Example: Break “constraint” into “con — strain — t. " The second and third part are spelled how they sound. The vowel in “con” might not be obvious from the sound, but if you keep breaking down words you’ll notice that the spelling “con” appears many times.

Example: Break “independence” into “in — depend — ence”:1. “In” is a prefix that means “not"2. “Depend” is the root word3. The suffix “ence” is probably the hardest to spell, but you only need to learn it once and you’ll recognize it at the end of many words.

Example: “Independence” might sound like it ends with an “s” at first — but “fence” has a much closer sound than “pens. " This makes the “ence” spelling more likely to be correct (which it is).

Example: The military rank “colonel” is pronounced “kernel,” which doesn’t sound anything like the spelling. To help you memorize the spelling, chant the word as it looks: “col – o - nel. " Example 2: This trick is especially useful for long words. Say the word “congratulation” as “con-grat-u-la-ti-on. " Once you’re 100% sure about the “tion” ending, you can shorten this to “con-grat-u-la-shun. " Exaggerate the vowel sounds to make sure they sound different from each other. E, I, and A are easily confused if you’re not careful.

Example: The word “gherkin” (meaning pickle) has the same “gh” start as the word “ghost. " Think of a ghost holding a gherkin, and you’ll train your brain to think “gherkin → ghost → they both start with ‘gh’. " Making connections to an unrelated idea is often helpful when you’re trying to memorize any information. This technique is called a “donkey bridge. “[3] X Research source

Example: If you keep spelling “citadel” (meaning castle) with two “L"s, picture a citadel with a single, tall tree to the right of it. This may remind you that there’s only one “l” at the end of the word.

Example: To remember the spelling of “because,” think of “Big Elephants Can’t Always Use Small Exits. "

If you’re studying words in a foreign language, stick the notes to the objects they describe. For spelling in your native language, just stick them anywhere.

When you find a word you don’t know, spell it out loud. Write down the word a few times.