John Fulford always believed there had to be a logical reason as to why the English language worked in such an inconsistent way, and that’s exactly what the Long Beach author hoped to discover when he decided to cram a centuries-worth of material into 20 years of research.
Fulford’s attempts to cement all the rules of the language continue with the debut of his “English Tips” blog, expanding on his book The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules, whose title speaks for itself.
The longtime Long Beach resident launched his blog on Aug. 10 and will discuss a different element of spelling each week.
“The blog is in response to the many questions I am asked about the English language,” Fulford said. “It is also my opportunity to express my opinion about English spelling and grammar and to introduce people to the fascinating world of English language and spelling.”
Fulford’s first step into introducing the subject began with The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules. His inspiration for writing the book began when teaching overseas and seeing how puzzling English spelling could be for a foreign student.
It was then that he committed himself to the process of creating a guide to help.
“It took about 20 years of research, but I have always been fascinated by the English language, so it was not a chore,” Fulford said. “As to how I did it, I made up enormous lists of similar words and looked for a pattern. Almost always the pattern appeared, and the anomalies also showed themselves. Then, I worked out what the pattern indicated. If it fit over 90 percent of the words, I called it a rule.”
Fulford believes confusion with spelling is a result of poor education.
“One problem is the sad fact that teachers are not taught how to teach spelling,” he said. “I don’t know of any college that tests the teacher’s spelling before giving him or her a degree and a credential. Yet, this is the most difficult and most important part of teaching English. Many teachers admit that they are poor spellers and didn’t even know that there are spelling rules. If they don’t have any training in how to teach the subject, they find it very frustrating and will do a poor job. And so it goes.”
Teaching to different audiences has its share of discrepancies, too, however.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Author-for-JUMP.jpg” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”The Complete Guide to English Spelling Rules
by John Fulford” captionposition=”left”] “Teaching English depends on the age of the students,” Fulford said. “With the little ones, the teacher has to start with the basics, such as the alphabet and simple three-letter words. With older students, I prefer to explain the rules first. Rather like playing chess or baseball, ‘You won’t get very far if you don’t know the rules of the game.'”
And knowing the rules of the English game is half the battle, especially when it factors into many aspects of the real world, according to Fulford.
“As for spelling errors and poor grammar, I hate to criticize other people,” he said. “Except to say that many a good reÌsumeÌ has been rejected because of poor spelling, and many a possibly valuable employee was not hired because of his or her poor grammar or enunciation. The lazy students who don’t bother learning correct English have to be convinced that it will affect their job prospects for the rest of their lives.”
Fulford hopes his efforts to reach out help those who seek to be informed.
“I’ll post a new blog every week, and I doubt that I will ever run out of things to say,” he said. “I hope that when people read my book or my blog, they will come away with not only some useful information, but also with a better understanding and interest in the English language— and especially in its weird and wonderful spelling.”
Fulford’s blog can be found at his website learnenglishspellingrules. com .
