Re: USAGE: Language revival

On Tue, 23 Nov 1999, Irina Rempt-Drijfhout wrote:

> Is that the Initial Teaching Alphabet? I have one book printed in it
> (that I can't find now, of course; it's called "How John caught the
> sea-horse" in ITA) and I can only read it aloud; it's so far from my
> mental picture of English words that it reads like phonetic
> transcription, which it is, of course.
>
> I find it hard to imagine that the transition is easier than learning
> to read "properly" from the beginning; in fact you have to learn that
> much of what you know already is wrong!
>
>    Irina
Irina points out something important, I think: Trying to learn to read
English phonetically is a little like trying to learn to read Chinese
phonetically -- our written symbols do not correspond accurately with our
spoken ones, and when one reads (especially when one reads quickly), one
recognizes words not as phonetic units but as symbols.  This is why it's
slightly annoying to see people spell "through" as "thru" -- we don't
"read" (Or sound out) t-h-r-o-u-g-h, but we have to "read" (sound out)
t-h-r-u.

I don't know.  I'm not making any sense.  I'm losing my mind.  Any
pschologists on the list?  I'd make a snazzy case study right now.  In
love with a straight man (again!) and probably failing out of grad school
to boot!  Give me a life.  Please, god, give me a life.