I think as in, formal settings like composing some mail or writing for academic purpose we have to be stick to traditional or full farm spellings, in order to give clarity to our writing purpose. But, in informal settings, like chatting or texting online we use shortcuts and abbreviations as I mentioned above, to make communication quicker or to save time as well.

Thanks! Agree about the benefits of handwriting. Everything that goes into the brain needs to go through the hand, as I was told in teacher training.

So many great ideas and practical tips!

Thanks for your comment. I’m curious how relating English and Vietnamese pronunciation backfires on speaking skills?

Good points although I wonder if self-esteem is an adequate replacement for high-level literacy skills.

I believe writing words by hand helps reinforce spelling through motor memory, but apps typically focus on typing or touch-based input, which doesn’t engage the same fine motor skills. Also, traditional spelling exercises often involve self-correction and peer feedback, which can help students develop skills to identify and correct their own mistakes, but apps might autocorrect errors without encouraging the learner to understand their mistakes and learn from them.

Good point about media consumption and its impact on language learning. You are right that tech has made it so much easier to practice and to get access to meaningful input and to content in the new language that is of personal interest. Will we still need language teachers in the future? How will their role change?

With any language learning, the beginning is tough and not very exciting. Great you could get to the novel writing stage quickly 🙂

Isn’t it a good thing we forget the pain of early learning? 😉
the problem with autocorrect etc. is not only spelling but that it affect reading fluency …

Agree that tech is making spelling easier, but the flip side of that is that our reading skills also decline …

What traditional spelling skills do you mean that are not developed by apps?

Thanks for mentioning spelling learning apps! They really are a positive development and a lot of fun that make learning how to spell easier! All my knowledge of Chinese characters comes from apps 🙂

Good points! One problem with relying on spellchecker and autocorrect for your spelling is that your reading suffer, too, because you’ll take longer to recognize words …

Besides, I can also apply technology methods to solve the pronunciation problem when students make mistakes due to the similarity of pronunciation of some sounds in Vietnamese and English. For example, /ɪ/ in English might sound similar to “i” in Vietnamese and it is hard for students to distinguish the difference. In this case, I normally use many example of the English and Vietnamese words which contain these sounds and play the recording for students to get used to the right pronunciation of /ɪ/. Besides, showing pronunciation videos on Youtube will help students to focus more on the difference.

With new technologies, how we write and read is changing, and so is spelling. The use of computers, smartphones, and tablets is leading to an increase in informal modes of communication. Texting is more akin to speaking rather than traditional letter writing. Some typos in text messages are acceptable, and abbreviations such as OMG or FYI are becoming more common.