I was teaching the other day… that’s what I do, you know… I’m a teacher. I don’t know how… well, actually I do, but it’s a long stoy I won’t get into… but somehow or another we began talking about mnemonic devices. Now, you know what those are of course. A mnemonic device is one that helps you spell out a word by sounding it out. It sounds like a wonderful method for teaching kids to spell. Until you realize that we speak ENGLISH, and that very few words in our wonderful language are actually spelled the way they sound. Didn’t notice this before? Well, let”s start just a couple of lines back. The very word that describes the very method I am discussing cannot be spelled using the very methos we are discussing. HOW DUMB IS THAT? Mnemonic starts with a SILENT “M”!!! It’s pronounced nemonic. That makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? And then we wonder why people spell so poorly in English. Heck, using this device, “cough” would be spelled “coff”, “sew” would be spelled “so”, “eight” would be spelled “ate”, and even a word like “of” would be spelled “ov”. And even some of these spellings would be argued. Whose idea was it to make our language so difficult?Â
the truth is that we could (sounds like cood) have a language as easy to spell as Spanish. That would (sounds like wood) make life so much easier. Our kids wouldn’t be so illiterate in our schools (sounds like scools) because everything would read like it sounds!Â
Maybe that’s why the literacy rate is so high (souns like hi) in Cuba, because anybody could follow the reading rules (sounds like rools) for Spanish. Pronounce it like it is spelled.Â
Of course there is a down side to this. If you haven’t noticed it takes a lot more breath and a lot more ink to say and write (sounds like rite) things in Spanish… sometimes two to three times more. You don’t believe me. Most simple one syllable english words take to syllables to say in Spanish. Cat = Gato, Dog = Perro, Horse = Caballo, Cow = Vaca, Sheep = Oveja, Bird = Pajaro. And I haven’t even left the Farm!!Â
Some of the shortest words in English take so much energy to say in Spanish. Don’t believe me? Let’s see. Kite = Papalote, Desk = Pupitre, and here’s my favorite, Straw = Absorbiente. NICE!! And how about this for having to use up your vocabulary… TOES = DEDOS DEL PIE. WOW!!!! No wonder hispanics talk so darn fast. They have to get so many more syllables out just to say the same thing!!!Â
Oh, there’s more… it is such a pain to type in Spanish. i haven’t seen a Spanish typewriter yet, but for all I know it has extra keys including all the vowels with their accents on them. I, if I wanted to spell something correctly in Spanish have to learn all the “Alt” codes to spell words correctly. A word like jaMON, is misspelled without the accent… but where or those little accent thingys?!? I can’t even spell the names of many of the members of this site properly without these things. People like Roberto SUARez, NEStor Ventura, and Alex TuNON, which I couldn’t spell anyway because of the existence of this extra n-like letter for which I also need a code to type!Â
And have you noticed that Spanish has letters in the alphabet (sounds like alfabet) that don’t even get used? For instance tell me one word that is not a direct translation from English that starts with or even includes the letter “W”. Names don’t count. I am one of the fortunate few that gets to actually use “W” when writing in Spanish (“Mi nombre es Wenceslao”). And the letter “K”? Why is this letter even needed in Spanish when you can you the “C” or the “Qu” to make all the K sounds in spanish. This letter doesn’t get used except in direct translations (kanguro). So the Spanish language has two unnecessary letters in its alphabet. So let’s talk about one last letter. That letter is “H”. They have a letter that is only used to be silent or to combine with another letter to make a whole new sound. Why not just create a whole new letter for the “CH” sound and do away with “H”? (I can’t believe that “CH” was it’s own letter at one time to begin with). If they need help, I’d be more than happy to create the new letter. I have ideas. Of course I can’t do it here… not unless I learn to use the “ALT” button or something.Â
So the Spanish language has its flaws (sounds like flozz), it’s still easier to use. Then again, as wordy as I am, this little excerpt of mine would have taken 7 pages to write in Spanish with all those extra syllables and letters to include. Maybe English is not so bad after all. It’s just another challenge for us to conquer (sounds like konker). If only I can get my students to spell better. I guess it’s time to reintroduce the nemonic device… now where did I leave that silent “m”?