“I” before “E” except after “C”

Most software makes no sense. It’s important for all software trainers to remember this on a regular basis. We work with it so much that we forget that needing to go three five steps to post a journal entry might seem strange to someone coming from the ease of Quickbooks. That to click our keys three times when once should be enough seems like a waste of time. We forget what it was like the first time we tried to use the software. We know the rules so we don’t question whether they make any sense.

I thought of this while playing with my son on the computer. He’s five and he likes to type up stories on the computer. Of course, as he doesn’t read yet and hasn’t mastered the keyboard, so it goes something like this.

“Daddy, how do you spell once?

I’m about to say sound it out when I realize that you can’t sound out “Once” and get to the right spelling. I spell it out. We get through Once upon a time.

Next, he asks “Daddy, write out, the puppy likes table scraps”. He wants to copy it into the computer. I do as I’m told. He then asks me to point out letters on the keyboard. He’s learned a few but is hardly proficient. It’s pretty tedious because learning the keyboard is pretty much a matter of rote memorization.

Now, I love my son so I can manage to get through this. But I also know two things. English spelling and the computer keyboard make very little sense. There aren’t a lot of rules to make it easier. If he needs to ask multiple times, it’s not because he’s not brilliant. He is my son after all. It’s because he just hasn’t learned the routine yet.

So, when you train someone, ask yourself if your rules make sense or are they simply a case of “I” before “E” except after “C” and when sounded like “A” as in neighbor or weigh? It might give you a little more patience.

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