English is too hard to read for children

Floh

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The English spelling system is 'absolutely, unspeakably awful'. That is the conclusion of new research that has found that children face 800 words by the age of 11 that hinder their reading because of the way they are spelt.
Monkey, asparagus, spinach, caterpillar, dwarf, banana, handkerchief, pliers, soldiers, stomach, petal and telescope have all been included on the long list of words that baffle children because they contain letter combinations that are more commonly pronounced in a different way.

Monkey, asparagus, spinach, caterpillar, dwarf, banana, handkerchief, pliers, soldiers, stomach, petal and telescope have all been included on the long list of words that baffle children because they contain letter combinations that are more commonly pronounced in a different way.


Much more: http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2284503,00.html

I truly hope English isn't dumbed down. i can't fathom why even half of the following list is problematic. :confused:

having said that, it's phonetics, isn't it? that's what they're saying . . .
doh.gif


100 of the most difficult words

Orange, foreign, rhinoceros, properly, vomit, tambourine, tournament, tourist, heaven, engine, exquisite, opposite, advertisement, gnarled, rigid, risen, sinister, spinach, video, vinegar, tie, wheelie, quiet, science, crier, pliers, soldier, Monday, mongrel, monkey, courage, magic, manage, palace, four, journey, gnash, gnaw, gnome, ghastly, guard, miracle, miserable, pigeon, pity, prison, month, mother, nothing, once, smother, son, sponge, tongue, wonder, almost, both, comb, ghost, gross, most, only, post, programme, deny, reply, July, obey, caterpillar, chapel, damage, dragon, fabulous, family, famished, garage, glacier, habit, hazard, hexagonal, imagine, panic, radish, miaow, powder, cauliflower, plant, pyjamas, raft, rather, salami, task, vast, kiosk, kiwi, machine, encourage, somersault, swollen, souvenir.


note: some of the above spellings such as 'programme' are British English spellings.
 
Ever try to decipher gang signs? It's interesting that gang members can read their own signs, yet cannot master English. And, gang signs are not limited to English. You can travel throughout Europe, for one example, and see them everywhere. So, wherein lies the problem?
 
What an odd thing.

I just asked my DD7 to read the list to me. She just finished 1st grade.

Considering I dragged her away from the TV and the words are not in any kind of context, I thought she did very well. She pronounced 92% of them correctly. The rest were close but I counted them wrong if she hesitated or clearly had no clue what they were.

The 8 she got wrong were:

exquisite
soldier
ghastly (who even says that?)
pigeon
deny
glacier
miaow (not a real word, IMHO)
kiosk (no surprise)

Of course, she also won "best vocabulary" in her class, so maybe she's not the best test! :D
 
I did the same thing with my seven year old. These are the ones he missed.

foreign
rhinoceros
tambourine
exquisite
gnarled
sinister
mongrel
miaow
kiosk
souvenir

He got programme before I changed it, but looked at
pyjamas like I was crazy. Then I changed it and he went "Ohh pajamas."

What the hell is "miaow"? :confused:

If a 7 and 8 year old can read them (mostly), how hard can these words really be?


 
I think the english language is extremely hard for children to learn because so many words look the same but sound different. Its hard to explain to your child why that word looks like another but sounds totally different.
 
What an odd thing.

I just asked my DD7 to read the list to me. She just finished 1st grade.

Considering I dragged her away from the TV and the words are not in any kind of context, I thought she did very well. She pronounced 92% of them correctly. The rest were close but I counted them wrong if she hesitated or clearly had no clue what they were.

The 8 she got wrong were:

exquisite
soldier
ghastly (who even says that?)
pigeon
deny
glacier
miaow (not a real word, IMHO)
kiosk (no surprise)

Of course, she also won "best vocabulary" in her class, so maybe she's not the best test! :D

You have a brilliant child! :Banane35:
 
I did the same thing with my seven year old. These are the ones he missed.

foreign
rhinoceros
tambourine
exquisite
gnarled
sinister
mongrel
miaow
kiosk
souvenir

He got programme before I changed it, but looked at
pyjamas like I was crazy. Then I changed it and he went "Ohh pajamas."

