Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Pedants' corner

Should I carry on correcting her pronouniciation?

25 replies

theUrbanDryad · 20/11/2007 10:57

i have got my godchildren staying with me for a week, and they have to read each night and have their reading records signed. last night i wrote in my goddaughter's book, "'Fought' is the past tense of 'to fight', 'thought' has a TH in it." having looked back at her previous comments from her mum and her teacher i can see this is an ongoing issue for her. should i continue to correct her? or is it just a regional thing (fing )?

OP posts:

Thanks

Share

Report

lucy5 · 20/11/2007 10:58

What does her Mother do?

Thanks

Blu · 20/11/2007 11:00

No.
Just listen to her read and encourage her.
Anything else is between her and her Mum / Dad and teacher.
Unless her Mum has specifically asked you to supoprt a campaign to remind her.
Lots of children have difficulty even pronouncing 'th' until quite late.

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 20/11/2007 11:02

lucy - her mother has written a stream of more and more sarcastic comments (worse than mine! ) - i'm inclined to agree with Blu, i should be encouraging her. feel really bad now.

OP posts:

Thanks

lucy5 · 20/11/2007 11:08

Don't feel bad, you are only showing an interest in her. I agree with Blu too.

Thanks

Blu · 20/11/2007 11:09

How old is she?

DS would have refused to read at all if his reading practice had been coupled with pressure and nagging about pronounciation!

DS was the most articulate, clearly spoken child from a very early age, but could not say 'l', and referred to 'roast yamb for yunch' until he was in reception. Then he grew out of it.

Having sid that, there is an irritating (to me) S London Patois / Cockney habit of pronouncing 'th' as 'f', and it might be reasonable to encourage her not to do that. But i still think it shouldn't be mixed with reading practice.

Can she actually say 'th'?

Thanks

EmsMum · 20/11/2007 11:11

I don't think its regional - it sounds southern but my DD does it and we're up north. Really irritates me now shes 8.

the only thing that helps is reminding her to stick her tongue out when she's saying 'th'. Children usually quite like being encouraged to stick their tongues out so give that a go, humourously.

Thanks

seeker · 20/11/2007 11:16

My children are completely trilingual - Estuary,Bradford and Posh. Very useful. Make sure she can actually say "th" then leave it. It could be useful protective colouration.
Mind you, ds had trouble spelling his best friend Ethan's birthday message once!

Thanks

EmsMum · 20/11/2007 11:19

I do suspect my DD has some difficulty distinguishing f and th sounds as she has been known to write things like fanks (not recently)

Thanks

Blu · 20/11/2007 11:20

LOL, seeker.

My American BIL, who is good with his hands (carpenter) rather than anything else, spells 'Dorothy' 'Dorfy'.

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 20/11/2007 11:23

she's 9. she can definitely say 'th' because i did the tongue sticky out thing yesterday. i think it is either sloppiness or just imitating what everyone else does (which is, after all, what a regional accent is!) or a mixture of the two.

OP posts:

Thanks

Blu · 20/11/2007 11:40

mmm. Probably a mixture of the two.
Still think it's not for you to tackle, though.
At 9 she's probably persisting to annoy her Mum, too, if she has written all tjhose sarcastic comments in her book

Thanks

somersetmum · 20/11/2007 11:51

Slightly OT but, when we went to our local firework display, I asked the man on the gate how much it was to get in. Two adults, two children. He piped up with "Well, its free for the kids and five for the adults." so I handed him a tenner. He gives us a strange look and says "Oh, two children, two adults - that's a special rate of £15." It was only then that I realised that what he had actually meant was "its THREE for the kids and five for the adults." I don't think he even realised, just thought I was a mad woman, lol.

Thanks

Threadworm · 20/11/2007 11:57

My ds2 had a mad-about-Ancient-Egypt phase. I loved hearing him talk about the Moon god, "Foff".

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 20/11/2007 12:03

lol @ Foff, that's soooooo cute!!

OP posts:

Thanks

clerkKent · 20/11/2007 13:05

DD has never brought anything home from school. But she often tells us what she has "brang" home (SW London patois).

DW always spots the local dialect. I don't.

Thanks

Anna8888 · 21/11/2007 14:52

Depends on your relationship with your godchildren and their parents. If they are staying for a week it sounds quite close. When I stay with my parents I ask my mother to repeat certain words, including "th" words, with my daughter, who says "sink" for "think" à la française. But she's only three.

Thanks

UnquietDad · 21/11/2007 14:56

Probably not.
But write "pronunciation" or someone will correct your spelling!

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 21/11/2007 14:57

pronounciation is right, isn't it?? it is according to firefox anyway....

OP posts:

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 21/11/2007 14:59

hmm, google thinks you're right. that's weird. i mean, you pronounce something, don't you? you don't pronunce it...

i shouldn't be correcting anyone, should i?

OP posts:

Thanks

UnquietDad · 21/11/2007 15:00

Nope - "pronounciation" is underlined in red if I try to write it, and I'm in Firefox too.

It's definitely "pronunciation".

Thanks

EmsMum · 21/11/2007 15:04

Moreover its prounounced 'proNUNciation' not proNOUNciation - my fave mispronunciation of all time when used by someone saying 'shes got terrible pronounciation' .

I've heard this wrong on Radio 4 recently, what is the world coming to?

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 21/11/2007 15:06

tis cause i'm using Safari today.

oh the shame...

OP posts:

Thanks

Walnutshell · 21/11/2007 15:06

The fact that pronunciation is spelt without the 'o' shows how inconsistent the English language can be for adults to deal with let alone children!

Thanks

ChubbyScotsBurd · 21/11/2007 15:07

I'm with UnquietDad. Sorry, but since we're in Pedants' Corner ...

Thanks

theUrbanDryad · 21/11/2007 15:09

i'm just going to hide in the cupboard now...

OP posts:

Thanks

Flip

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.