Definitions:

• Simple:  Words that have a base of one syllable.  The word fishermen has three syllables but its base is the one syllable word fish.  The -le words such as little castle candle can be considered as one syllable words (or the only two-syllable based words to be "Simple."
      
• The "BASIC Simple Words" are taught in almost all phonics programs.
  
• The "Intermediate Simple Words" generally are not taught specifically  or intensively.  What usually occurs is that the base word such as bat is taught but not the other structural forms such as bats batted batting batter batters battered battering battery and batteries.  It generally is assumed that students can apply the rules about adding -s -ed -ing -er etc.  Some can and do.  But certainly not all.
  
•  The "Advanced Simple Words" are usually assumed to be learned by osmosis.
  

• The "Fancy Words" that those the usually cannot be reduced to a one syllable base.  These words have come into our language from the Latin Greek French German Spanish Hebrew Arabic Chinese Japanese Sanskrit etc with their basic phonic patterns (which are different from English) retained.  
  
• The "Basic Fancy Patterns" are sometimes taught or encountered in some reading programs.  Some examples of these are the -tion = "shun" or the -cial = "shull" as in special or the -cious = "shus" as in precious..
  
• The "Intermediate Fancy Patterns" are rarely systematically taught.  Examples of these are -tial = "shull" as in impartial the ch = "sh" as in chef or the -et = "ay" as in buffet.
  
• The "Advanced Fancy Patterns" are not taught specifically or intensively and are usually assume to be learned by osmosis.  Examples of these are -eau = "oh" as chateau u = w as in suite and suede and -ique = "eek" as in mystique.
  

• The "Insane words" are not pronounceable using any standard rules of phonics.  
  
• The "Basic Insane Words" such as does was were gone and eyes are taught or encountered in most reading programs as sight words.  
  
• The "Intermediate Insane Words" are not taught specifically nor intensively.  They are words such as salve lingerie and soldering.
  
• The "Advanced Insane Words" are usually assumed to be learned by osmosis.  Examples of these are ciao hors d'oeuvres and victuals (often misspelled as vittles even by highly educated people).
  

• The "Tricky" words are homophones homographs and words with similar configurations that tend to confuse or trick the writer.
  
• The "Basic" Tricky Words  are taught or encountered in most reading programs. Words such as red/read be/bee eye/I dear/deer are generally taught to mastery although some basic tricky words such as its/its their/there/they're fair/fare often are not mastered.
  
• The "Intermediate Tricky Words" generally are neither taught specifically nor not intensively.  Examples of these are effect/affect child abuse/abuse a child to present a present accept/except/expect .
  
• The "Advanced Tricky Words" are usually assumed to be learned by osmosis.  Examples of these are allusion/illusion resume writing a job resume material/materiel and personal/personnel.
  

• The "Scrunched Up Words are those word phrases for which linguists have coined the esoteric terms sandhi (pronounced "Sunday") and synalepha (also synaloepha and synalephe)  Not only do linguists disagree about what constitutes synalepha they disagree on how to spell it.  We have expanded upon the word phrases to include acronyms and abbreviations.
  
• The "Basic Scrunched Up Words" are generally taught or encountered in most reading programs.  Examples of these are the common contractions I'm I'll don't doesn't won't.
  
• The "Intermediate Scrunched Up Words" are rarely taught in any reading/spelling program.  The lack of teaching these allows the proliferation of misspellings as "were gonna, hafta, should of, gotta, and wudjuhgit" for "we're going to, have to, should have, got to, and what did you get."
  
• The "Advanced Scrunched Up Words" generally are not taught specifically or intensively.  Rather, they are assumed that with reading and higher education they can be learned by osmosis.  This is not true as evidenced by the numbers of educated people who say "EYE EE" when reading the abbreviation  i.e. (which stands for id est and should be read as "that is" or those who say "EE Period JEE Period" instead of "for example."   Included are acronyms such as snafu (situation normal all "fouled" up) as well as the Latin word sic which simply means: "Yes, I know that somewhere in the matter I quoted there is a misspelling and/or incorrect syntax, but I'm quoting directly and I am not allowed to edit the quotation, so please don't write to me about it." 

The AVKO Educational Research Foundation would like to see the educational establishment (which includes the universities and the publishing industry) begin to provide training and materials to the teachers so that students can be taught and not just left to their own devices to learn their language.

For methods that can be used to teach all five varieties of English Spelling teachers and/or homeschooling parents may want to use The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.

For a source book in which a teacher, researcher, writer, publisher, or homeschooling parent can look up any word in the English language (except bathroom wall words) and find all the words that share the same pattern click on The Patterns of English Spelling.

 For a Spelling Series that contains over 35,000 words arranged sequentially by the difficulty of the easiest word within the pattern click on Sequential Spelling and print out the first seven lessons that lead students into learning to spell the difficult word "beginning" by starting with the easiest word "in."

For help in teaching students learn the basic "Tricky Words" click here.

For help in teaching students the "Scrunched Up" words or eliminating their phonic misspellings of gonna, were sposta, you hafta, etc., go to Speech to Spelling.

If you have comments about this website or questions concerning spelling, invented spelling, whole language, phonics, learning disabilities, homeschooling, etc., you may always e-mail DonMcCabe@aol.com.  We appreciate any comments that will help us make this website even more useful. 

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Don McCabe, Research Director

AVKO Educational Research Foundation
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