English is notorious for the difficulty of its spelling. This arises from one of its great strengths: it is an amalgam of other languages. English emerged from the combination of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French with the later addition of Latin words and numerous terms from other ancient and modern languages. As a result English provides a rich vocabulary from which to express oneself.
Why should one be concerned about spelling? For students, they can lose marks for spelling—and lose marks because the teacher doesn’t know what they are trying to say when they misspell a word. In addition a misspelled word can stand out like a sore thumb on the page. And who likes to be quoted with a sic.
How can one improve his spelling? Despite the many irregularities in English spelling, there are patterns in the irregular words. Words with similar spelling can be grouped. There are rules for creating plurals and possessives that can be learned. By the way, spell check is not a solution, for the user can frequently end up with a word different from the one that they intended.