When I first moved from Ethiopia to Swaziland and entered Waterford-Kamhlaba School, which was run by Sir Michael Stern (not Sir then) I lost points the first semster, considerable points, for my spelling--"or" instead of "our" and "er" instead of "re" etc. so much so that I was in the middle of the class at the end. That jolted me--I had never been anywhere but at or near the top of a class. So I reluctantly reversed all my American spelling, and was at the top of the class by the second semester. And then when I came back to America I had to reverse that spelling, but it was easier that way around!