CPD tips: How to improve spelling and grammar

Even with spell-checking tools readily available, spelling errors remain prevalent in the workplace. Though these mistakes can be easy to make, they can be extremely costly for organisations as they show a lack of attention to detail that can lead to losing sales and, over time, harm an organisation’s reputation.

Good spelling and grammar is especially important for job hunters. Research has shown that more than 60% of British CVs have spelling errors¹, even though this is cited as the most common reason a candidate will be overlooked.

Grammarly also researched the professional damage poor grammar can do to employees. Looking at 100 LinkedIn profiles, they found that professionals who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues and that fewer grammar errors correlated to more promotions.

As we can see, good spelling and grammar is still essential in the workplace. Here are our top six tips for improving your skills:

6 tips for improving your spelling and grammar

1. Read more

Reading more frequently is a surefire way to improve your spelling and grammar skills. As you read more, you’ll consciously and unconsciously recognise patterns in the architecture of words and sentences, which will help you to notice when those patterns are broken (and spot mistakes).

The more you familiarise yourself with words, the easier they will become to spell and the more likely you’ll be able to spell the words you aren’t familiar with. The same goes for common grammatical rules. The more you see them in use, particularly within the context that you’re likely to be writing, the more confident you will be in using them correctly yourself.

2. Compile a list of hard-to-spell words and common grammatical mistakes

No matter how good a speller you are, you’ll no doubt have those ‘problem words’ that whenever you try to spell them, you’re always stumped. The same can be said with common grammatical errors, too. Addressing these spelling and grammar issues directly is an incredibly impactful way to improve your writing.

When writing, if there is a word or grammar problem you need to repeatedly look up or rely on spell-checkers to correct, make a note and add them to the list. Then seek to dedicate time each week to improving your understanding of these words and problems.

3. Test yourself

Self-testing is a great technique when learning anything new and is incredibly simple to do when it comes to your spelling. There are several websites that can generate spelling tests for you, or you can simply think of some of the hard-to-spell words you often have trouble with and try to spell those. For grammar problems, you can also find tests online, or you can try to explain certain grammatical rules to someone else to check to see if you’ve understood them fully.

4. Gamify your learning

Who said learning spelling and grammar can’t be fun? For spelling, word games are a great way to become familiar with a high number of words which can be a very productive way to break up your work day.

With the popularity of Wordle (and Quordle and Octordle etc.) over the past few years, there’s a wealth of free-to-play online word games that, if you can make a daily habit, can be a really fun way to improve your spelling. Equally, puzzle books with word searches and crosswords have been rising in popularity in recent years and can offer a welcome break from your screens too. In much the same vein, there are grammar quizzes and games you can find online to test your grammatical knowledge and learn key concepts in an engaging way.

5. Use memory techniques

Using mnemonic devices or associations to help you remember the correct spelling and grammatical rules is a tried and tested way of getting them to stick in your mind.

For example, a few common mnemonics for spelling are:

• To spell ‘necessary,’ use the phrase: ‘one coffee and two sugars.’ This helps to remember that it has one ‘c’ (one coffee) and a double ‘s’ (two sugars). 
• To spell ‘definitely,’ use the phrase: ‘define-nightly.’ This helps you to remember that ‘definitely’ is spelt with an ‘i’, not an ‘a’, which is a common mistake.

Try whatever sticks in your mind best; it doesn’t have to be something that most people remember, just what helps you to remember. Sometimes strange or banal associations are what can help something stay in your memory, so feel free to try anything and everything to get the letters or rules to stick!

6. Take a CPD course in spelling and grammar

Whilst these tips are great techniques for you to start to improve your spelling and grammar, taking an accredited CPD course is the best way to upskill your spelling and grammar use. The nature of the English language means that most ‘rules’ have just as many exceptions, which can make it difficult to grasp fully. A CPD course is a great way to explore language use, sentence structure, and proper grammatical usage in more detail.

Within our CPD Course Catalogue, we host a number of courses on behalf of our members that can offer you the structure and learning needed to improve your skills and gain more confidence when writing.

Where to find spelling and grammar CPD courses

Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured. If you’re interested in developing your written skills, there are many spelling and grammar courses in our catalogue. All the courses shown on our website have been reviewed and recognised as meeting the required learning standards.

Interested in improving your writing skills? 

To learn more about improving your writing skills, please see below a range of informal articles that have been already published by us on the CPD articles and news section of the website that you might find useful:

CPD tips - Improve your business writing

The art and craft of creative writing

We hope this article was helpful. If you are looking to become a CPD Provider, please contact our team to discuss your requirements in more detail. Alternatively, if you want to record your CPD, please go to the myCPD Portal where you can manage, track and log your learning in one simple place.

References:

¹Adzuna, 2021