language: reading

I used to believe…

When I was 6 or so, I'd both heard the word 'ceramic', referring to figurines, for instance, and I'd read it in books. But somehow I never made the connection that they were the same thing, and I thought the written word was pronounced 'creamic'.

I used to believe…

my friend from grammer school thought that to kill a mocking bird was actually about killing a mockingbird, sadly enough i didnt really know what the book was about either, and we were in the eight grade!!!!

I used to believe…

This is for my oldest sister. Our family went out to eat to an Italian restaurant and, while reading the menu, she asked my mother what "Lensquata" was. It turns out it was Lasagna, she misinterpreted the cursive writing. It was pretty sad since she wasn't a child when she said that.

I used to believe…

When my mom and I drove to a local Wal-Mart she said if I went in with her I would get a free lolly-pop. She had to make a deposit to the bank in there and they usually gave littler kids lolly-pops. I was in fact a little kind and I was just learning to read. On the outside ity said "Low Prices." For the longest time I thought it said lolly-pops, but they didn't know how to spell. I never did get my lolly in the end.

I used to believe…

Whenever I saw those signs that said "In case of fire, use stairs", I thought it was telling me to use the stairs just in case a fire randomly broke out. I thought it was a stupid sign. I later realized it was telling me to use the stairs if there was a fire.

I used to believe…

Before I could read, but with some letter recognition, I mistakenly believed the crosswalk in front of the church said "Presbyterian Crossing". One morning I asked my Dad where the Baptists and Catholics crossed the street.

I used to believe…

When I was very young, I was convinced that the pictures of people on book and magazine covers could see me as well as I could see them. All books had to be face down at night, or when I was getting dressed so they couldn't see me.

I was reading a book when I was about 10 and it was about Greek Myths. There was a character in it called Persephone,And I thought it was pronounced Purse-e-phone. I thought it was really funny

I used to believe…

My 4 year old sister was learning to read when I explained to her the sound of the "a" in the word "about" was pronounced with the "schwa." She looked at me funny. I said, "Sound it out." She read very slowly, "Schwaaaabout."

I used to believe that the word: 'several" meant "seven". I only realised the error when I was 17yrs old. Now just imagine how many tests I messed up, purely because of 1 word.

I used to believe…

When I was about two years old, I would always ask my mom to read me this particular book. I thought it had great stories in it and for a really long time, it was my favorite book.

Come to find out, it was a picture book. No words at all. I guess it's a testament to my mom's great storytelling abilities, but it still makes me feel like I was lied to.

I used to believe…

In elementary school, I was smart and skipped a grade in reading, spelling and grammar classes. I read all the time. My favorite books were the Ramona Quimby series.

Despite my intelligence, I read the entire series (probably 10+ books) thinking that Ramona's sister's name was pronounced "Beat Rice."

My mother finally punctured this delusion during a discussion of a book in the sixth grade. Beatrice... Beatrice... OH...Now I see.

I must have read a lot of mysteries as a child, because I remember thinking that the word "indict" was pronounced "in-dikt." At the same time, I heard the correct pronounciation, "in-dite," on Perry Mason or other such TV shows. Although I understood them both to mean the same thing, it wasn't until years later that something clicked in my head and I realized they were exactly the same word.

I used to believe…

My kindergarden teacher used to read to us, and someone asked, "Why can't we read by ourselves?" I wondered the same thing. She said that we wouldn't be able to do that until we were older because we couldn't 'hear the words in our head'. I thought that you'd have to read outloud for a long time, like 5 years!

I used to believe…

when i 1st was learning to read i remember there was a store near our house with huge letters reading CARPET. (it being a carpet store) i always thought 'what a horrible place! all those animals having to live in cars all their lives.' poor poor CAR PETS. lol

I used to believe…

When I was about 6, our reading book at school had the story "Penelope Gets a New Bike." I thought it was pronounced "Pin-uh-lope", so when the teacher called on me to read, I said, "Pin-a-lope went to the park..." My teacher said, "That's pin-el-o-pe." Nobody laughed or anything, but I was still very embarassed.

I used to believe that the word sickle was short for popsicle. "He cut the grass with a sickle," would mean a guy cut some grass eating a popsicle - like on a hot day perhaps? Made sense to me at the time.