Job Discussion Forums

[blueboy]

Okay so in KK, the short "i" sound is written with a smaller version of the capital "I", right? And the long "e" sound is written with a lower case "i".
So why in the world, in words like candy, baby, and trophy, where the "y" carries the long "e" sound is it transcribed with the smaller "I", when it sould be "i"?
Also, in almost every class I come across, the kids pronounce the short "i" exactly the same as the long "e" and some teachers even teach this way. So instead of did it's deed instead of sister, it's seester. When I had my initial training, the head guy in the chain school heirarchy observed us, and he actually corrected me and told me to teach the sounds this way.
Maybe my point isn't coming across so well on this forum, too bad I don't have a phonetic transcription program on my computer

[Xenophobe]

I only taught natural phonics the way I was taught in school. Many Taiwanese are shocked to find out that the vast majority of Westerners never use(d) or learned the KK phonics system. It is based on the IPL system, which isn't used in the schools of English speaking nations. Its use of letters as symbols for different sounds often confuses the hell out of people, both Taiwanese and English speaking.

[blueboy]

Do you have the same problem with the kids pronouncing hte short i as a long e? Someone at the forumosa board had this to say about the KK anomoly:

I'm so happI you mentioned this! This is one of my peeves as well. I did a lot of asking on this one and found out that this is a "rule" everyone here gets taught in school. I think the rule traces back to a single dictionary that is or was commonly used here in the school system. This dictionary was clearly written by someone who wasn't a native speaker, because the "rule" is dead wrong. But such is the power of rules here, that I could never ever persuade my editors to write the pronunciation correctly in the learning materials we created. They agreed that I was right, but didn't want to challenge a "rule" that all Taiwanese believe in.

I think this original faulty dictionary was used as a template for all other locally-produced English dictionaries, because the mistake exists in all of the dictionaries you can find in Taiwan that use KK.

Furthermore, since few dictionaries outside Taiwan use KK at all, preferring more sensible pronunciation systems, it is hard to find a correctly written KK pronunciation for 'happy.' In the absence of such "evidence," few locals will admit you are right when you tell them it should be /hapi/ not /hapI/. They will not allow your non-KK evidence (or common sense) to defeat their belief.

I suspect Taiwan chose to worship KK because it is the most-powerful phonetic transcription scheme in the world and can be used on any language. Of course, using it for English alone is like using a chainsaw to cut down a sapling. The student is confused its unnecessary precision. Precision must be good right? Not when you're trying to speak in an unfamiliar language!

[Taylor]

Dear Readers,

Blueboy wrote: So why in the world, in words like candy, baby, and trophy, where the "y" carries the long "e" sound is it transcribed with the smaller "I", when it sould be "i"?

The /I/ sound at the ends of such words is based on British pronunciation, as I understand. (If not London, then perhaps Australia or New Zealand.)

Sincerely,

Taylor

[Xenophobe]

To our North American ears, Australians, New Zealanders and the English pronounce a short i sound more like a long e. For example I say fish with an ĭ sound but, to my ear I hear fish pronounced with an ē sound by most of the other english speakers, making it sound like feesh.

Now if the KK system is based on British or Australian pronunciation, that would be understandable. However, using natural phonics you can make better independent readers. When the student comes to a new word they can usually sound it out by themself without having to use their KK rosetta stone.