I agree with you entirely, that's exactly how it is!
ridiculous, not ''rediculous''
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I think it's just because English spelling is so different from the way it's spoken. This is a major problem for learners of English (Where's the TH in asthma? Where's the CH sound in "don't you", doncha? Why do some people pronounce "cheaper" as "cheepa", where's the R? And so on).
I agree with T. When you start focusing on pronunciation, you start to forget how some words are spelled. You can pronounce them, but you are not sure how to spell them anymore. It's happening to me too (non-native speaker).
You have to rely on spell checkers and dictionaries, which in other languages are only useful for spotting typos, since in many other languages if you can say a word you can also write it.
I believe the reason why some alternative spellings are so common is that they are actually seen as alternative informal or non-standard spellings. If you go check some internet forums, or chatrooms, or websites like Youtube and Myspace, you'll see that things like "your an idiot", "there so stupid", etc., are so common that they might outnumber the so-called correct forms. And you will notice that every attempt at pointing out the so-called mistake will be seen as pedantic. The thing is, they are so common in certain online communities that whoever is part of those communities can't help seeing them as alternative spellings. Native speakers learn their language by immersion and experience, so if they find themselves surrounded by "your stupid, there smart", what's so surprising if they take them as alternative informal spellings?
And what you learn in school doesn't count. Who the hell ALWAYS speaks the way they were taught in school? No one, unless you are the Queen of England (but even she is likely to use some aristocratic slang while drinking marijuana tea at 5 o'clock with some aristocratic stoners).
I agree with T. When you start focusing on pronunciation, you start to forget how some words are spelled. You can pronounce them, but you are not sure how to spell them anymore. It's happening to me too (non-native speaker).
You have to rely on spell checkers and dictionaries, which in other languages are only useful for spotting typos, since in many other languages if you can say a word you can also write it.
I believe the reason why some alternative spellings are so common is that they are actually seen as alternative informal or non-standard spellings. If you go check some internet forums, or chatrooms, or websites like Youtube and Myspace, you'll see that things like "your an idiot", "there so stupid", etc., are so common that they might outnumber the so-called correct forms. And you will notice that every attempt at pointing out the so-called mistake will be seen as pedantic. The thing is, they are so common in certain online communities that whoever is part of those communities can't help seeing them as alternative spellings. Native speakers learn their language by immersion and experience, so if they find themselves surrounded by "your stupid, there smart", what's so surprising if they take them as alternative informal spellings?
And what you learn in school doesn't count. Who the hell ALWAYS speaks the way they were taught in school? No one, unless you are the Queen of England (but even she is likely to use some aristocratic slang while drinking marijuana tea at 5 o'clock with some aristocratic stoners).
I once had a friend in college who was very bright, but literally never spelled the same word the same way twice. She said her mother had worked with her for years on her spelling, with phonics, flashcards, and anything else she could think of, and nothing worked. She just couldn't spell. That's not garden-variety stupidity. There was something wrong with that part of her brain. So I think dyslexia and other disorders are real enough.
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