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Children's accents/pronunciation of words

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SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:37

When and why would they? For example mushypeas example - of her DS' friends correcting "wegetables" instead of "vegetables". I have another friend whose DS teacher is indian and they have come home with confusion about the pronunciation of the P or B in some words. I think you'll find the post was the other way around - her husband's Indian friends were correcting his VEGETABLES because they believe their WEGETABLES is the correct one... How is that the other way around??? I asked Frances if she would correct her children if they came home saying "w" instead of "v". She asked why would they - and I gave the example of mushy's DS indian friends telling him it is "wegetables".

3901

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EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:33

When and why would they? For example mushypeas example - of her DS' friends correcting "wegetables" instead of "vegetables". I have another friend whose DS teacher is indian and they have come home with confusion about the pronunciation of the P or B in some words. I think you'll find the post was the other way around - her husband's Indian friends were correcting his VEGETABLES because they believe their WEGETABLES is the correct one...

SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:26

When and why would they? For example mushypeas example - of her DS' friends correcting "wegetables" instead of "vegetables". I have another friend whose DS teacher is indian and they have come home with confusion about the pronunciation of the P or B in some words.

500

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EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:15

When and why would they?

SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:10

No not me I just let my children speak, I don't give a hoot about accents etc You would not correct your child if they started pronouncing the letter V as "W"???

500

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 22:05

No not me I just let my children speak, I don't give a hoot about accents etc

SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 21:41

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid? Doesn't multicultural mean accepting others for their differences - not imitating them or about everyone being the same or creating one culture? An important part of multiculturalism is having and understanding your own culture/background. I correct my son because he is Australian - and I explain to him that Americans say it this way, British say it that way, Australian's say it the other way. Its not about whether he's multicultural or not - its about teaching him the differences and helping him learn who he is, where he comes from. edited by SlobberKnocker on 14/01/2012 It's not imitation - it's assimilation and something that will happen naturally surely? The point seems to have been lost here. We are talking about language and pronunciation. Not cultural/religious acceptance. Its nothing to do with an assimilation debate. It is no different than a western person in a western county correcting their child on tomato vs "tomarto" based on what they believe is the most "correct" pronunciation. How is that not about culture, but correcting sofa vs couch in Dubai has apparent negative cultural undertones? Not to mention many children will be returning to education systems where many of the language techniques they "assimilate" to would be considered incorrect and bad English. Its not a basis for pointing the finger at people for somehow being phony multiculturals for educating them what is correct English from wherever they come from and will likely return to. I enjoy that it provides me an opportunity to discuss the complexities of our language with my child and also leads to discussions about people, where they come from etc. What a great learning opportunity - and what a shame if we cannot talk about such things without a disapproving finger being pointed by someone

3901

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EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 21:22

if you bring your children up in a multi-national environment i don't see how it can be avoided tbh - hardly surprising !! our youngest doesn't seem to have picked anything up - he talks the same as he always has. Last year he had a Scottish teacher and i noticed he was starting to pronounce certain words like her but i didn't bother to correct him..however, when he comes out with some words that are different to the ones we use then i will just say we call it x not y because that's what American/Australian etc ppl say.. But at the end of the day, it's not worth worrying about imo...

spongemonkey980

4329

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 20:51

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid? Doesn't multicultural mean accepting others for their differences - not imitating them or about everyone being the same or creating one culture? An important part of multiculturalism is having and understanding your own culture/background. I correct my son because he is Australian - and I explain to him that Americans say it this way, British say it that way, Australian's say it the other way. Its not about whether he's multicultural or not - its about teaching him the differences and helping him learn who he is, where he comes from. edited by SlobberKnocker on 14/01/2012 It's not imitation - it's assimilation and something that will happen naturally surely?

1236

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EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 19:26

I babysat for a lovely American friend while in Doha and I had some interesting conversations with her gorgeous boys about language. When I asked the eldest if he'd like help with the jigsaw puzzle he was doing, he looked at me and said that it was not called a jigsaw but a puzzle. We had a great time talking about the English language and the way that other English speaking countries use it. Had to smile when he said that he spoke American, not English and wanted to know why, if I was Scottish, that I spoke American. He was even more bemused when I taught him some Scottish dialect! :D

504

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EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 18:25

my real struggle is wanting them not to speak Filipino English (or at least my housemaid's version) - 'too much' instead of 'very much'; 'by my own' instead of 'on my own' or 'by myself'; 'let him to do that' instead of 'let him do that' - these really, really grate (from the kids, not fussed about them from her) and it is SO difficult to get them to change!

504

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 18:22

Oh lord, the day DS comes home and says it's W instead of V, we're repatriating! :D I think I do tend to correct him to Australian if I'm correcting between English accents, only so he has 'an accent', not as much a 'mixed accent', but I still let it slide when he says Tarmas (Thomas but with the US accent), shoonted and the Fut Cuntroolla (UK Thomas accent - shunted and the Fat Controller). I'm so happy to know it's not just me! I thought I was a monster raising my eyebrow at him constantly saying 'excuse me? What did you say? Nooo - that is NOT how it is said', but now I just tend to repeat the word with the correct pronunciation! I think I'd complain as much about them picking up the 'Thomas' accent as a 'foreign' one. Like others, I try to get them to talk in something at least close to their 'home' accent, and refuse to answer to 'Mama' (not sure why but I don 't like it, didn't mind so much when they were tiny) but there are some British accents which I would object to far more than a 'standard' Australian, for example! Completely irrational, I know.

SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:57

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid? Doesn't multicultural mean accepting others for their differences - not imitating them or about everyone being the same or creating one culture? An important part of multiculturalism is having and understanding your own culture/background. I correct my son because he is Australian - and I explain to him that Americans say it this way, British say it that way, Australian's say it the other way. Its not about whether he's multicultural or not - its about teaching him the differences and helping him learn who he is, where he comes from. <em>edited by SlobberKnocker on 14/01/2012</em>

5452

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:45

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid? I tend to agree with you. That is why I am trying to just let it go. The issue becomes very evident, though, when one visits his/her home countries and everyone wonders why he/she is talking like that if he/she is not a foreigner!

88

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:40

When DD was little she asked me what explored meant. After I had explained, she looked at me and said, "But Daddy said the bottle explorded." He's from Scotland!! LOL- she never made that mistake again : ) I also get really wound up when we go back to England in the summer and the children start talking with a regional accent. I know they do it because they don't want to sound different but it just sounds soooo wrong.

2392

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:29

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid? For me, a particular accent is like walking on my nerves, will stop my children dead in tracks if they imitate it to be "cooool"!

spongemonkey980

4329

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:22

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here. This is quite an interesting topic as people usually love to go on about how multi cultural their children are playing with this child and that child yet there is a strong drive on this thread to have them talk the way you want them to! Whatever happened to the expat kid?

spongemonkey980

4329

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:19

No your not over reacting and you should. i feel really strongly about this as I am also correcting my son. Im from Yorkshire in the UK and my accent is strong . My husband is from the east end of london and his is strong too ! He has a couple of Indian friends and they are always correcting his english ! such as when he says Vegetables.. they say he is saying it wrong and it should be 'wegtables' .. :\::\: Oh lord, the day DS comes home and says it's W instead of V, we're repatriating! :D I think I do tend to correct him to Australian if I'm correcting between English accents, only so he has 'an accent', not as much a 'mixed accent', but I still let it slide when he says Tarmas (Thomas but with the US accent), shoonted and the Fut Cuntroolla (UK Thomas accent - shunted and the Fat Controller). I'm so happy to know it's not just me! I thought I was a monster raising my eyebrow at him constantly saying 'excuse me? What did you say? Nooo - that is NOT how it is said', but now I just tend to repeat the word with the correct pronunciation! Let's hope he is not really saying the Fut Cuntroola............. :\:

SlobberKnocker52531

146

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 17:18

I glad I'm not the only one. Its not just the accent, its the different words. I often have to correct sofa/couch, trash can/rubbish bin, ketchup/tomato sauce, soda/soft drink. Its doesn't bother me when others say it, so I don't know why it bothers me when DS does. I guess it feels like I'm talking to someone from a foreign country, not my own child :D

845

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 15:47

DS says math! Not Maths ...as we tell him there is a S as its plural...we use more than 1 number.. I'm sure the back of his head will be sore soon...lol

2392

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 15:21

No your not over reacting and you should. i feel really strongly about this as I am also correcting my son. Im from Yorkshire in the UK and my accent is strong . My husband is from the east end of london and his is strong too ! He has a couple of Indian friends and they are always correcting his english ! such as when he says Vegetables.. they say he is saying it wrong and it should be 'wegtables' .. :\::\: Oh lord, the day DS comes home and says it's W instead of V, we're repatriating! :D I think I do tend to correct him to Australian if I'm correcting between English accents, only so he has 'an accent', not as much a 'mixed accent', but I still let it slide when he says Tarmas (Thomas but with the US accent), shoonted and the Fut Cuntroolla (UK Thomas accent - shunted and the Fat Controller). I'm so happy to know it's not just me! I thought I was a monster raising my eyebrow at him constantly saying 'excuse me? What did you say? Nooo - that is NOT how it is said', but now I just tend to repeat the word with the correct pronunciation! I just say excuse me.......and they correct themselves! Lol

5452

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EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:40

I guess all of these accents, mispronunciations, and regional words are to be expected among children growing up here.

506

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EW GURU

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:36

My daughter is saying zee not zed for Z. Keep having to correct her on that.

2192

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EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:27

No your not over reacting and you should. i feel really strongly about this as I am also correcting my son. Im from Yorkshire in the UK and my accent is strong . My husband is from the east end of london and his is strong too ! He has a couple of Indian friends and they are always correcting his english ! such as when he says Vegetables.. they say he is saying it wrong and it should be 'wegtables' .. :\::\:

2392

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:23

Yes, and I also correct my daughter when she uses British words instead of American ones. ;) Interesting we all have our preferences! ;)

5452

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:18

Yes, and I also correct my daughter when she uses British words instead of American ones. ;)

2392

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 January 2012 - 14:13

Not overreacting at all. I correct my children every time I feel they pronounce words the way I don't like it!

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