Phonetics

I taught a woman how to read today. She has been in the beginning English class all summer, and I just started working with her this week. I realized immediately that she could not read, but for a few days we just worked through the class material verbally. She copied from the board without understanding what she was writing, and she repeated sentences after me not knowing what she was saying.

But today, we started at square one. I showed her how to hold a pencil. Then I wrote a capital A and made her write it correctly (I’m really into writing properly after having to write Chinese characters in proper stroke order; it really does matter!).

Then, I did a major throwback to when I was about three years old and would sit on my mom’s lap and do Hooked on Phonics every evening (Thank you, Mom!). Over and over, I had my student repeat “A, ah, apple; B, buh, ball; C, ck, cat, etc.” We went through the whole alphabet, learning to write, learning the names of the letters, learning the sounds each letter makes, and learning new words, too.

Next, I used a random worksheet the student had from class. It happened to be a lesson about health. I circled a word. First she said each letter: S-I-C-K. Then she slowly made the sound of each letter. Next, she put it all together.

She learned to read!

I had her read several words, and after each one she squeezed my hand and thanked me. After class, she gave me a big hug and kissed me on the cheek. Teaching her took a lot of patience. But she was so attentive and persistent. I’ve never seen anyone so happy before. I was pretty happy, too.