Accents

I was very excited to have Sydney learning from someone who came from a different culture. I thought it would be a great experience for her. I never really thought of the interesting accent problems we may face. It all started when her teacher started with letter sounds. Sydney knows all her letters, how to write them (even the correct direction most of the time) and what each sounds makes. So it didn't surprise me when Mrs. Munala told me that Sydney knew what the letter "i" said. She told me to ask her. I told her I would do that. We got in the car and I asked Sydney what the letter "i" says and she said, "e". I about died. She's known what the letter "i" says for some time now and all of a sudden she knows it wrong. So I quickly corrected her and said "No, it's "i" like igloo". She said, "I know" and started saying it like that again. The next time...the same thing happened. Mrs. Munala told me to ask her about the letter "i", I did, she said it wrong again. By this time I'd figured out that it must be the accent that made it sound different. The next week was the letter "u". Mrs. Munala told me Sydney knows that letter "u" now. I couldn't help but say that she should because she knows all her letter sounds. She seemed pretty surprised by that. I'm not sure if Sydney is quiet in class or if she pretends like she doesn't know her sounds to fit in with everyone else. I don't know. Anyway, I got out to the car and said "Sydney, what does the letter "u" say" half holding my breathe. She said" "u" as in up or umbrella...at least that's what my teachers says...what's it really say?" I laughed and said, "That's right...that's exactly what it says".

A couple of days later, Sydney came home with a new song...which she sang..."God a fala" I asked her if it was "God our Father". She told me "No...it's in a different language...Mrs. Munala's language.