit of self-experimentation, I’ve concluded that I almost (but not quite) completely lack any visual experience accompanying anything verbal. Even when I self-prompt, telling myself to spell a word, nothing really appears by default (though I can make an image of the word appear with a bit of focus, it’s very difficult to try to ‘read’ off of it).
Not generally, no, for either fiction or non-fiction. This may be why i’ve never been able to relate to the sense of getting ‘lost’ inside a book—they’ve never been as evocative for me as they seem to for others.
If I’m trying to spell a word out loud and it’s difficult for me, it appears in my head, but not necessarily as a whole, and I’ll be doing checking as I go.
This is interesting, I’d swear the words are appearing more clearly in my mind now that you’ve brought this up.
I’m pretty adept at straightforward language. I can usually find the words I want, and if I’m struggling to find a word, sometimes it’s a memory glitch, but it’s more likely to be pinning down a meaning.
Sometimes I can’t find a word, and I blame the language. There doesn’t seem to be an English word which includes planning as part of an action.
I do creative work with words on a small scale—coming up with button slogans, and sometimes I’m very fast. (Recent examples: “Life is an adventure—bring a webcam”, “God is watching. It’s a good thing He’s easily amused.”)
“Effortlessly” might be a better word than “automatically”, but it took me a couple of minutes to think of it.
Writers typically need to revise. You might be able to become more facile, but it’s also possible that you’re imagining that other writers have it easier than you do.
Also, you may be slowing yourself down more than necessary by trying to get it right at the beginning. Many people find they’re better off letting the very first draft just flow, and then do the editing.
I use a mixed strategy—I edit somewhat on the first pass, aiming for satisfactory, and then I go over it a time or two for improvements.
I suspect that really fast writers (at least of the kind I see online) are doing most of their writing by presenting things they’ve already thought out.
Yeah, it’s difficult to seperate out what’s related to abstract thought (as opposed to language), what’s typical a typical language difficulty, and what’s a quirk of my particular brain.
It is somewhat telling that your (and everyone elses) response doesn’t fit neatly into my ‘appears in your head or not’ dichotomy.
If someone asks you how to spell a certain word, does the word appear in your head as you’re spelling it out for them, or does it seem to come out of your mouth automatically?
Neither, really. For simple frequent words I remember each letter individually, but otherwise I either have to write it down using the mechanical memory to retrieve the spelling or I have to look at the complete word to test whether it looks right. I can test a spelling by imagining how it looks, but that’s not as reliable as seeing it with my eyes, and of course writing it down and then looking at it is always best (short of looking it up of course).
Spelling a word out loud is an infrequent task for me. I have to simulate writing or typing it and then dictate the result of that simulation. I would characterize myself as adept at language. Choosing the appropriate words comes easily to me, and I don’t think this skill is related to spelling bee performance.
Survey question:
If someone asks you how to spell a certain word, does the word appear in your head as you’re spelling it out for them, or does it seem to come out of your mouth automatically?
If it comes out automatically, would you describe yourself as being adept at language (always finding the right word to describe something, articulating your thoughts easily, etc.) or is it something you struggle with?
I tend to have trouble with words—it can take me a long time (minutes) to recall the proper word to describe something, and when speaking I frequently have to start a sentence 3 or 4 times to get it to come out right. (I also struggled for a while to replace the word ‘automatic’ in the above paragraphs with a more accurate description. I was unsuccessful.) Words also don’t appear in my head when I’m spelling them aloud, which suggests to me that I might be missing some pathways that connect my language centers to my conscious functions.
I never see words. I feel them.
Great with syntax. Access to specific words tends to degrade as I get fatigued or stressed. That is, I can ‘feel’ the word there and know the naunces of the meaning it represents but can not bring the actual sounds or letters to mind.
I have often troubles with finding proper words, both in English and my native language, but I have no problems with spelling—I can say it automatically. This may be because I have learned English by reading and therefore the words are stored in my memory in their written form, but generally I suspect, from personal experience, that ability to recall spelling and ability to find the proper word are unrelated.
I can visualize sentences, paragraphs, or formatted code, but can’t zoom in as far as individual words; when I try I get a verbal representation instead. I usually can’t read over misspelled words (or wrong words, like its vs. it’s) without stopping. When this happens, it feels like hearing someone misparonounce a word.
When spelling a word aloud, it comes out pretty much automatically (verbal memory) with no perceptible intermediate steps. I would describe myself as adept with language.
In retrospect, spelling words out loud, something I do tend to do with a moderate frequency, is something I’ve gotten much better at over the past ten years. I suspect that I’ve hijacked my typing skill to the task, as I tend to error correct my verbal spelling in exactly the same way. I devote little or no conscious thought or sense mode to the spelling process, except in terms of feedback.
As for my language skills, they are at least adequate. However, I have devoted special attention to improving them so I can’t say that I don’t share some bias away from being especially capable.
I’m adept at language and I never visualize letters or words in my head. I think in pronounced/internally spoken words, so when I spell something aloud I think the letters to myself as I am saying them.
This is turning interesting:
Sensory type of access to spelling information by poster:
hegemonicon: verbal (?) ( visual only with great difficulty)
Hook: mechanical
FAWS: mechanical, visual
prase: verbal (???)
