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1/13/12

Phonics = Dum

Watch this video, of a 102 year old explaining the English language and its faults:



I can't disagree with this.  Especially since I have two boys, one in Kindergarten.  Reading, phonics, vocabulary and spelling is tough stuff.  I did well in school, but a lot of kids don't.

What do you think of this?  Share your insights below.

14 comments:

  1. Alex D.1/13/12, 5:57 AM

    Nice cake.. For a 102 year old man he sure is pretty damn lively!

    Anyway the English language does have its faults (some more obvious) then others but it isn't the only cause of stupidity (I was reading at a college level at barely 15) I've seen teachers who just give away answers almost blatantly! Whose going to learn in that manner?

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  2. LogAllot.com1/13/12, 7:01 AM

    Interesting video. Makes me wonder why we do the silly things we do. I pray for kids in school now. They will be taking care of my old ass 30 years from now. That's scary!

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  3. Zombie1/13/12, 7:06 AM

    ugh I hait speling. Thats wai there is spel chek

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  4. Haven1/13/12, 7:16 AM

    I guess some literacy is better than no literacy.

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  5. Cynthianne1/13/12, 9:40 AM

    English is a Germanic language heavily polluted over the years with Latin and French, so it's no wonder its spelling is erratic to say the least. There are dozens of "rules" of pronunciation, with exceptions to each- for example, "gh" at the end of a word is usually pronounced as either a "w" or an "f" (bough, laugh), but at the beginning of a word is a soft "g" sound (ghastly). About the only way to become a good speller of English is brute memorization. -Sorry
    Cynthianne
    (the retired Orthography Nazi)

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  6. Josie1/13/12, 9:49 AM

    Bah it can be pretty ridiculous. I used to be an aide for an English as a Second Language class and I spent half an hour one day trying to explain why 'choose' is pronounced like 'lose' instead of like 'loose'. It was a long day.

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  7. Melanie1/13/12, 10:31 AM

    Love the old dude. And that cake...there are no words...

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  8. ResCogitans1/13/12, 10:53 AM

    english is crazy for reasons more than just spelling. why does your alarm clock go off in the morning instead of going on? houses burn down as they burn up, and you fill out a form by filling it in. so so many examples that you don't realise until a non-native speaker asks you to explain it...

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  9. auto - pasjonat1/13/12, 3:35 PM

    I like your post :)

    FOLLOWING

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  10. Leon Kennedy1/13/12, 4:47 PM

    english doesn't really make a lot of phonic sense, being tken from so many different root languages

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  11. psychpost1/13/12, 6:38 PM

    interesting, studying a language reveals many strange things.

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  12. klahanie1/13/12, 8:47 PM

    Spelling words the way they sound would be great. That way we could all spell English the same way. In the meantime, y'all are spelling English words, incorrectly :)
    And darn it, it's A to Zed, not Zee! Grrrr...

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  13. JanandJill.com1/14/12, 12:41 AM

    OMG, his flip cards are funny. I'm probably one of those kids that needed hooked on phonics so I'm not judging :)

    Dale

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  14. On My Soapbox1/15/12, 6:04 PM

    Love the video! At 102, he's wittier, smarter, and more alert than most young whippersnappers.

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