How do I explain regional differences in language?
What are good methods of explaining to my four-year-old son why "color" is not how he should spell "colour", even though it is spelt that way in many of the books he's reading? (Also "realize", "favorite", etc).
Similarly, although less importantly, that he should pronounce "z" as "zed" ("dance", "tomato", etc), but the characters on TV that say "zee" are right too.
He understands that there are multiple words for the same thing in other languages (e.g. counting in M?ori or Spanish), but US English is so close to English that it's confusing that there are these minor differences.
I'm not saying that US English is "wrong", but at school he will be expected to spell in NZ English, and there using US spelling will be "wrong" in that it will be corrected. When he is older, he'll be able to learn why regional variants of languages exist, but for someone just learning to read/spell, that's a bit complicated.
In maths, we first learn that the square root of 4 is 2, and that is the "correct" answer in school - once we understand more we learn that it's ±2. For now, what matters is knowing that if he is asked to spell "colour" that the answer that is expected has a "u"; learning how to write in US English can be done when he's older.
I'd like suggestions as to know how I can explain what's expected, while acknowledging that the variants are (for the author) correct, without overwhelming his four-year-old brain.
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I've encountered this problem often in Canada, due to the huge amount of media imported from the US.
With young children, I find it occurs most often with the alphabet song. They will be watching a show, and the characters start singing the alphabet song, almost invariably ending with "zee."
One approach I've had some success with is to feign astonishment, and pretend to my children that the characters on TV don't even know their alphabet! "What did they say? ZEE? Everyone knows that it's 'zed', not 'zee'! That's just silly!"
There will come a time when they learn that both are acceptable regional spellings/pronunciations, but for a young brain, I find it's easiest to just teach them that all the "wrong" spellings are "mistakes", until they're able to understand the regional differences.
You could do the same when you encounter a "wrong" spelling in a book. "Uh-oh! It looks like they spelled 'colour' wrong again! People really have a lot of trouble with that word!"
At my grammar school you were allowed to spell either way: US English or British English - you just had to choose one and stick with it.
You need to explain that there exists different written dialects of English much like there are different accents. A Scotsman speaking English sounds much different from a Cockney speaking English (if they actually do speak English, that is. I'm still not convinced.) But neither of them are pronouncing anything 'wrong' per se, just in their own dialect.
If he uses the US spelling, gently correct him with the comment, "Remember, we spell 'X' differently than they do. Their spelling isn't WRONG, it's just not how WE spell it here."
If he gets familiar with both forms of spelling, it's just a bonus IMO. That way there isn't any agonising over colors or neighbourhoods or how to check your cheque.
Before you read a book, put a pin on a world map for where the author is from and/or the setting of the story. Then explain to your child that different people from different places speak and write differently. Without distracting their reading too much, mention phrases/idioms, animals, spelling, architecture, etc. that is unique to that author or story setting. You may have to scan the book beforehand to be prepared.
If I were you, I'd do the following.
Find some great examples of some very funny English accents. You could take some from Australia, the American South, Africa, India, but the locations should be where they speak English natively.
Explain that people speak slightly differently in different locations, and they also write words somewhat differently, even if the word is pronounced the same way.
Perhaps you should start by changing your stance that one way is "right" and the other "wrong". Even if the schools operate by this expectation, it is difficult to explain to a 4-year-old (as you no doubt have witnessed, else you wouldn't be asking the question).
Instead, simply explain that the US spellings and pronunciations are considered "unusual" in your area, and that "people who live far away" sometimes do things a little different.
There's nothing wrong with an American who spells "color" as "colour". At worst, it might seem a trifle eccentric. It certainly isn't "wrong". Any teacher who would mark such a thing "wrong" is more concerned with teaching a lesson about following instructions rather than proper spelling, and you may or may not agree with teaching children that doing what is expected of them is more important than understanding why it is expected of them.
