English

Richard is learning to read. He's doing a great job and doing his best to figure out how sound combinations work. However, due to the confusing nature of English, I'm often saying, "Well, it does seem like it should be that way, but..."

For example, we were discussing that "sh" says shhhh. We listed shoe and share as words that start that way. Then Richard says, "sugar has sh in it." Well, yea, it sounds that way, but it just has an "s." Did you know that most people pronounce truck in such a way that he thinks it starts with a "ch" combination?

We've also encountered silent vowels like in "eat." We've come across silent consonants like in "knee." Why do we do that?

Why does the "th" combination make a different sound depending on the word?

How do you explain that cat starts with a c but kitten starts with a k?

Poor Richard. It's amazing any of us figure out this language.