When English-speaking kids are taught to read, it’s very much an out-loud process, and covers the various pronunciation of all the letters sounds. “Sound it out” is the first step in decoding written words. Then of course there’s using context clues to figure out what word you’ve heard before could be spelled using those letters’ possible sounds. And it’s not until later, once all the common rules and exceptions of pronunciation are automatic, that you start “reading to learn” and attempt words you’ve never heard before.
Comment on Are some people just unable to become fluent in a foreign language?
Lembot_0004@discuss.online 1 day agoI find English pronunciation very irregular (not phonetic). So reading is hard.
Most people, when learning to read, don’t care about pronunciation at all. Like why would they? Here is the word. Who cares how it is pronounced if you see it clearly and know its meaning?
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Lembot_0004@discuss.online 1 day ago
I talk about how grown-up people study a foreign language.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 23 hours ago
Most adults I know who study a foreign language do so in order to speak it, perhaps visit that country. In languages that build words from letters, the phonemes are important to meaning. Obviously “heresy” is very different from “hearsay,” but sow and sow are different words that sound different, while sew and so are also different but sound the same. It’s especially important in order to appreciate literature, poetry, music, and jokes.
Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 day ago
Do you not hear the words in your head while reading?
Lembot_0004@discuss.online 1 day ago
Sometimes I do. But it doesn’t help me or stop me from understanding the word. Completely irrelevant parallel process. Especially in English. In my native language we have a strict bijection between letters and sounds, so pronunciation is trivial.