Ther iz mor then one wae to do most thinz. Take for exzample speling. The Simplified Spelling Board was created about 100 years ago with the help of Andrew Carnegie. Supported by such prominent Americans as former President Theodore Roosevelt, the board wanted to build more common sense into the English language and save money for printing presses by omitting "useless letters" from the written language.

Today, those in favor of simplified spelling see its benefits in decreasing the nation's illiteracy rates and making spelling easier.

Although issuing different spellings for nearly every word in the English language might make the language easier to learn, it would make the transition for those already using the common spellings very difficult.

Don't we use enough simplified spelling as it is? Think of the last text message you sent. You probably replaced "you" with "u" and "tonight" with "2nite."

We use alternate spellings and shortened words when they can be used to our benefit. While you're typing your instant message to your friend, you're typing quickly to mimic how you would talk. You know that your friend understands what you're talking about because you've talked to him or her in this language before.

But imagine turning in your next term paper with the spellings you use in your instant messages with your friends.

Besides being an embarrassment to the university, your professor probably wouldn't even understand you.

Without English phonetics classes being taught in elementary schools, English speakers base word spellings off a large range of influences. Take accents, for instance. The word "center" sounds like "sentur" in the Midwest, but like "sintur" in the South.

If we implement new spellings, will there be rules for accents and dialects as well?

The idea of decreasing illiteracy rates in our nation is great. But the idea of rebuilding our language in order to do so is a terrible concept. Instead, other methods should be used to decrease illiteracy rates.

State authorities in Kentucky, where the illiteracy rate among people between the ages of 16 and 65 was about 40 percent in 2000, have been providing funding for reading and writing classes to these adults. Methods like this — giving those previously left-behind students a second chance at literacy — are a much more effective way to battle illiteracy in the United States.

Sow rathur then chenjing th speling of wurds, wee shuld fokus on nu teeching methidz insted.