Just Wondering.... - Kenai,AK

Updated on April 23, 2013
A.N. asks from Anchorage, AK
20 answers

Hi everyone! I was just curious about something. My 4 year mispronounces words and I'm sure that it is nothing. For example he and his brother were singing and instead of saying "Pina colada" he would say "Pina Calader". A family member suggested to me that may be a speech issue? I don't think so. I just figure he will grow out of it. Am I wrong? He will be 5 in july and starting kindergarten this fall. Thank you :)

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So What Happened?

LOL thank you everyone! I didn't feel like it was a big deal. But you know when you constantly have someone in you ear about everything you start to wonder :)

Featured Answers

☼.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Maybe he really thinks that is what's being said.

Kind of like how I used to think Jimmy Hendrix' song said, "Excuse me, while I kiss this guy" ... lol

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Not really. Not a serious one. My daughter said "Venus fly trap" today. But she traded the V for more of a P/B sound....whoops.

If you are concerned, you can ask the school district or his pediatrician for an evaluation.

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O.O.

answers from Kansas City on

Enjoy it while you can!
I miss hearing about Oberham Lincoln. ;)

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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I really miss pasketti and hostabul (hospital). Right now he is using pacific for specific.

4 moms found this helpful
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J.S.

answers from Austin on

OMG - give the kid a break. I couldn't pronounce aluminum for years =)

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A.P.

answers from Washington DC on

Your family member sounds like some of mine.

A Buttinski.

3 moms found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Denver on

So normal- and adorable! I know it's hard when you have people on you about 'concerns'. So normal though. I miss reading our book about 'samalanders' (salamanders!).

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Oy. Let him be. He is fine!!!!

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K.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Just yesterday, one of my 4 year old sons was saying that he wanted to bring his 'tar for sharing day. I figured out what he meant and said, "Oh your guitar." and my sister, who was there, was trying to get him to say the "gui" part of guitar and makes the g sound with the 'tar part and tries to get him to copy her.

And he says, "My 'tar starts with a T."

:-)

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B.K.

answers from Chicago on

I have a long list of words my girls had trouble with. Ambleance (ambulance) pasketti (spaghetti) and onjuke (orange juice) are just a few. You have nothing to worry about.

2 moms found this helpful

F.W.

answers from Danville on

Siminon (cinnamon?) Is a word I still cannot get...LOL

And ALL my kiddos have said 'GO nanas' for BA nanas...

Give some time...and then see...

Just *my* opinion...

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M.M.

answers from Boston on

Sounds like he has a bit of a Boston accent :) ....do't worry about it-- sounds pretty normal

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M.W.

answers from San Francisco on

Sounds waaaaaay normal. Heck..as a teenager I heard alot of Madonna songs and Cyndi Lauper songs that I thought I heard right...now that we can google the lyrics to songs I am finding I was waaaaaay off.

You can contact your school district if you are really worried. They do speech evaluation and speech therapy for pre school aged children. I personally think this is totally normal. I would wait til he starts school. The teacher will be able to assess if she notices a problem..then he is in the system and will get help.

I thought our son had a speech issue. I casually brought it up at a parent teacher conference. I didn't pursue it after that. Then a month later I got a call from our district's speech therapist. She said she had just met with our son and ran some tests and there were no problems. But jokingly said that the loose tooth sure was causing havoc saying his s and sh and th sounds. We had a good laugh.

But seriously, it was nice to be "heard" by the teacher and she got our son the services needed. She did say that so many children appear to have a speech problem but really it is due to a growing and changing mouth...and muscle immaturity. By 3rd grade they should grow out of the "baby talk" while saying "r"s and such. It is in 3rd grade when they aggressively start talking speech problems. But there are speech problems/delays that are addressed earlier.

Soo, call your school district if your M. intuition is kicking in and you are seeing a bigger issue than what you mentioned here. But really, pina colada..and adding an r at the end is not a speech problem.

