encourage proper pronounciation?
troubadour4me
Hi all,It's been awhile since i posted. Things are going well. My computer was broken for about a month or so until i found someone who fixes them. So, I am back online :)
I have been thinking about the way he talks and if i should talk better as an example for him. If i should encourage him to say certain words the right way instead of him sounding like me?
I am from New York and I say dis and dat instead of this and that. And i say some sentences like: Dija eat? for "did you eat?" This happens unless i slow down when speaking. When i am reading to him,I pronounce TH's not D's...The dog went in there...and so on.
My husband and other people have a hard time understanding him and i know this is all my fault because of my accent/dialect.
Should i be actively watching how i say words and encourage him to say them right? I want ideas on how to do it in a respectful,non-blaming way so he doesn't feel bad ya know? What should i say to him about speech? I don't think i should ignore this and let him go on talking like me or not too clear right?
Do TH sounds come naturally to you all? It seems to be a chore for me to remember to put my tongue against my front teeth to say those words!I think i am talking lazy most of the time!
I have to mention that we live in Florida so this way of talking makes us stand out even more...lol
I have been thinking about the way he talks and if i should talk better as an example for him. If i should encourage him to say certain words the right way instead of him sounding like me?
I am from New York and I say dis and dat instead of this and that. And i say some sentences like: Dija eat? for "did you eat?" This happens unless i slow down when speaking. When i am reading to him,I pronounce TH's not D's...The dog went in there...and so on.
My husband and other people have a hard time understanding him and i know this is all my fault because of my accent/dialect.
Should i be actively watching how i say words and encourage him to say them right? I want ideas on how to do it in a respectful,non-blaming way so he doesn't feel bad ya know? What should i say to him about speech? I don't think i should ignore this and let him go on talking like me or not too clear right?
Do TH sounds come naturally to you all? It seems to be a chore for me to remember to put my tongue against my front teeth to say those words!I think i am talking lazy most of the time!
I have to mention that we live in Florida so this way of talking makes us stand out even more...lol
Sandra Dodd
-=-My husband and other people have a hard time understanding him and
i know this is all my fault because of my accent/dialect.
Should i be actively watching how i say words and encourage him to say
them right?-=-
Does he not listen to movies, TV, radio, music? You can't be his only
influence.
-=-I have to mention that we live in Florida so this way of talking
makes us stand out even more...lol-=-
I have a friend who has a Texas accent even though she never ever
lived in Texas. Her mom did though, have a rural East Texas accent,
and still does.
Some people lose accents more easily than others. I don't know what
the factors are, but I have no doubt a child can learn an accent from
his mom.
Maybe just talk to him about it as you have to us! Tell him you're
worried and ask whether he wants you to remind him. Maybe he could
remind you, too!
Sandra
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i know this is all my fault because of my accent/dialect.
Should i be actively watching how i say words and encourage him to say
them right?-=-
Does he not listen to movies, TV, radio, music? You can't be his only
influence.
-=-I have to mention that we live in Florida so this way of talking
makes us stand out even more...lol-=-
I have a friend who has a Texas accent even though she never ever
lived in Texas. Her mom did though, have a rural East Texas accent,
and still does.
Some people lose accents more easily than others. I don't know what
the factors are, but I have no doubt a child can learn an accent from
his mom.
Maybe just talk to him about it as you have to us! Tell him you're
worried and ask whether he wants you to remind him. Maybe he could
remind you, too!
Sandra
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Jenny Cyphers
***Should i be actively watching how i say words and encourage him to say them right? I want ideas on how to do it in a respectful,non- blaming way so he doesn't feel bad ya know? What should i say to him about speech? I don't think i should ignore this and let him go on talking like me or not too clear right?***
I have a friend who is German, and who's husband is Philipino and has a lisp. Both of their kids were really hard to understand for a long time. Other people kept recommending speech therapy, I kept saying, just give it time. The mom, because of her own accent didn't even realize that her husband had a lisp and when I pointed it out to her, it made sense that the way the kids were learning the english language was based on heavy German accent with slight Philipino accent and lisp. As they got older and were around more people and other kids, they learned other ways of speaking and saying things.
Other kids could understand them just fine, it was the adults who could never understand them. They speak fine now, both kids. They have interesting accents, but you can understand them much easier.
I'd say give it time and help your child be around other people as much as possible to hear and speak.
