Hellow everyone,
My 4 year old neice has alphabet pronounciation problem. for the letter 'K' she tells 'T'
for eg. Kabbadi comes out as Tabbadi

Kindly suggest suitable solution for this problem.

Regards,
Farida H B

If she is not having any physical problem ie. some issue with tongue then this problem is only because of people surrounding her. I had observed same in many families. Usually people talk to young children thinking that it looks cute but actually they are spoiling the child as it is the time when they learn to speak, they starts following elders.

So, only solution is that don't let elders to talk to her in that childish accent.. I don't know what to say that in english but in Hindi its called "Totlapan", people usually talk to child in that manner.

It will take some time but will be solved. But remember, if there is no one to reactify her and people continued talking in "totalli" accent then even when she will grow.. it will not change. I have seen such cases, even person 20 yr old or so can't get rid of those pronunciation problems those are actually mistakes of elders who continued to talk to them in improper language in their childhood.

Hi Ricky,

Good observation on your part,however we dont speak to her like that. It is weird as she does it for all 'k' letter words and not for chosen few. Thanks for your opinion though.

Regards,
Farida

Check out, may be someone is regularly talking to her in similar pattern. However, considering 4 year old, her vocabulary is limited to less than 1000 words so may get reactified on her own as she learns new words.

Hi Ricky,

We do hope so, anyways its not something that cant be sorted. As far as talking to her is concerned, now I'll have to adopt a new role of CID as well.

Regards,
Farida H B

Originally Posted by Ricky

If she is not having any physical problem ie. some issue with tongue then this problem is only because of people surrounding her. I had observed same in many families. Usually people talk to young children thinking that it looks cute but actually they are spoiling the child as it is the time when they learn to speak, they starts following elders.

So, only solution is that don't let elders to talk to her in that childish accent.. I don't know what to say that in english but in Hindi its called "Totlapan", people usually talk to child in that manner.

It will take some time but will be solved. But remember, if there is no one to reactify her and people continued talking in "totalli" accent then even when she will grow.. it will not change. I have seen such cases, even person 20 yr old or so can't get rid of those pronunciation problems those are actually mistakes of elders who continued to talk to them in improper language in their childhood.

you raised a interesting point Ricky!
People usually bring down their accents to immitate the child-talk



Farida...
maybe you can train her touge by repeatedly making her spell out those words, but slowly.

Break the words. Can she pronounce "K"?, The add 'BA" then 'DI"
Maker her practice. Then increase the speed until she speaks 'Kabbadi'

Try this with many words she has problem with!

This is not a new or different thing happen with your niece, take it normally because it is general with almost every children of her age wait for few years and if then you find the same then you consult it with doctor about the issue. Otherwise enjoy this way of talking.

Hellow people,

receiving good suggestions, I shall work them out and let you know the progress.

the alphabet breaking tip sounds good. We are not showing any anxiety as children are prone to pick up the moods of their parents. So any kind of emotion with regard to the pronounciation is avoided. Any ways if educated people won't understand, whats the point of being educated?

Some kids have trouble saying certain sounds or words. This can be frustrating because others may have trouble understanding what they're trying to say. The good news is that there's a special kind of therapist that can help kids get better at speaking.



When you have a cold or your stomach hurts, your mom or dad takes you to the doctor, right? If a kid has trouble saying certain sounds or trouble understanding others, he or she would see a speech-language pathologist


What Do Speech Therapists Help With?

Also called speech therapists, they help people of all ages with different speech and language disorders. Here are some of them:

articulation disorders: If a kid has trouble saying certain sounds or saying words correctly, it's called an articulation disorder. "Run" might come out as "won." Or "say" may sound like "thay." Lisps are considered articulation disorders.

fluency disorders: If a kid repeats certain sounds and has trouble saying the complete word, he or she may have fluency disorder. For example, a kid trying to say "story" might get stuck on the "st" and say "st-st-st-story." Or he or she might draw out certain sounds and say "ssssssstory." A stutter is a fluency disorder.


resonance or voice disorders: A kid might have a voice disorder if people have trouble understanding him or her. The kids might start a sentence loud and clear, but it's quiet and mumbling by the end. Sometimes these kids sound like they have a cold or like they're talking through their noses.
language disorders: A kid who has trouble understanding people or has trouble putting words together to express thoughts might have a language disorder.



Just meet the Speech Therapist for this problem.

Hi Jigs,
Thanks for your reply, Looks like u have done researching on this subject. Your information is very valuable. Thk u once again.
Regards,
Farida H B

no i have not done researching on this subject.My sister is a special educator.Thats why i know all this stuff.

Hi Jigs,

Thks for sharing all the same. What does a special educator do? describe her work