ひさしぶりにBBC Learning !
英国の若者が英語のスペルを正しく書けないというお話。
おなじみの"necessary"という単語、私はいつも"c"を二つ書いてしまうのだが、英国人の６５％も間違えるのだそうだ。
原因はパソコンの自動スペルチェック機能で、スペル能力が低下したという。
Mencapがこのためオンラインでのスペル競技を提供しよう（？）としているが、年配が若者に勝ちそうらしい。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/05/120604_witn_can_you_spell.shtml
関連記事はこちら
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18158665
Can you spell?
Summary
4 June 2012
A new website designed to help people with spelling has been unveiled by a British disability charity. Mencap says there is a growing problem with a new generation of people who have been brought up on the computer function which automatically corrects misspelt words.
Report
Mencap designed the site because they believe that standards of spelling are falling in Britain, with serious consequences for people's ability to weather the global downturn. A survey commissioned for the charity revealed that 65% of people were unable to spell the word 'necessary' correctly, and only one-in-five people successfully completed a short spelling test.
Despite the results, three-quarters of those questioned thought they were good spellers, and agreed that it was an important skill to have.
Grant Morgan is the Creative Director for the Mencap Spellathon. He says the 'autocorrect' function on computer software is the main culprit for the decline in standards.
Mr Morgan says those who can't spell are at an immediate disadvantage in the workplace, and could lose out to competitors if, for example, they misspell words on their CV. In an increasingly tough international market, the problem could damage Britain as a whole. Mencap is holding an online spellathon championship, where age may well trump youth.
Vocabulary
consequences: results
to weather: to deal with a difficult situation
global downturn: the current crisis affecting the world economy
commissioned: paid to be completed
Creative Director: person in charge of the design of a product
Spellathon: spelling competition
autocorrect: computer function which automatically checks and corrects spelling
culprit: guilty person or thing
misspell: write a word using the wrong letters