Newsletter - conference 2026

 

This is an important event designed to help the Society decide its policies and strategy for the coming years. 

It is intended for Members of the Society, and anyone interested in English spelling and spelling reform. 

At a glance

Day

Format

Time (London) 

Thu 15 Oct 

Zoom only 

10:30-13.30 (London time)  

Fri 16 Oct 

Hybrid - in person at Friends House, Euston Road, London, or by Zoom 

11:00-12:30 & 14:00-17:00 (London time) lunch provided in person at the meeting 

Thursday is Zoom-only. Friday is hybrid - join in person or by Zoom.

Venue

Friends House, Euston Road, London, UK - for the Friday in-person session. 

Both days are also available by Zoom. 

Keynote speakers

Anatoly Liberman, Professor of Germanic Philology, University of Minnesota, and President of the Society 

Chris Jolly OBE, author of ‘Jolly Phonics’ and former Chair of the Society 

David Clyde Walters EdD, English Language Instructor in Alberta, Canada, and Honorary Secretary to the Society
Stephen Linstead, current Chair of the Society 

Agenda

Thursday 15 October: 10:30-13.30 (Zoom only)

Any participant may make a presentation, provided it is about English spelling issues. Time for presentation and discussion may be rationed. Details of papers received will follow nearer the meeting. 

Friday 16 October: 11:00-12:30 & 14:00-17:00 (hybrid, lunch provided for those attending in person)

A number of options for future strategy will be considered, ranging from abandoning the attempt at spelling reform to expanding and reinforcing the Society’s strategy to include activities and issues not currently pursued. More details will follow. 

Suggested viewing before the conference

The following papers, and any others added after this flyer was prepared, are available on YouTube.

  • Norman Paterson: Spelling Wars — A New Hope
  • Paul Gough: The Pinglish Project  
  • Bobby Finn: bear, fear, hear, heart, heard 
  • Peter Whitmore: Simplifying the “gh”
  • (David Walters, ed): Why English is broken (An AI summary of the TESS website, with no human author)

These papers are for discussion on Thursday. Other items may be added to this list.

To register

Please complete the registration form on screen, save it under a new file name, and email it as an attachment to spellconf@gmail.com.

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Did You Know:

• Ask your friend what Y-E-S spells. They won't have any difficulty saying yes. Then ask what E-Y-E-S spells. It's easy when it's written down, but surprisingly difficult when it's spoken. See a YouTube video of this.

• Who has not heard i before e, except after c. A University of Warwick statistician put it to the test. He plugged a list of 350,000 English words into a statistical program to see if the math checked out. It didn't.

• When Adam met Eve for the first time, he said Madam, I'm Adam. This is a palindrome — a phrase or sentence in which the letters, words or even lines read the same in either direction. Adam hoped to impress the most beautiful woman in the world, but she more than matched him by replying simply, Eve. Not bad given that writing, and therefore palindromes, and English ones in particular, had not yet been invented! More palindromes, and a wonderful palindromic poem.

• How would you pronounce ghoti? Pronounce it like this:

and you get ... fish! Thanks to Charles Ollier for writing this in 1855 — and for showing that English spelling has been ludicrous for quite some time.

• One of the arguments in favour of keeping English spelling unchanged is to show the etymology of words. For example, the silent s in island shows the link to the Latin insula. But island actually derives from the Old English íglund, not from the Latin at all. More examples at Mental Floss.

 

Page editor: N Paterson. Contact by email or form.
FAMOUS ONES WHO WANTED TO IMPROVE
THE ENGLISH SPELLING SYSTEM

​Spelling reform is not a new idea!

Benjamin Franklin "The same is to be observed in all the letters, vowels, and consonants, that wherever they are met with, or in whatever company, their sound is always the same. It is also intended that there be no superfluous letters used in spelling, i.e. no letter that is not sounded [...]"  Franklin proposed a spelling scheme with 6 new letters. (Franklin 1806 p359)

Theodore Roosevelt "It is merely an attempt [...] to make our spelling a little less foolish and fantastic." Theodore Roosevelt promoted the Simplified Spelling Board's gradual reform (see Twain below). (Roosevelt 1906, p3)

Mark Twain "It is my belief that an effort at a slow and gradual change is not worth while. [...] It is the sudden changes [...] that have the best chance of winning in our day. Can we expect a sudden change in our spelling? I think not. But I wish I could see it tried. [...] By a sudden and comprehensive rush the present spelling could be entirely changed and the substitute spelling be accepted, all in the space of a couple of years; and preferred in another couple. But it won't happen, and I am as sorry as a dog." (Twain 1997, pp208-212)

Page editor: N Paterson. Contact by email or form.