Spelling in Spanish does present some challenges-
Although spelling in Spanish is simpler and easy when compared to many other languages and sister romance languages specifically, it still creates its fair share of problems for many who do not spell well in Spanish. IMO, the reason for difficulty in spelling in Spanish is due to the lack of proper fundamental teaching in the primary grades that's never addressed and rectified as the student progresses in the primary grades at school. As well, lack of regular reading is often overlooked but it is one of the most crucial reasons why spelling is a challenge for many students.
Spelling in Spanish is phonetically based therefore it eliminates more than fifty percent of potential difficulties IMO. The other problematic areas of confusion is between letters that carry the same or similar phonetic sounds, knowing which consonants can be doubled in Spanish and accentuation. Once these basic concepts are understood it's very hard to spell incorrectly in Spanish. Typographical errors are not included. A factor that should not be overlooked that greatly interferes with spelling is colloquial or popular speech. A speaker can choose to speak according to his/her level or preference but when colloquial speech impacts one's spelling that's when there's a problem. A good example is the dropping of the /s/. Many speakers write without /s/ when there's a plural form and that's just plain incorrect. There are no exceptions to the rules with plurality where /s/ is required. If the rules are followed spelling in Spanish presents minimal difficulty. The letter /h/ is silent but written when a word has /h/ which is a remnant of Latin and is also a concept in another romance language as well just to compare.
My observations of many common spelling errors in Spanish are:
1. /c/ vs. /s/- amorcito and not amorsito- this diminutive ending is often mispelt.
b./z/ and /s/ - these letters are often confused
2. /j/ vs. /g/- tarjeta is correct and not targeta, viaje and not viage
3. /b/ vs. /v/- vamos and not bamos
4/ doubling of consonants that should not be doubled- mostly by second language or bilingual speakers- gg, ss, tt etc. do not exist in Spanish.
5/ ay vs. hay- many people don?t know the difference between the two words
Accents
Accentuation poses a problem probably because the rules of accentuation are not taught in detail. Memorizing accents can work to a certain extent but what about command forms of verbs with a pronoun? The person who chooses to memorize accented words will be stuck on a test or when writing a formal document that requires marking the accents on the words accordingly. For example, damelo would be d?melo but why? Mandamelo would be m?ndamelo buy why? Once again proper fundamentals is the key. If one knows the rules, one does not have to guess. As well, I am not sure if students are being taught that the vowels in Spanish are divided into weak and strong categories. This also helps with understanding how to properly add an accent mark to a letter in Spanish.
/A/, /e/ and /o/ are strong vowels/and /i/ and /u/ are weak vowels. A diphthong is combination of two vowels with a unified sound. For example, ciudad (iu is a diphthong. one weak and one strong vowel) but when the diphthong is broken (one weak and one strong vowel or two weak vowels) the accent is placed accordingly to show the required phonetic stress eg. Todav?a, la v?a.
Although spelling is easy in Spanish it presents some difficulties and there are many exceptions. Good reference material is available on spelling in Spanish. It's impossible to discuss all aspects in a thread. Dictionaries also give good explanations about the rules of accentuation in Spanish.
-LDG.
