Diphthongs

When I am not furthering my journalism career (and as a natural corollary, winning the Nobel Prize for Reporting. Yes, I know, there isn't actually a Nobel Prize for Reporting but it's only a matter of time), I busy myself with reading the likes of 'Nuclear Power, Systematic Risk and the Cost of Capital' (a rip roaring, roller coaster ride of a read), 'Acceptance of a Nuclear Power Plant: Applications of the Expectancy-Value Model' (grips the reader from the very first page and doesn't let go until the last) and, eh, 'Phonics from A to Z' (feckin consonant digraphs).

Myself and Sanae are trying to raise Cian as a Japanese-English bilingual. Or, to be more precise, we are trying to raise Cian to be both bilingual and biliterate. The former, being based on the oral-aural use of language, is essentially the innate, natural ability of children to acquire a spoken form of language, or in Cian's case, two languages. This, believe you me, isn't easy to do in an all Japanese language environment, but we are making some progress and there are grounds for future optimism.

(Which leads me to a somewhat churlish aside. Comments on Cian's English ability along the lines of 'His English is very good', or 'His English is nearly as good as our little Johnny's', whilst well intentioned, are not really fair. You are not comparing like with like. The valid response to a comparison with little Johnny's English is to ask how little Johnny's Japanese is.)

Biliteracy however, is a whole different story, or stories considering the small library's worth of 'teach your child to read' type books I have gathered. I am currently wading my way through 'Phonics from A to Z: A Practical Guide' which was written, I am convinced, with the implicit aim of highlighting my shortcomings as both a professional and private English teacher. On page 15 is a quiz designed to test the reader's instructional knowledge of phonetics. Among the questions are:

- A closed syllable is one that ....?

- An open syllable is one that...?

- List all the ways to spell long o.

- Underline the consonant digraphs: spherical church numb shrink thought

- How can you recognize an English word that came from Greek?

Could you answer any of them? Me neither. But I should. Or henceforth need to. Whereas little Johnny is going to encounter phonics in a the formal educational setting of school, Cian is going to have to have to learn it sometime between the Mickey Mouse Club House and dinner. And after a day at the local primary school, much of it spent learning the intricacies of Japanese orthography, not least of which is the fact that it contains three written scripts (to see what it entails, read this link here). And he's going to have me teaching him, which brings up a whole raft of issues concerning the parent-as-teacher dilemma.

So, bilingualism - perhaps; biliteracy - we can hope, pray and practice those diphthongs.