Pronunciation II

I knew Isaac's pronunciation, especially of the letters S and F, had improved enormously over the last month, but I wanted to put it to the test. So I asked him today, "Isaac, can you say Sophie?" (He used to pronounce it as Hoe-hee.)

Isaac thought about it. He silently shaped his lips into an S sound. "No," he said.

"Oh, come on," I said. "I've heard you say it."

"Sophie," he said perfectly. Then, when prompted, he went on to say shower, hair, smash, and smell. He considered his successes for a moment, and then said, teasingly, "Pe-ell," which is how he used to say smell.

I already miss those strange, personalized pronunciation variants!

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After his initial resistance earlier in the summer, he ended up working very hard to overcome his trouble with S and F. I think it helped that we spent so much time at my parents' house in July -- because they couldn't understand him as readily as I could, it motivated him to learn to speak correctly. For several weeks it wasn't unusual to see him pause before saying a word that began with S or F, whispering the first letter quietly under his breath to hear if he had it right. Sometimes he would try both letters before figuring out which one he wanted.

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As far as his pronunciation troubles go, that leaves only W and R. The R is still a way off, but he has cracked the W sound already. There are words in which he substitutes a Y out of habit (our dog's name is Walt, which Isaac still pronounces as Yalt), but he's on the right track. I know this is true because he has begun using W in place of his missing R, just like Elmer Fudd -- so he says twuck instead of tluck. As this is a more traditional substitution, I am hoping people will find it easier to understand, especially as he is due to start preschool in six weeks.

Even though Isaac's pronunciation has improved so dramatically, it's not like other people can understand everything he says. (Except for me, of course! I understand nearly everything, and thus I still have to translate the occasional phrase, even for Craig.) Isaac still speaks too quickly sometimes, especially when excited, and then he compresses his words nearly beyond comprehension.

Also, he says things people don't expect to hear, so they don't understand it. (Especially if a crucial word contains an R.) A random doctor Isaac encountered in the hallway of the urgent care office couldn't believe that Isaac, brandishing a highlighter that the nurse had loaned him, was asking her, "Is this marker permanent?" Also, today our dog walker couldn't grasp that Isaac was telling her that he was "sawing out the old grout" because he was a "grout mechanic."

Wouldn't you understand that immediately?