Cat.
What sound is
“c”?
What sound is
“a”?
What sound is
“t”?
Now put it together.
Ka-at. Cat.
That is how I taught
kids in Cambodia how to read. For 4 days a week, kids from the village of Takeo
(an hour from Phenom Penh) come to Joy Community Centre and take English
classes. Our team taught both conversational and beginner English. I fell in
love teaching my kids in the beginner class. They had learned the sounds that
each letter makes and I started putting them together and have them start
reading simple 3 letter words. Then four letter words. And I was even
adventurous and had them try to read some 5 letter words.
I remember the first
time they got it. Things clicked in their head. I was so excited I jumped and
shrieked “You guys are reading!”
I often write lists
of words on the board with the same ending. Like this:
-on
con
don
non
And I was about to
write son and I realized in my head it
doesn’t follow the pattern. Nor does ton. In that moment I realized how hard
the English language is to learn. So much of the pronunciation and spelling of
words don’t make sense. And I feel so blessed to have grown up learning English.
This is Sik Mei. She’s one of the girls I taught
to read. She comes to the house often and helps out with the laundry and such. She is currently sponsored by people in the US so that she can go to school, have school supplies, and clothes. She also comes to church on Sunday at the centre.
