What’s the best way for students to learn English spelling?

Spelling in English is very difficult to learn. There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, but there isn’t a one-to-one spelling/pronunciation system like there is with some other languages. For example, the  /i/ sound can be spelled as “ee,” “ie,” “ei,” “ea,” or “e” in English (cheese, thief, receive, leaf, impede). Even though English spelling involves a lot of memorization, there are some patterns and rules that can help. Today, let’s focus on the spelling rules for superlative adjectives.

Here are four easy spelling rules for adding -est to the end of adjectives. For more examples and practice, check out our Spotlight lesson this week on Superlative Adjectives. (more…)