Speech/speaking Lessons for Children
Other
I was very sad to hear most presenters and interviewees making fun of this on tv this morning.
Over the last 12 years i have worked with children of all ages and have been dismayed by the lack of clarity, pronunciation, enunciation and general articulation in their speech. I constantly hear them mispronouncing words and worse, not being able to understand what they are saying.
One child kept calling his sister carcar as he couldn't say her correct name, Carla. After 3 journeys with him i had taught him to say it correctly, hardly rocket science. Why aren't adults correcting children's speech, it isn't funny and it is important in this world to put across clearly what you want to say and be understood.
Our son has a speech delay, he is only really starting to talk now. We have been to multiple speech therapy appointments and we have worked hard to help him with his speech. Mispronunciation and poor articulation are all common when learning to speak, it is about repetition. Our son would say words which weren't clear, I repeated them back to him, he said it again and it is now clear. We do everything we can to help with his speech, so does his nursery and extended family.
Some people just think that they will get there on their own, some of them will, but children learn from others. I know our son has learnt from the other children at nursery, I have seen him copy what they are saying.
Some people see other things are more important than helping with speech.
MrsCraig I hope you don't think I was being unkind to children with speech impediments. I do understand that some kids struggle. But again it often comes back to bad parenting, especially in my job, and a lot of those parents can hardly string a sentence together themselves. As you say repetition is the key, as in most things with children.
Lynibis MrsCraig In terms of speech, children/babies need/should also see the shape and way the mouth moves when speaking so they can copy - so it's often helpful to speak at eye level with them. A korean celebrity couple hardly spoke facing their 1st child (they spoke whilst busy with other things) so their child started speaking later then other kids - it made their child frustrated at times since they couldn't communicate what they wanted.
The same with adults learning new languages accents etc. Like how 'th' sound you need to put your tongue between your teeth, but some people use 'f' sound instead for 'the' since they probably didn't know or learn.
The way Ms Rachel on youtube teaches babies how to speak is done really well - so my niece is picking up an american accent instead of british ...and so am I.
hky very well put, this is the sort of thing I am talking about. I have yet to see a parent pushing a pram/stroller without staring at their phone while the child just sits there. Mothers of my generation would be chatting to their child and pointing out things to them like flower, bird, phone box, shop etc. I believe parents should always have the child facing them in pushchairs.
hky I always make sure that I am at his level when I talk to him so he can see my lips moving. He has a speech therapist due to his delay. He had a number of delays due to what happened when he was born, but his speech is coming on leaps and bounds. We have done everything we can to encourage him and it is paying off. I will have to look into Ms Rachel.
Lynibis ,On my walks around Sheffield I see mothers chatting to their babies who are facing them.
On my walk from work I was chatting to a lovely Nigerian lady who was chatting to her baby all the way to where she was stood talking to me & afterwards as she walked home.
I saw other mothers doing the same,playing ,cooooeeeing & singing to their babies..
I have also seen mothers constantly on their mobiles while pushing prams..
janphoenix51 it is good to know some still pay attention. I think it makes a big difference if child is facing parent as they then cannot ignore the child so easily.
Lynibis ...Totally agree with you on that..
What gets my partner, daughter & I is people on their phones not watching their toddlers near roads.
Yeah it’s bad when this sort of thing is mocked but i think most times it comes from a place of ignorance (which isn’t an excuse)
I think some of the issues may come from their parents own lack of clarity and pronunciation. Children learn so much of their language skills at a young age, which can result in picking up both good and bad habits.
Midnightflower it is so bad sometimes that after saying pardon a few times I have to pretend and just nod my head or murmur something myself. It's even worse when kids of 2, 3 and even 4 are talking with a dummy in their mouth and won't take it out!
Children still get assessed when they’re young and will be referred to a Speech Therapist if necessary. However I must admit that I sometimes struggle with accents.
Pjran what I am talking about are not speech impediments. It is laziness and mumbling, drawling, not finishing words, not speaking loudly or clearly enough. E.g. My son as a toddler would say shif instead of fish, my other son said onginge instead of orange but after correcting them each time they pronounced them correctly. Too many parents and teachers don't do this and some adults or siblings end up translating for the child.
My Northern Irish partner sometimes pulls me up for my speech but I'm from Sheffield & proud of my accent...On the other side of things people are surprised our Student Radiographer daughter is from Sheffield because she speaks using the Queens English !
janphoenix51 I would not criticise any accents unless they are guilty of the things this topic is about. Children rely on us to speak clearly (whatever the accent) so they can then learn to communicate clearly.
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter
