Start with simple names then work up to names like Saskatchewan
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that is going to ensure you spell things like Saskatchewan correctly. Fortunately, with a little imagination and some memory games, you can learn to spell place names without even breaking a sweat. Here’s how.
Instructions
1. Write the name boldly on a piece of paper several times, stare at it, then close your eyes and visualize the name in your head.
2. Repeat the name aloud, phonetically, until you pronounce it exactly as it’s spelled. When I moved to southern Arizona, you better believe I was repeating my new hometown of TUCK-son to remember spell Tucson.
3. Come up with a cute little memory device to help you remember the spelling. For instance, Tucson is cozy, so you can TUCK yourself in. In Saskatchewan, people must be SASsy and have have coffee KlATCHes because it’s cold, Ew, it’s so cold your skin gets WAN.
4. Learn the name’s origin. Looking up Saskatchewan’s origin doesn’t help much, but translated place names will if you are familiar with the language of origin. No one I know who studied French has a problem with Baton Rouge, Louisiana or Creve Coeur, Illinois.
5. Draw the name in bubble letters or write a song or poem that includes spell the name. One of the reasons I wrote the poem “The Mighty Verrazano Bridge,” about the second-coolest bridge in Brooklyn, was so I could include the line: “with two Rs and one Z.”
6. Practice. Keep writing the name over and over until you get so sick of it you will never forget how it’s spelled. Even if it’s Saskatchewan.
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