If you graduated before they implemented this or aren’t American, the system they started to use to teach kids how to read is called three cuing. They teach kids to identify unknown words by guessing based on clues in pictures with the sentences, what word would ‘make sense’, and whether the answer they came up with looks right based on the first letter.

As you may have noticed, none of that is reading a word. These are strategies that borderline illiterate people will use to try to understand words, and for decades it’s been the method used by many schools across the country.

So that person you’re arguing with online who keeps going off on bizarre rants barely related to anything you said might not be a troll, they might just be functionally illiterate due to having never been taught to read. Yaaay!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 13 points 5 days ago (3 children)

The counterargument is that English is uniquely bad for phonetical spelling.

Never make fun of someone who says a word strangely. They may have only ever read it.

I’m not sure that phonics is the underlying reason American people don’t learn to read. I think there’s deep complex reasons for that.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 5 days ago

    There's some truth to that, but it's also important that phonics lay down the foundation for reading, and let young readers identify the complexities behind the rules, and then internalize the meta-rules governing which rules apply where.

    It's frustrating that tough doesn't rhyme with though or through or bough (or that none of those others rhyme with each other). Or that many homographs aren't homophones, to where you need to rely on context to know which pronunciation or meaning applies to words like "read," "lead," or "unionized."

    Still, how else are you gonna do it? Lay down the basics, then layer on some exceptions that generally come in as loanwords (entree) or proper nouns (Xi Jinping), but always building on a foundation where new words can be encountered and pronounced. We can read and pronounce newly invented words easily, whether it's slang like "mogging" or fanciful corporate trademarks like "Reddit." We can deal with the exceptions as they come up.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 5 days ago

    Definitely something I struggled with, perhaps due to ADHD/Dyslexia - a lot of words will lead you astray with how it sounds (such as colonel and squirrel).

    Probably still a useful skill to teach, but probably not the pinnacle of teaching either.

  • source
  • parent