# Anyone else have difficulty spelling a word out loud, as in a spelling bee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151 "2011-08-18T13:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/1 "2011-08-18T13:14:22Z")
My coworker just asked me how to spell “nuances” and I couldn’t do it without writing it down. Then I remembered that I’ve always sucked at spelling out loud. I get a few letters in and then get lost and forget where I was. Writing the word though, no problems. Am I the only one who has this dysfunction? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/2 "2011-08-18T13:19:39Z")
No, me too. I’m good at spelling but saying it out loud is just really tricky for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Enn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dave_enn/32/426_2.png) [@Dave\_Enn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Enn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/3 "2011-08-18T13:22:04Z")
I’ve always had that difficulty; I’m a good speller when writing, and I’ve always been called upon to proofread others’ work, but don’t ask me to spell an even moderately complex word out loud. I’ll just write it down. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/4 "2011-08-18T14:51:07Z")
Me 4! Often when asked for a correct spelling I’ll write it on a scrap of paper and then read the spelling to them. I guess we’re just visual people, I need to see it before I can be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/5 "2011-08-18T15:07:02Z")
Count me in! I’m a good speller, too, but when asked I nearly always have to write it down. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/6 "2011-08-18T15:14:45Z")
I usually can manage to spell it, but if I’m asking someone else to spell something, I can’t follow. I’m better with number in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/7 "2011-08-18T17:10:08Z")
I have trouble spelling something, and a very difficult time making sense of something that someone spells out for me. I’m not very visual, and lining up the letters in my head as they’re coming in aurally is difficult for me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/8 "2011-08-18T17:14:29Z")
That’s where the “writing” with a finger in the palm comes in handy. Try it, it works. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/9 "2011-08-18T17:21:13Z")
Spelling it out loud is definitely harder than writing it down for me. I still pretty much suck at the latter though. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/10 "2011-08-18T17:26:56Z")
I can spell out loud, but if someone spells something to me I’m useless. I have to write it down as they spell it, and then read it back. It was really ridiculous when the children were smaller. “Let’s see…h…o…r…s…e. Horse!” ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/11 "2011-08-18T18:46:54Z")
N-o. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-difficulty-spelling-a-word-out-loud-as-in-a-spelling-bee/593151/12 "2011-08-18T20:04:45Z")
I have to write it down- I usually try and fail out loud first, but I never got past the first round or two in spelling bees.