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"On Thursday, when Imogene woke up, she found she had grown antlers..."
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 09:29 amAfter school yesterday, the Impossible Son and I were sitting at the table while he did his homework. One of his assignments was to read out loud to me, so he read a story called, "Owl and Moon." Mr. Manzie is a "kinesthetic learner," which means he can't really sit still while he's working. He's rocking, or kicking his feet, or tapping his leg, the table, his chair, all in rhythm while he reads. Of course, it's not quite as enthusiastic as it was when he was in kindergarten; he's learned to tame it somewhat, so mostly, you see slight head-bobbing, or his hand moving, legs kicking a little, but when he's really excited, well... he is only 7!
Anyway, it occurred to me as I corrected pronunciation, or encouraged him to slowly sound out his words, that English is a pretty difficult language to learn, even if you're a native speaker! It sounds one way, but looks another when you look at it on paper. And for every rule you teach your kids to help them learn to read it, there's a whole bagful of words out there that break it, and that they'll come across right after you teach them that stupid rule.
"When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its name," you tell your kid, and they happily read, "bead, braid, dial..." and then you come across, "dead, bread, tough..."
"I before E, except after C" you say, and read "piece, sieve," and "receipt." Then "weird," pops up.
"GH sounds like F" you say, and "laugh, draught, cough," behave appropriately... until it's "night."
"AAAAAUGH!!!" shouts my son. "I'm so confused!!"
It's funny how you don't think how much of the language you've learned is taught, not by learning all the rules in school, but by simply having your parents read with you, their finger moving under the words as you pronounce them, and having them correct you when you flub it. And how you store that nugget of info in your memory so the next time you see that word, you remember that it's a rule-breaker.
It's even crazier when your parents are from two different parts of the country, and don't pronounce everything the same way. The Husbandly One was born in Texas, but both of his parents are from Connecticut and New York. So his accent is a mix of East Texas Piney Woods, and a Northern mix. He pronounces some words so completely differently from me, and both of our kids do not sound like they're from around here as a result. Well, heck, sometimes, I don't sound like I'm from around here, but that's because my parents are from Mississippi and Louisiana, and their accents cancelled each other out. But I still sound mostly Southern, so there are many times when the kids frown, stare between us, and say, "Okay, but how do you really say it? Which one is right?"
THO still boggles at some of the things I say. Like when he gets home, and I say, "What you know good?" Though it comes out more like, "Whatchu know good?" And what it basically translates to is, "How was your day, anything interesting happen, or anything that made you happy/sad/angry, tell me everything!" And basically, it's just saying, "You got a good story to tell today or what?"
Regional differences do not make learning to read any easier, I guess. Or speak.
I have explained to Little Man that English is a mish-mash of different languages, with Teutonic under-roots, and that is why it breaks its own rules on a regular basis. That it is a fluid, and flexible language, constantly evolving and adapting, because people are always evolving and adapting, so one should never really be all that surprised in what shows up from day to day. And that half the fun of learning it is spotting all the changes. And that, of course, his parents and his grumpy big sister will always help him when he finds a word that he just can't twist his tongue around.
And in case y'all are wondering, the title of this post is from a book called, "Imogene's Antlers" by David Small, which is a hilarious book, and one that I highly recommend to those of you with small people in your homes. It's one of those books you can really ham up when you read it out loud. Great illustrations, too.
Yep, that's one of the ones we read on a regular basis. Along with "Skippyjon Jones."
As for me, I'm going to take a bit of a break and bury my own nose in a book for the next hour. If anyone wants me, I'm revisiting Dragonflight.
Anyway, it occurred to me as I corrected pronunciation, or encouraged him to slowly sound out his words, that English is a pretty difficult language to learn, even if you're a native speaker! It sounds one way, but looks another when you look at it on paper. And for every rule you teach your kids to help them learn to read it, there's a whole bagful of words out there that break it, and that they'll come across right after you teach them that stupid rule.
"When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its name," you tell your kid, and they happily read, "bead, braid, dial..." and then you come across, "dead, bread, tough..."
"I before E, except after C" you say, and read "piece, sieve," and "receipt." Then "weird," pops up.
"GH sounds like F" you say, and "laugh, draught, cough," behave appropriately... until it's "night."
"AAAAAUGH!!!" shouts my son. "I'm so confused!!"
It's funny how you don't think how much of the language you've learned is taught, not by learning all the rules in school, but by simply having your parents read with you, their finger moving under the words as you pronounce them, and having them correct you when you flub it. And how you store that nugget of info in your memory so the next time you see that word, you remember that it's a rule-breaker.
It's even crazier when your parents are from two different parts of the country, and don't pronounce everything the same way. The Husbandly One was born in Texas, but both of his parents are from Connecticut and New York. So his accent is a mix of East Texas Piney Woods, and a Northern mix. He pronounces some words so completely differently from me, and both of our kids do not sound like they're from around here as a result. Well, heck, sometimes, I don't sound like I'm from around here, but that's because my parents are from Mississippi and Louisiana, and their accents cancelled each other out. But I still sound mostly Southern, so there are many times when the kids frown, stare between us, and say, "Okay, but how do you really say it? Which one is right?"
THO still boggles at some of the things I say. Like when he gets home, and I say, "What you know good?" Though it comes out more like, "Whatchu know good?" And what it basically translates to is, "How was your day, anything interesting happen, or anything that made you happy/sad/angry, tell me everything!" And basically, it's just saying, "You got a good story to tell today or what?"
Regional differences do not make learning to read any easier, I guess. Or speak.
I have explained to Little Man that English is a mish-mash of different languages, with Teutonic under-roots, and that is why it breaks its own rules on a regular basis. That it is a fluid, and flexible language, constantly evolving and adapting, because people are always evolving and adapting, so one should never really be all that surprised in what shows up from day to day. And that half the fun of learning it is spotting all the changes. And that, of course, his parents and his grumpy big sister will always help him when he finds a word that he just can't twist his tongue around.
And in case y'all are wondering, the title of this post is from a book called, "Imogene's Antlers" by David Small, which is a hilarious book, and one that I highly recommend to those of you with small people in your homes. It's one of those books you can really ham up when you read it out loud. Great illustrations, too.
Yep, that's one of the ones we read on a regular basis. Along with "Skippyjon Jones."
As for me, I'm going to take a bit of a break and bury my own nose in a book for the next hour. If anyone wants me, I'm revisiting Dragonflight.