Good luck and best wishes!!

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V.B.

answers from Jacksonville on

Yeah.. my grandmother used to eat hamburglers, too. My husband's grandparents sent him into a store once to buy some "tymenol" (acetaminophen)....
I'm sure they had a speech issues...
No.... they just never learned any different, or no one bothered to correct them along the way.

Don't worry. Just be sure to correct things when you notice them (in a nice way, without being critical)... besides, how many of us mispronounce words from songs... not because we can't say them... but because we don't know what they are?! We think we know... but, wasn't there a question on here last year about lyrics that everyone had wrong? A Natalie Merchant song, maybe?? Can't remember now...

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M.B.

answers from Austin on

Daughter #2 said "Turch" for "Church" .... it was so cute, I didn't want to correct it! She eventually outgrew it....

I love hearing the different mispronunciations that kids make..... the words come out so funny sometimes!

There are also different sounds that kids traditionally have trouble with... when we had a speech evaluation for our then 4 year old, the speech therapist would comment that certain sounds she was struggling with they (the therapists) didn't usually worry about them until 1st grade, for example (I don't remember what they were, sorry... that was 20+ years ago!). There were a couple of sounds she said needed work, but since my daughter would willingly restate what she was trying to say, they felt she would outgrow the problems, and she did. (It becomes more of an issue if the child, when asked to repeat what they were saying, refuses..... then there are potential problems....)

(One of the students I work with called President Obama a "dummocrat" instead of democrat... we don't know if he was echoing family sentiment, or mispronouncing democrat.... so funny!)

Also.... one I forgot was my young niece calling me "Mamila" instead of "Malia"...... she was so cute!

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T.R.

answers from Orlando on

I agree with the majority, totally normal! My daughter is 5 and still does the same. Now that she is learning to read and write, she will write stories in her own words (phonically) and it's so darn cute because it's usually way off, but it's how she "hears" it. Example; we have a grocery store chain here called Publix, and today she wrote Puglix! Of course, this was her grocery list and there were cupkacs on it :)

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

Could be normal, but since he will be starting Kinder.. they will let you know if they feel there is a problem..

We have a neighbor who has a daughter that had what I felt was speech difference. I tried to kind of question.. The father knd of has what I call a thick tongue.

They felt she would grow out of it. At the end of kinder after being evaluated.. she started taking speech therapy.. Did this for about 2 and half years. She is now in college,. Doing great.

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M.R.

answers from Washington DC on

Totally normal. And I think it's also ok to be concerned. Mine still has trouble with "s", "ch", "th" and "f". She practices when she's in a good mood, but try to get her to play the word game when she's cranky and boy is she defiant and refuses to say anything at all. I'd say if a kindergarten teacher is concerned, then do something. If not, let him learn by practicing. Good luck. :)

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S.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

OK mine does the weirdest thing. She is only 3 so I am not concerned really though I did mention it to her pediatrician today. She can't pronounce S when it's combined with another consonant. Then she'll just tack it on at the end of the word. "Tops" instead of stop, "coose" instead of school.... My favorites "nose man" for snow man, and "noopsy" for snoopy.
Her ped thought it was funny but didn't seem to be concerned. He did remind me that you can always look into a speech eval through public school. I wouldn't bother though unless it was really inhibiting your ability to understand your kid :)

*and he doesn't even know what a pin a colada is, so how would even knowif he was getting it right or wrong!

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

I used to worry about that and correct my kids,. When my older ones wree 4, we were volunteering for cleanup at school. One of the teachers was going through things in her room and we were cleaning with her. My son's words were helicocker and compeller (propeller). She told me to cherish those little things because they grow so quickly. She was right. Before you know it, they grow up and mine will be in high school next year.
For one of my girls, she would not say the letters at the back of the throat: cat was tat, dog was dod. Turned out her large tonsils were blocking and she couldn;t say those letters. That is the only thing I am glad we fixed.

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