Spanish has standardized pronunciation, English doesn’t.
Phonics complimented by sight words is the way to go.
One can learn to read French or Spanish quite well in a year.
Phonics complimented by sight words, eh?
“Hey, phonics, you’re looking good. And I love your shoes!”
“Why, thanks, sight words. That’s very kind.”
Phonics with context. It worked since people learned to write.
Spanish has standardized pronunciation, English doesn’t.
Phonics complimented by sight words is the way to go.
And if you’ve ever seen toddlers or preschoolers crack the code of written English language, as two of my own kids did (and I did), they do it by memorizing the shapes of the words and associating that form with the thing it represents.
An example I remember clearly: my toddler was in my arms to choose an ice cream flavor. I showed him the word chocolate written under the tub of chocolate ice cream, and told him, “That says chocolate.” Later he saw the word somewhere else, and said “chocolate!” Often the little one will be read a short picture book and memorize which words the parent says on each page. He might look at them and say a version of the remembered phrase. After a while he will notice the patterns and be able to read the book, not just recite from memory but looking at the words, will get them right. And then be able to read a similar book, with help with any new words.
It is crazy on a scientific level to discount that pure learning. All three of my older kids are great readers and students: the two that cracked the code and the one who learned to read in kindergarten with little phonics books.
Teaching words with irregular spelling is quite different from teaching “sight words”, which retards chidren’s ability to learn and progress in reading.
That is my experience, too. I taught special ed kids two of my three years as a teacher. My last year, I was the only special ed teacher in the smallish school. One kid, 4th grader, introduced himself to me by saying, "Hi, I'm MR and I can't read." I explained to him that having mental retardation might make it harder to learn, but it did not mean he could not read. I told him about the janitor at a school I'd worked at while I was taking the prep classes I needed a few years before. He had graduated the Trainable MR program at that high school about 20 year before. On his breaks, he spent his time reading L.Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth.
Time came for the kid's IEP meeting, and I told him that by the end of the year, he would be reading on the first grade level, or one of us was going to die. And that it wouldn't be me. His mom is sitting there nodding her head!!! I had tested him, and there were two of the Dolch List words that he did recognize. I and a.
I got to spend two hours with him each day, and we worked on the Dolch list. We also worked on phonics. Dolch list words are the very common ones, including I and a. Memorizing them, AND sounding them out, and finding fractions of longer words on the Dolch List, and in other common words. While I was working with him, I had other students who were learning English as a second language, Spanish in particular. Talked to their parents, as well. Told them to encourage their kids to read in English and Spanish. They have many commonalities. Sounds of the letters are not always the same, but they're often at least similar, and any reading practice is good practice. Making connections between things they know and do helps to make the words mean more to them. You work it into everything you do with them, and have them do it constantly. I told them to read it out loud, as that adds one more way of processing. They've been hearing the words pronounced all their lives, and know what they sound like when others us them, too. It all helps. That, and never give up. Tested the kid again, at the end of the year, and he knew the basic 300 word Dolch list, and could read simple stories. Low first grade, but 1st grade. Last thing he said to me was: "See, I told you I could read!"