Joined: 30 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 6872 Gender: Female
Posted: 25 June 2008 at 8:23pm | IP Logged
I am not sure if this is just me being fussy, but I really dont like how words are abbreviated in some books. I have bought a set of Usbourne phonics books, design to help the child with the first stage of reading. The books contain many of the high frequency words, maybe all of them if I sat and counted them. They also use rhyming words like all, wall, call, tall, which I think is great and certainly good for learning. However, in many cases they abbreviate words like, I'm, there's and it's. I just think in a book design to help the child in their early stages of reading, it should read I am, there is etc. A I alone in thinking this? Am I just being fussy lol I have been reading the books with Joshua, and he still keeps asking why it has 's. I tried to explain simply that it was to sometimes make words smaller and easier to read, but he doesnt think simple and he is trying to make a big fuss of it lol He is still trying to understand the concept of reading, and sounds, like how t and h make th sound etc I just think adding complex punctuation is not necessary in this stage of learning.
Joined: 27 January 2007 United Kingdom Posts: 237 Gender: Female
Posted: 25 June 2008 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
I have not really noticed it but I think I am right in thinking your son is bi-lingual (English/ Welsh) and you are doing well in the language area. I guess it must be really confusing for him, until recent DD aged 3 3/4yr old could not stand foreign languages and would get distressed if she or I accidently put a DVD on in another language or her chou-chou in Spanish.
It is only all of a sudden literally in the last couple of weeks I put Dora DVD on in Spanish, out of curiousity from me, went to change it and she said No and was singing the backpack song in Spanish with a lovely smile on her face about twenty minutes later then said it's like the English one. LOL
Anyhow less about my life. I guess the idea is to make the books like speech but at the end of the day English is one of the most complex global languages technically and it is about time some publishers realised this. As for reading I am, It is, that is what I would and do read instead of I'm, it's,etc.
Joined: 30 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 6872 Gender: Female
Posted: 25 June 2008 at 10:17pm | IP Logged
He is only just learning how to read, and we are still at the spelling out every word phase. So when he sees it's he cant understand how it can be it is, but on the same score he gets all confused by the 's and says it like it .. s as if it is still 2 words, which I know technically it is, but it's said as 1 word.
Its great your DD is experiencing another language. Even before moving to Wales I introduced Joshua to French, and he can speak some basic French. Children absorb information like sponges, and its a great age to introduce them to new languages.
He is bilingual, so he learns the English language at home, and the Welsh language at school. He is fluent in both now and switching from one to the other doesn't bother him. It must be very difficult though, the Welsh language has female/ male versions of the same word, lots of different ways of saying/writing a word etc, so he has to understand that, and now I'm telling him that the English language is just as complex. Joshua likes to make things more difficult lol and wont accept the simple explanation. I guess I'll just have to keep correcting these abbreviations and explaining them to him, in time he will get them lol I just dont agree that books designed for early readers should include them.
Joined: 17 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 3865 Gender: Female
Posted: 25 June 2008 at 10:17pm | IP Logged
It's nothing to worry about. It's actually good if he's noticing the punctuation and you're discussing it with him as it will help his knowledge of basic grammar. It's more natural for everyone to say things like I'm instead of I am or it's instead of it is, so it would be unnatural to have everything written long hand in books- even if they are for infants.
Knowledge of where to use an apostrophe is quite simple but lots of adults never mind children haven't a clue where to pop one in. Basically it should be used when words are abbreviated and if something belongs to something like "mum's bag, dad's chair,..."
It shouldn't (never, never, never) be used when a word is simply a plural like " I have been looking at lots of house's" or "£3 for 2 book's"
Joined: 30 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 6872 Gender: Female
Posted: 25 June 2008 at 10:26pm | IP Logged
You have no idea how many times I have read what I have been putting and checking my apostrophies, and I still wasn't sure I had them in the right places, or if I had missed any out lol I was thinking whilst writing it, I cant exactly moan about punctuation if I can't do it myself lol I do think I remember where they go (she says reading her posts again lol - I had one in children's in the heading, but still can't decide if it belongs there lol) Proves your point about adults not knowing basic grammar hehe
I'll have to look out for that book. I really think I will have to sort Joshua's books out, this place is turning into a library, with little room left on the shelves lol
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Topic: Abbreviations in children's books
