I learned to read by sight and my active and passive vocabularies are far broader than that of my children which were taught phonics
It is my observation that most sight readers naturally incorporate some phonics as their reading skill matures.. also we tend to break words into known parts, being able not just to READ the word but know its definition ...and in the end learning the meaning is more important than the pronunciation
I agree 100%. However, giving credit where credit is due, I admit that I’m the world champion at amassing a vocabulary of words, and pronouncing them incorrectly until I’ve heard them. I still remember my father laughing uproariously when I pronounced pedestrains Ped-uh-strains when I was around 7.
But would I trade reading at less than a third of the speed I currently read, and perhaps even have my comprehension suffer to more accurately pronounce words that I’ve read? Not no, but hell no. When I’m in doubt, I’m perfectly capable of reading a pronunciation key.