NancyLebovitz: visual
Morendil: visual
mattnewport: visual, mechanical (?)
Rain: mechanical (???)
Kevin: verbal (???) (never visual)
Is there anyone who doesn’t fall into at least one of those three categories?
When I spell out a word, I don’t visualize anything. Using words in conversation, typing, or writing is also innate—they flow through without touching my consciousness. This is another aspect of my maxim, “my subconscious is way smarter than I am.” It responds quickly and accurately, at any rate.
I consider myself to be adept at the English language, and more objective evidence bears that out. I scored 36⁄36 on the English portion of the ACT, managed to accumulate enough extra credit through correcting my professor in my college level writing class that I didn’t need to take the final, and many people have told me that I write very well in many different contexts (collaborative fiction, business reports, online forums, etc.).
I would go so far as to say that if I make an effort to improve on my communication by the use of conscious thought, I do worse than when I “feel it out.”
I have pretty good language skills and I think I am above average at both spelling in my own writing and spotting spelling mistakes when reading but I do not find it particularly easy to spell a difficult word out loud, it is a relatively effortful process unlike the process when reading or writing which is largely automatic and effortless. With longer words I feel like short term memory limitations make it difficult to spell the word out, for a difficult word I try to visualize the text and ‘read off’ the spelling but that can be taxing for longer words. I may end up having to write it down in order to be sure the spelling is correct and to be able to read it out.
Growing up in England I was largely unaware of the concept of a spelling bee so this is not a skill I ever practiced to any great extent.
My experience of spelling words is quite visual (in contrast to my normal thinking style, which suggests that if “thinking styles” exist they are not monolithic), I literally have the visual representation of the word floating in my head. (I can tell it really is visual because I can give details, such as what kind of font—serif—or what color—black—they are the words as they’d appear in a book.)
I’d also describe my spelling skill as “automatic”, i.e. I can usually instantly spot whether a word is “right” or “not right”, I absolutely cannot stand misspellings (including mine, I have the hardest time when writing fast because I must instantly go back and correct any typos, rather than let them be), and they tend to leap out of the page; most people appear to have an ability to ignore typos that I lack. (For instance, I often get a kick out of spotting typos on the freakin’ front page of national magazines, and when I point them out I mostly get blank stares or “Oh, you’re right”—people just don’t notice!)
I’d self-describe as adept at language.
(ETA: upvoted for a luminous question.)
After a bit of self-experimentation, I’ve concluded that I almost (but not quite) completely lack any visual experience accompanying anything verbal. Even when I self-prompt, telling myself to spell a word, nothing really appears by default (though I can make an image of the word appear with a bit of focus, it’s very difficult to try to ‘read’ off of it).
I wonder how typical (or atypical) this is.
quite typical.
Do you get any visual images when you read?
Not generally, no, for either fiction or non-fiction. This may be why i’ve never been able to relate to the sense of getting ‘lost’ inside a book—they’ve never been as evocative for me as they seem to for others.
If I’m trying to spell a word out loud and it’s difficult for me, it appears in my head, but not necessarily as a whole, and I’ll be doing checking as I go.
This is interesting, I’d swear the words are appearing more clearly in my mind now that you’ve brought this up.
I’m pretty adept at straightforward language. I can usually find the words I want, and if I’m struggling to find a word, sometimes it’s a memory glitch, but it’s more likely to be pinning down a meaning.
Sometimes I can’t find a word, and I blame the language. There doesn’t seem to be an English word which includes planning as part of an action.
I do creative work with words on a small scale—coming up with button slogans, and sometimes I’m very fast. (Recent examples: “Life is an adventure—bring a webcam”, “God is watching. It’s a good thing He’s easily amused.”)
“Effortlessly” might be a better word than “automatically”, but it took me a couple of minutes to think of it.
Writers typically need to revise. You might be able to become more facile, but it’s also possible that you’re imagining that other writers have it easier than you do.
Also, you may be slowing yourself down more than necessary by trying to get it right at the beginning. Many people find they’re better off letting the very first draft just flow, and then do the editing.
I use a mixed strategy—I edit somewhat on the first pass, aiming for satisfactory, and then I go over it a time or two for improvements.
I suspect that really fast writers (at least of the kind I see online) are doing most of their writing by presenting things they’ve already thought out.
Yeah, it’s difficult to seperate out what’s related to abstract thought (as opposed to language), what’s typical a typical language difficulty, and what’s a quirk of my particular brain.
It is somewhat telling that your (and everyone elses) response doesn’t fit neatly into my ‘appears in your head or not’ dichotomy.
Neither, really. For simple frequent words I remember each letter individually, but otherwise I either have to write it down using the mechanical memory to retrieve the spelling or I have to look at the complete word to test whether it looks right. I can test a spelling by imagining how it looks, but that’s not as reliable as seeing it with my eyes, and of course writing it down and then looking at it is always best (short of looking it up of course).
Spelling a word out loud is an infrequent task for me. I have to simulate writing or typing it and then dictate the result of that simulation. I would characterize myself as adept at language. Choosing the appropriate words comes easily to me, and I don’t think this skill is related to spelling bee performance.
My focus isn’t so much on the spelling per se, but how much conscious thought ‘comes along for the ride’ while its being done.