Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Hardest Word

I'm convinced that "squirrel" may be the most difficult normal word for a toddler to pronounce. Just think about it. There are so many sounds in the one word:
"s", "k", "w", "r", and "l". And several of those consonants are the most notoriously difficult to pronounce. In fact, Nate has trouble with 3 out of 5 of those sounds. So when you put them all together in one heap of a word, it's completely overwhelming.

On a similar note, but maybe not. I have always been enamored by the word "I." Not because I am a narcissistic arrogant thug, but because the word is really a combination of the sounds "ah" and "ee." Most people would never notice that, but once you slow down the pronunciation of the word it becomes quite clear. I like experimenting with those two sounds and producing all sorts of different versions of "I." I know, it's a strange thing to do for fun.

2 comments:

Quad Squad! said...

You're kind of odd sometimes, Becky.

Dara said...

That is a tough word. Ellie Beth can only say the K sound in the squirrel word... so I think it could be a while before she can say that one! There are so many letter sounds that Ellie Beth can't do that I am a bit concerned... but she is only 2.

I've never though about the two sounds in "I." Interesting....