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I have a friend who is German, and who's husband is Philipino and has a lisp. Both of their kids were really hard to understand for a long time. Other people kept recommending speech therapy, I kept saying, just give it time. The mom, because of her own accent didn't even realize that her husband had a lisp and when I pointed it out to her, it made sense that the way the kids were learning the english language was based on heavy German accent with slight Philipino accent and lisp. As they got older and were around more people and other kids, they learned other ways of speaking and saying things.
Other kids could understand them just fine, it was the adults who could never understand them. They speak fine now, both kids. They have interesting accents, but you can understand them much easier.
I'd say give it time and help your child be around other people as much as possible to hear and speak.
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BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
I find accents adorable and charming. Any accent. I am always intrigued by them.
I do have an accent so of course I like them, even if I try to speak as native as possible.
When I used to be a Flight Attendant there were so many times that by the end of the trip people would come ask
me what kind of accent mine was.
I remember language professors betting between them to see who had it right.
They ask me a lot if I was French-Canadian because of how I pronounced "TH".
Not that I cannot do it right. I can. I worked hard on it.
But I am used to doing it a la Celine Dion ( a lot of people said my accent sounded like hers).
I say let it be unless you son wants to speak the way Floridians do.
Or maybe make comments about how you pronounce it and how it should be pronounced and see if
he is interested in pronouncing things differently.
Call attention to your accent and how you sound.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
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I do have an accent so of course I like them, even if I try to speak as native as possible.
When I used to be a Flight Attendant there were so many times that by the end of the trip people would come ask
me what kind of accent mine was.
I remember language professors betting between them to see who had it right.
They ask me a lot if I was French-Canadian because of how I pronounced "TH".
Not that I cannot do it right. I can. I worked hard on it.
But I am used to doing it a la Celine Dion ( a lot of people said my accent sounded like hers).
I say let it be unless you son wants to speak the way Floridians do.
Or maybe make comments about how you pronounce it and how it should be pronounced and see if
he is interested in pronouncing things differently.
Call attention to your accent and how you sound.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
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Sandra Dodd
-=-Or maybe make comments about how you pronounce it and how it should
be pronounced and see if
he is interested in pronouncing things differently.
Call attention to your accent and how you sound.-=-
That's fine for you to say, if you sound like Celine Dion. <g>
Some accents have a higher status potential than others!
Sandra
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be pronounced and see if
he is interested in pronouncing things differently.
Call attention to your accent and how you sound.-=-
That's fine for you to say, if you sound like Celine Dion. <g>
Some accents have a higher status potential than others!
Sandra
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Vidyut Kale
Wouldn't this be something he'd figure out when it became important to him
to be understood (as opposed to important for others)? If your husband
understands you....
Kids can get difficult to understand in a conversation for others who don't
hear them all the time. I often spend time conversing with them because I
enjoy their directness and innovative way of looking at things, but have to
ask them to repeat or explain or their parents to interpret when they say
something I can't understand. Seems to be a 'kid thing' - a phase. While I
have no clue what happens in those cute little heads, I think they spend
most of their effort expressing and then get around to getting understood
'universally' when expressing is not such a great effort. Don't know if it
is about accent, since most of these kids are from the 'same accent school'
as me and family.
He has enough challenge figuring out talking. I don't know if making him
talk different will help or even work. Dis, dat and didja will still be the
effort efficient versions of the word (not to mention 'mom-style' comfort)
till he has the 'spare memory' to process the longer forms for other people.
If your husband speaks with him, I don't think your child is unaware of the
possibility for saying it differently.
Vidyut
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to be understood (as opposed to important for others)? If your husband
understands you....
Kids can get difficult to understand in a conversation for others who don't
hear them all the time. I often spend time conversing with them because I
enjoy their directness and innovative way of looking at things, but have to
ask them to repeat or explain or their parents to interpret when they say
something I can't understand. Seems to be a 'kid thing' - a phase. While I
have no clue what happens in those cute little heads, I think they spend
most of their effort expressing and then get around to getting understood
'universally' when expressing is not such a great effort. Don't know if it
is about accent, since most of these kids are from the 'same accent school'
as me and family.
He has enough challenge figuring out talking. I don't know if making him
talk different will help or even work. Dis, dat and didja will still be the
effort efficient versions of the word (not to mention 'mom-style' comfort)
till he has the 'spare memory' to process the longer forms for other people.
If your husband speaks with him, I don't think your child is unaware of the
possibility for saying it differently.
Vidyut
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