What the hell is "miaow"? :confused:

If a 7 and 8 year old can read them (mostly), how hard can these words really be?



I find rhinoceros very difficult. again, though, a brilliant child.

"miaow" as in the cat's miaow. remember this is british spelling. "miau" is the German spelling. :)
 
LOL I feel a little slow... meow!

Thanks for the kidlet comment. I find him extremely bright, but I am his mother.. so I am not always unbiaed.
 
That's ridiculous. Three kids in our home ALL read before the age of 5. Most of them are well above their grade levels even now.
 
Let's see - they both had trouble with only 3 words: exquisite, miaow and kiosk. One with ghastly and the other with gnarled. Its that "silent" g.

They both did very well! I to find it hard to see what the problem is. I would think there was more of a problem with words like:

affect v. effect
sale v. sell
read v. read
to v. too v. two

And other such combos, not for reading, but for understanding.

I have heard it said that English is one of the hardest languages to learn. Being an American, it is the only language I know so I can't compare. But I do still make some mistakes LOL.

Salem
 
What an odd thing.

I just asked my DD7 to read the list to me. She just finished 1st grade.

Considering I dragged her away from the TV and the words are not in any kind of context, I thought she did very well. She pronounced 92% of them correctly. The rest were close but I counted them wrong if she hesitated or clearly had no clue what they were.

The 8 she got wrong were:

exquisite
soldier
ghastly (who even says that?)
pigeon
deny
glacier
miaow (not a real word, IMHO)
kiosk (no surprise)

Of course, she also won "best vocabulary" in her class, so maybe she's not the best test! :D
haha!!! I love it! You should be proud.

I have a few 8 or so yr. olds in my neighborhood. I am thinking about printing the list out and testing them on it. lol.
 
I think the english language is extremely hard for children to learn because so many words look the same but sound different. Its hard to explain to your child why that word looks like another but sounds totally different.

I have always heard that English is one of the most difficult languages to learn - particularly if you come to it later in life Based on what I know about languages (which is not extensive, but I have a fairly decent grasp of Latin, Spanish and French), I'll agree. English has lots of exceptions to the "rules" - it seems to me - moreso than other langauges.

My Dutch uncle was fluent in 7 or 8 languages and always considered English the toughest one to pick up.

Of course, any language is easier to pick up if you grow up with it.
 
My friend Wenbi speaks Mandarin and she is always amazed at how we complicate words. Recently we were talking about the word grounds.

as in coffee grounds
(the result AFTER you use the coffee)

as in ground beef
(the process used BEFORE you eat the meat)

as in legal grounds

as in the estate had beautiful grounds

we were both laughing over that one :crazy:
 
Reading English is hard! All the unnecessary leftovers from Old English, like "gh". "Daughter" and "laughter" have one letter difference and are prounounced totally differently! Also "light" and "right"...why we have Miller LITE and RITE-Aid...
 

l
miaow

What the hell is "miaow"? :confused:

If a 7 and 8 year old can read them (mostly), how hard can these words really be?



Miaow is a cat with a british accent.
 
through

I threw-up a little when reading this thread :-o

trough

needed one just then, heh

though

altho we often truncate words

tough

or change their spelling, especially on the net...tuff to learn that way

cough

:::koff...scuse me:::
 
The English spelling system is 'absolutely, unspeakably awful'. That is the conclusion of new research that has found that children face 800 words by the age of 11 that hinder their reading because of the way they are spelt.

Interesting thread, Floh!

I found it more interesting that the author of the article didn't even spell the word "spelled" correctly. LOL
 
I never really thought about how difficult English was to learn until I started taking speech pathology classes. Once you think about words and break them down you wonder how any of us picked up the language and the spelling. English is a very difficult language to learn. If you have never taken a foreign language you should do it. I have taken Spanish and French and they are both easier to learn than English would be. However, this is our language, right or wrong, difficult or not and I see no point in changing.
 
Interesting thread, Floh!

I found it more interesting that the author of the article didn't even spell the word "spelled" correctly. LOL

British spelling. ;-)

(just to add to the complexity)
 

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