[link.spelling and brains.visualization]

[wispfox]

Buh. No wonder I have such trouble with spelling. For those who might be surprised by this, based on my generally good spelling here - that's due to a _lot_ of work as a kid, and I still look a lot of words up. http://www.dictionary.com is _so_ my friend. I also memorized and use all those annoying rules about spelling. I also tend to have to re-read everything I write, especially if I'm tired, to find all the mistakes I made and didn't notice. (Interestingly, I _do_ generally have a good sense of what words 'look right', which is a lot of why my spelling seems to be perfectly fine)

"That's where you 'see' a complete word in your mind's eye, whether you're reading it or writing it. And if you can't visualize it, you're just winging it based on what it sounds like. In a language with as many irregularly spelled words as English, you're going to be wrong a lot of the time." (link found in griffen's journal)

Seeing a word in my mind's eye.

Right.

If any of you have ever either tried to spell something to me without giving me the time to write it down, or wanted me to tell you how to spell something without me writing it down, you've run head on into the fact that - unless it's three or four letters long, and sometimes not even then - I _cannot_ visualize words in my head.

There are some words I can spell aloud without writing them down first. My name, due to long practice. I think that's about it.

I don't know how many of you have noticed that I also don't tend to say numbers combinations as anything but individual digits. It feels... almost related to the above, but not quite, since the words for numbers (eg 'one') and the symbols used (and '1') are, in fact, a fairly effortful and entirely _not_ automatic translation for me, getting exponentially more difficult the longer the number. This makes (for example) singing a song where someone wrote out something like a year entirely in number symbols rather than words slightly problematic. I tend to not be able to figure it out fast enough and sorta stop singing during that piece.

I can also spell words without writing them down if they happen to be easily - and sensibly - broken into smaller words. If I remember that can be done for any specific word. (Like the name of the town I live in)

I wonder if this somehow relates to my major difficulty with pulling words out of my head? And with games like Scrabble?


Uh. "Reading is transforming letters into sound," according to the article I linked to above. Not in _my_ head, it isn't. Translating what I'm reading into sound is quite a lot more effort for me than reading is. Reading aloud probably means I'm not taking in any of what I'm reading. It's why - for the most part, although I'm getting less averse to it - I tend to not read things aloud. (I'm sure the fact that I process written things better than things I'm hearing comes into effect, as well)

Ok, enough being fascinated by this article. :)

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

Huh! I also will frequently write out words to spell them out to someone because otherwise I run the risk of getting lost halfway through, although I can often just spell it out loud if I stop and concentrate. I am also terrible at Scrabble and text twister games -- I can't "see" the words in a combo of letters, perhaps because I file words by sound and not appearance, and in English the sounds are not obvious from appearance? I am good at the words on a page --> sound bit, though and will often read uncoooperative sentences out loud to help me understand them.

And I *can* spell and have always been able to, by the "looks right" method. I can also often visualize where on a page the answer to a test question that I can't remember is, frustratingly. The exceptions to the spelling rule are words with combinations of s and c in them, like license, which I learned to spell earlier this year by brute force.

It's interesting that you process written things well but don't translate heard things into visualized written ones... I definitely do the reverse.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

I can also often visualize where on a page the answer to a test question that I can't remember is, frustratingly.

I do that! :(

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

otherwise I run the risk of getting lost halfway through

Yes, although with me it's almost gaurunteed.

I can't "see" the words in a combo of letters

Neither can I. I have trouble with unscrambling letters, and with letters which are not in the orientation I am accustomed to (ie, if they are written out top down, like in some signs, it takes me a while to read them; upside down, backwards, and sideways are all very difficult for me).

can also often visualize where on a page the answer to a test question that I can't remember is, frustratingly.

I sometimes can do this, too. Although I'm not sure I call it visualizing, because I can't actually _see_ anything. Otherwise it'd not be frustrating. :)

It's interesting that you process written things well but don't translate heard things into visualized written ones... I definitely do the reverse.

I... can't even imagine being able to translate spoken into written, without processing it first. The problem is with the processing. And I think my processing is _better_ than my translation, which might be why I don't do that. Or, the fact that I visualize poorly. Perhaps both!