I hope I'm missing an obvious configuration option somewhere.

When I run the spell checker in Kate, the tool retains no memory or cache of words to ignore, which reduces any subsequent spell check time during the same writing session. The same words are repeatedly marked as suspect. In Word 97 the spell checker remembers all words marked as Ignored for the entire session Word 97 is open.

The KDE spell checker does not remember this list between spell checks. Without closing Kate, the spell checker continually flags the same suspect words between each spell check. The Ignore option functions only during the current spell check. Once the dialog box is closed, the spell checker "forgets" this list of words to ignore.

Is there a way to configure the spell checker to remember this Ignore list between spell checks (and obviously not closing Kate)?

The answer is not to add the words to the user's custom spell check list. Many "words" are not actually words, but are acronyms, colloquialisms, etc.; or misspelled words, such as snippets from forum quotations, that a user does not want to add to a custom spell check list.

Thanks again.

I would also like to add that the spell checker works in cyrillic too, but it not only does not remember the ignored words, but also the words that I add to its dictionary. I add a word to the dictionary and then during spell checking that same word gets flagged as unknown.
I hope someone will provide some clues on this.