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The words that come out of your mouth can make you sound intelligent or very
illiterate. Even if you are a smart person if you sound dumb people will assume
you are. One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is to teach them to
speak properly. It takes effort on the part of the parent to improve your child’s
speech, but it is worth it.
The use of slang words while not always bad shows a lack of originality. It
shows your child is following the crowd instead of using correct grammar. I
remember in high school the popular word was "like." I can't even count how
many times I heard classmates saying, "It was like this," "Like, I can't believe
that," or "I wonder, like, what he was thinking." My dad hated the word "like"
and highly discouraged us from using it in our speech. Teach your child to not
use slang in daily speech, at least while at home. Every time they use slang
remind them not to. When they are older, trying to impress a girlfriend or boss,
they will thank you.
Profanity is just that – profane. It is offensive to many and at
the least shows a lack of vocabulary. The child, who continually
sprinkles profanity throughout their conversation, not just when
incredibly angry, needs to be taught to broaden their vocabulary.
Help them think of words that they can use in place of profanity.
Make it a contest to see who can use the most unique word in place of
a profane word.
Growing up I had a cousin just six months younger than I. We did
everything together. I was constantly saying "me and Tawnya" this and
"me and Tawnya" that. Every time my grandmother heard me say "me and Tawnya"
she would ask, "Mean Tawnya?" Of course Tawnya wasn't mean and I would
immediately correct myself by saying, "Tawnya and I." Now I am grateful for a
grandmother who insisted I learn proper grammar. Every time I hear someone else
say, "me and so and so" I automatically think "mean so and so." If it one of my
children I correct them. If it is someone else I think too bad they didn't have
a grandmother that taught them.
"Can I have something to eat?" is a phrase I hear often. I counter with, "I don't
know can you?" My son then responds, "May I have something to eat?" When someone says,
"Can I" they are not actually asking for permission they are asking if they are able
to do something. The proper way to ask for something is "May I." It will take
countless reminders before your child will get this right as a part of daily speech.
But it will be worth it, when you are visiting relatives and your child politely asks,
"May I have a cookie?"
Help your child learn to use proper verb tense. I am constantly
correcting my six-year-old when he says, "I done this" (I did this) or
"I wented there" (I went there). It is important that the correct form
of the verb is used. If you aren't sure look it up.
Read other article:
Helping Children Gain Academic Success
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