Language help - correcting the pronunciation of words

[gollyimholly]

Hello!

I hope I have the right place for this.
DD is 2 years old next month. DH speaks English to DD and I speak Bangla (my first language). DH and I were both born and raised in England but our parents are non-native English speakers.

DH has a speech impediment (this is how he describes it) where he pronounces some "th" sounds as "f". For example, think is fink or bath is barf. But if the "th" is in the middle of the word, it is pronounced as is, eg. Although. That said, I do appreciate the "th" in although is different to the "th" in think if that makes sense.

I have noticed now DD pronounces these words in the same way. My suspicion is that she can correctly pronounce these sounds however because in Bangla she can make these sounds fine and sometimes she can pronounce the words in English fine too. DH says sometimes he can't hear the different between thank and fank when DD says it or in fact, when I say the two different versions.

DD did have tongue tie when she was born and we did get it snipped so I'm hoping it's nothing to do with that. Even though DH says it's a speech impediment, I wonder if this is something he learned from MIL as this is how she speaks too?
And my question is, is it worth me correcting the pronunciation now or will it just work itself out when she goes to school and understands how to correctly pronounce it?

Any advice appreciated x

Definitely learned. If he can say ‘th’ sometimes how can it be a speech impediment?

That's what I was thinking. But DH says it is so wondered if it is a possibility.

Speech impediments can be genetic so not necessarily learned from his Mum. I had a speech impediment including trouble pronouncing th and so does my Dad but I believe it is inherited. I mostly pronounce it correctly now but did have 6 years of speech therapy as a child.

I’m no expert but would consider gently correcting it.

It's fine to correct it now. You don't need to make it a big deal or draw attention to it. Just say the word correctly after she has said it and she will probably repeat it and even if she doesn't she's still hearing the correct pronunciation.