3 ms·

By what method do non-native English speakers typically learn to read English? That is, phonetically, or "whole language", or something else? I don't mean Duoli

By what method do non-native English speakers typically learn to read English? That is, phonetically, or "whole language", or something else? I don't mean Duolingo, I mean how do classrooms approach it.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ajuc 3y ago
In Poland new English words are introduced at once as combination of letters and as a sound, and teachers insist on repeating them loudly and memorizing the pronunciation along with spelling. Kids already can read so the problem isn't teaching them to read, the problem is forcing them to ignore the simple regular rules from their native language and to memorize each new word twice. I refused to do that and only learnt the letters and tried to go by with heuristics+exceptions. It just doesn't work. I wonder how long it takes for an average kid to learn to read in English vs a phonetic or close-to-phonetic language. Must be crazy hard to start reading with such insane language. Do you even have that point when "it clicks" when you learn reading?
- WalterBright 3y ago
  I was taught to read phonetically. The reader books we were given could be read phonetically. Once one was comfortable with that, the exceptions didn't pose any problem. I occasionally discover that a word I'd known for decades had a different pronunciation than I thought it had, since I'd never heard it spoken. Written language is a lot richer than spoken language.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    For example, "chimera". I always pronounced it with "chi" as in "chimney", and emphasis on the first syllable. But it's pronounced with a "ki" as "kite", and emphasis on the second syllable. Boy did I guess wrong!
randomdata 3y ago
> I mean how do classrooms approach it. Depends on the weather. We have never decided upon how it is best learned and keep trying different methods. Speaking to a teacher at my child's school recently, she was all giddy about it coming around to being taught phonetically again. So, that is the current du jour (in that school, at least), but who knows what next week will bring.
- hotnfresh 3y ago
  Whole language has been known crap for a long time among teaching academics and professors. It’s just taken a long time for that to filter down to policy changes in schools, and for some reason the whole “controversy” became newsworthy within the last couple years, as if we just figured this out.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ajuc 3y ago

In Poland new English words are introduced at once as combination of letters and as a sound, and teachers insist on repeating them loudly and memorizing the pronunciation along with spelling. Kids already can read so the problem isn't teaching them to read, the problem is forcing them to ignore the simple regular rules from their native language and to memorize each new word twice. I refused to do that and only learnt the letters and tried to go by with heuristics+exceptions. It just doesn't work. I wonder how long it takes for an average kid to learn to read in English vs a phonetic or close-to-phonetic language. Must be crazy hard to start reading with such insane language. Do you even have that point when "it clicks" when you learn reading?

WalterBright 3y ago
I was taught to read phonetically. The reader books we were given could be read phonetically. Once one was comfortable with that, the exceptions didn't pose any problem. I occasionally discover that a word I'd known for decades had a different pronunciation than I thought it had, since I'd never heard it spoken. Written language is a lot richer than spoken language.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  For example, "chimera". I always pronounced it with "chi" as in "chimney", and emphasis on the first syllable. But it's pronounced with a "ki" as "kite", and emphasis on the second syllable. Boy did I guess wrong!

randomdata 3y ago

> I mean how do classrooms approach it. Depends on the weather. We have never decided upon how it is best learned and keep trying different methods. Speaking to a teacher at my child's school recently, she was all giddy about it coming around to being taught phonetically again. So, that is the current du jour (in that school, at least), but who knows what next week will bring.

hotnfresh 3y ago
Whole language has been known crap for a long time among teaching academics and professors. It’s just taken a long time for that to filter down to policy changes in schools, and for some reason the whole “controversy” became newsworthy within the last couple years, as if we just figured this out.