If you're having trouble explaining these concepts to a 4 year old, then you might simply have to wait until he's a bit older. In the meantime, you can just make an effort to expose him to more examples of the English variations, so that the US versions appear to be more of a minority. When he is actually in school, all of the examples presented will be the English variations, which should make it easier for him to decide which to use. If there is still any confusion, you can simply guide him to spell or pronounce it the way the teachers do.
I am still not clear from the conflicting comments if children in NZ are expected to be writing words like "colour" by the time they are 4, but it seems that they probably are not. You do have time for your son to develop a bit more, and in as little as a year it may be much easier for him to grasp the concept.
Children at the age of four are not and should not be generally expected to sit still or spell complicated words correctly and certainly not understand why spelling it "color" is wrong when Kermit spells it like that.
So it's a mistake to use the terms "right" and "wrong" in this case. In fact, it's a mistake in any case as one spelling isn't right or wrong. English spelling is just a mostly arbitrary selection between options, there aren't any spelling rules per se, just tradition, and tradition differs in different countries.
Hence, instead of explaining that "color" is wrong, you should explain that "color" is alright, but in NZ we usually have a u before the r, making it "colour". This will be an excellent opportunity for your kid to learn both that there may not always be a right and wrong answer. If "here in New Zealand" is too complicated, just say "color" is correct, but "colour" is even better. Personally I'd wait with that until he starts school, though.
With regards to the claims that NZ and UK schools do claim that there is a right and wrong spelling, this is hardly done with 4-years olds, and if it is, a word with the teacher to tone down the "you are doing it wrong!" with 4-year olds is probably appropriate. It's obviously different once they are a bit older, but telling a 4-year old they are doing it wrong when he/she is writing "I have a calico colored cat" is perhaps less pedagogical than could be desired.
When I was a child, I read books from the UK, and my mom just made a little arch over the "u" in "Mum" to make it "Mom." Sometimes little corrections like that may be necessary.
By the time I was 12, I read books my dad brought back from his trips to the UK, and loved learning a different way of spelling. To this day, however, I spell some things "wrong" for the US, and don't realize it until spellcheck corrects me.
At the same time, the internet has no borders and many jobs nowadays require knowledge of, and sensitivity to, other countries' means of spelling. It's a fine line to walk, and 4 years old is definitely an age to "keep it simple, stupid." I'd try to avoid conflicting English for now (even if you have to edit your child's books), and whenever you can't avoid it, try to turn it into a very short, very simple geography or history lesson. Bear in mind that sometimes adults overly complicate things; a simple "people spell things differently in other countries, but we should get used to the way we do it here first" might suffice.
You can always expand this into teaching more about the grey (or gray) areas of life later.
I would have thought simplest would be to say it is wrong in NZ English or British English. Treat it as a different language that has most words the same as proper English (by proper I mean for your region) - as I would certainly hope the school would mark answers as incorrect if they use spelling from a different language.
It is American English, and thus wrong for you.
As an Englishman living in the US, this is a never ending topic of interest, intrigue and amusement for my 2 young daughters.
Conceptually, there are quite a few different angles that one can take this from (probably depending on age) that can make pretty interesting explanations & discussions.
Historical - it's pretty fun to explain how over the last several hundred years people have moved around the world, and in this case how the expansion (and subsequent contraction) of the British Empire has led to dispersement of the language.
Evolutionary - Given the dispersement, explain how things can diverge over time (spelling, pronunciation and so forth). This is a nice way to explain the beauty of language and how it can be different and yet but the same. Also a nice lead in to other evolutionary concepts.
Differences - How any differences across cultures, geographies, countries etc. present these interesting and fun situations.
You can use it as an introduction to World Cultures, English while spoken in places like America, Britain, Australia and in Canada all have different spellings and pronunciations. Even in a individual countries you get regional dialects that make words sound different, that might even be a starting point.
Wrong and right may not be the best way to phrase it, but maybe expectations are. In the book your son is reading, because its from a different place, has spellings that are different but your son will still be expected to spell the words in the way he is taught.
Language is a wonderful and changing thing, although lots of these complexities might be too much for a 4 year old but it doesn't hurt to lay the groundwork for the future.
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