Do you constantly correct pronunciation or let your LO go?

[foodymama]

DD is 20mo. and she has a pretty big vocabulary already. Just like most children though she lets some letters out of words and uses the wrong sounds. Sometimes I feel like I should be correcting her and other times I feel that if I keep saying it the right way she will eventually catch on.

For example, the word snack. DD will pronounce it nak. When she asks for a nak, I repeat it back to her and say, Oh you would like a snack and she usually smiles and shakes her head. Or sometimes I do say to her, can you say, ssssnack? And she just usually looks at me but doesn't try to say it and I let it go and get her a snack. But should I be doing this at her age or not? Will modeling the correct pronunciation be enough for now?

[prothyraia]

Just continue to model the correct way without pointing out that she's saying it "wrong".

"I want a nak!"
"Hmm....let's see what kind of snack I can find"

Etc.

[Mom to E and A]

modeling is good enough if she doesn't have a speech problem where she should be practicing a sound. You do exactly what I do...model and once in a while try to get her (him for me) to say it, but not press the issue...
It was quite a while ago that I took a class on just this thing, but you would be surprised how "old" kids are when they should be saying certain letter sounds correctly

check out these quick links:

http://www.nona-cdc.com/SPEECH%20SOU...NT%20CHART.pdf

http://207.63.222.250/speech/page2.html

[NiteNicole]

My daughter has always had a big vocabulary but there were some words she got wrong. I never repeated them back to her wrong, but I didn't correct her either. I'll be honest - they're only little for a while and then they grow up and don't say those things anymore and you'll miss them.

Now my daughter is four and doesn't say any of her cute little mispronunciations anymore and I DO miss them. I never corrected her, she just figured it out. I think that's usually the case.

[limabean]

Modeling is plenty, IMO. And I don't even model in a pointed way, like I wouldn't say, "Oh, you want a sssssnack?" I'd just casually say, "Oh, a snack would be nice -- would you like an apple or some crackers?" She'll get it eventually.

[nameisrio]

Just model, don't really correct. And don't make fun of them. My stepdad will repeat words they way my daughter says them - "You want a Yittle piece of candy?" and it frustrates her. Last night I was showing her what my tongue does when I say the L sound, and she tried but couldn't really get it yet. I'm not going to push it. If she needs speech therapy later, we can get it - no big deal.

[blizzard_babe]

Yeah, I just recast the correct pronunciation back as a clairifying question.

Except yesterday. I found myself saying, "pinano" instead of "piano."

[sapphire_chan]

Really modeling isn't about correction, it's about giving her more chances to hear the word.

[prothyraia]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

Except yesterday. I found myself saying, "pinano" instead of "piano."

We actually hung on to a few of the mispronounciations as nicknames amongst ourselves.
Because "PaNaNa" is vastly superior to "peanut butter"

[GracieLynn]

I let it go for now. I think the few words that are messed up, are cute. Plus they are not super messed up. Often I get corrected *lol*.

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by prothyraia

We actually hung on to a few of the mispronounciations as nicknames amongst ourselves.
Because "PaNaNa" is vastly superior to "peanut butter"

Yes, and "mo-mo" is vastly superior to "any push toy that remotely resembles the toy lawnmower that grandma and grandpa have at their house."

My family (as in my parents and sisters and I) still refer to ice cube as "I-oos," and the sisiter who coined that toddler phrase is now... um... 22 years old?

[butterfly_mommy]

Yes I still call McDonalds "Bigdonalds" macaroni and cheese "mac a mac a cheese" and balloons "bubbaloons" All mispronunced words from when my niece was 2 (she is 13 now)

I never correct DS just model the word as others have said.

[Past_VNE]

Modeling, for sure. I have watched DS magically start saying things correctly as his mouth/brain matured. All the correction in the world doesn't help, unless they are confused on something.

Some of DS's current problems are "Sp" sounds like "sf". Most of the others have cleared up. Some th's still get him, so bath sounds like batch.

A few of these issues have gone away each year since he started talking around 2.

[minmoto2]

Originally Posted by NiteNicole

My daughter has always had a big vocabulary but there were some words she got wrong. I never repeated them back to her wrong, but I didn't correct her either. I'll be honest - they're only little for a while and then they grow up and don't say those things anymore and you'll miss them.

Now my daughter is four and doesn't say any of her cute little mispronunciations anymore and I DO miss them. I never corrected her, she just figured it out. I think that's usually the case.

This. With dd1 I always felt the need to correct her/or model pointedly. Fastforward to dd2, much more relaxed mama, didn't mimic her, would model casually for her..she still outgrew it on her own...and I got to enjoy her babyspeak

[sapphire_chan]

Oh, and remember that a lot of saying stuff correctly is physical development with age. Some sounds can take up to age 8 for some kids because of how the palate develops. They'll actually know the sound far earlier but just can't say it.

Speaking of knowing the sound, I read a funny thing about a kid talking about a "fis'" and then mom said "fis'" too and the kid got mad because he wasn't talking about a "fis'" he was talking about a "fish" and thought his mom was getting the wrong word.

[Tjej]

Yeah, I'm in the "don't correct" camp as well. I just repeat back (but the true word). Occassionally I will truly correct a pronounciation, but that is when I know my DD is capable of hearing and understanding it, but has heard it wrong in the past and has it mixed up (and it makes it hard for people to know what she is saying/they give her a hard time about the particular word). I don't harp on it then, but I just tell her that the word is actually "x" and say it more slowly/clearly than usual, and let it go. She is almost 4 and still calls the airport the "ore-port" and I find it utterly adorable. But most of her speech is very clear.

Tjej

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Tjej

....but that is when I know my DD is capable of hearing and understanding it, but has heard it wrong in the past and has it mixed up ...

I was like 12 before I said "doubt" instead of "du-bout"

[leanbh]

Originally Posted by prothyraia

We actually hung on to a few of the mispronounciations as nicknames amongst ourselves.
Because "PaNaNa" is vastly superior to "peanut butter"

yup! we still give "nuggles" instead of snuggles. dd will run up and hug me, and say, "i'm mama's nuggler!"

we're at the stage where we are trying to get her to pronounce things correctly, but i never ever ever make fun of her or tell her she's wrong. i only work on it with her when she's willing. things like dress and leg we talk about while we're getting ready for the day. she seems to get the most out of watching my mouth slowly make the correct sounds. and if she's not into that day, whatever, we move on with our world. it's not a huge deal.

we know that she can make 90% of the sounds, but she'll make them at the ends of words and not the beginning. for example, she'll say fish properly but will call a sheep a "beep". but honestly, i wouldn't have even worried about working on it a few months ago. she's just now shown interest in it at two and a half.

go with the flow, imho, and enjoy the cute words that come out.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by leanbh

we know that she can make 90% of the sounds, but she'll make them at the ends of words and not the beginning....

Which is common, position in the word makes a difference.

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/Table3.htm interesting table for anyone curious about problems with their kid's pronunciations.

(for instance, you'll notice that saying "dop" for "shop" which would be equivalent to "beep" for "sheep" might not go away until over four years old.)

[foodymama]

Thank you everyone! My thoughts on pronunciation are pretty much in line with what everyone was saying but I had a little bit of doubt nagging at me that maybe I should be doing things differently. I'm glad I posted and had that doubt wiped away.

In fact, blizzard_babe reminded me of my little brother.

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

My family (as in my parents and sisters and I) still refer to ice cube as "I-oos," and the sisiter who coined that toddler phrase is now... um... 22 years old?

My little brother used to say musums for possums. We lived in the country and they would cross in front of the car all the time at night. And we still call them musums and my brother is 22 as well!