A new way to learn to read English | Narda Pitkethly | TEDxSunValley

Narda Pitkethly created a system that profoundly simplifies learning how to read. Watch how her system reduces illiteracy and many of its negative consequences. Narda Pitkethly moved to Japan after college and discovered the Japanese had created a simple method of learning to read, called Hiragana. Through their method, Narda learned to read Japanese in a week. Within three months, her comprehension allowed her to communicate freely in her home city of Fukuoka.
In 1988 Narda moved from Japan to Sun Valley because the small community and year-round outdoor activities enticed her. An accomplished glassblower, she often travels to Boise to create works of art.

When her daughter was identified as a challenged reader in the first grade, Narda discovered that English is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn to read, even for native speakers. Narda analyzed the English alphabet to understand why it is so difficult (1 in 4 children grow up without learning to read). She organized the letters in the same way the Japanese organized their Hiragana characters. Narda reveals an approach to the English language you have never seen before.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

I'd like to tell you a story

about a boy named Sven.

He was in the fifth grade, autistic,

and he couldn't read a single word.

Not "it," "me," "the" - nothing.

His teachers told his family
that he may never learn to read.

With my simple reading program,
I taught Sven to read.

My story begins when my daughter
was in the first grade.

She was a challenged reader.

At that time, I didn't know
about challenged readers.

"Everyone can read, right?"

Wrong.

According to the U.S.
Department of Education,

last year, 19% of high school
students in America

graduated unable to read
above a third grade level,

which is considered
functionally illiterate.

That's nearly 1 in 5 students,

or half a million new graduates,

each year.

How can anyone graduate high school
not knowing how to read?

Teachers are doing everything they can
to help these kids,

but the traditional way
of teaching reading

does not work for many students.

According to the National
Assessment of Adult Literacy,

"In America, 85% of juvenile delinquents
and 70% of prison inmates

are functionally illiterate."

Illiteracy is the number one predictor
of future criminal activity.

There is a solution,
and this is how it came about.

In my 20's, I went to Japan
to teach English.

I needed to learn Japanese,
and I was told to learn to read first.

I discovered that the Japanese
have developed a system called hiragana,

which makes reading so easy,
I learned in a week.

I didn't know the meaning
of the characters at first.

The point is that I could sound out
and correctly pronounce Japanese.

Ten years later, when my daughter's
reading challenge opened my eyes,

I decided to take what I learned in Japan
and adapt it to English.

With the help of a reading specialist,
I wrote down all the sounds of English.

Then, I analyzed our alphabet.

I discovered that of our 26 letters,

12 make only one sound,

but these other 14 letters
make multiple sounds.

The "A" makes four sounds,
the "C" makes three.

The "O" makes eight different sounds!

I believe this is why English
is so difficult.

Let's take "C" as an example.

The three sounds of "C"

are in "cat,"

"face" and "ocean."

I was also surprised to discover

that these 17 letters
are sometimes silent,

meaning they do not make a sound

in many words.

Think for a moment
about these four examples:

there is no "B" sound in the word "doubt,"

no "G" sound in the word "sign,"

no "S" in "island,"

and no "W" in "who."

The program I developed
is called "nardagani."

I found a way to expose
all the sounds of the 14 letters.

Underneath the letters
is one of these symbols.

These symbols let the reader know
what sound to make.

They also guide students
in learning to sound out words.

I'm going to teach you
two of these symbols.

First, everyone's favorite symbol.

The square is your lips,
the line is your finger,

and the sound it makes is "shhhh."

The "shhhh" sound can be made
five different ways.

With one "S" in "sugar,"

two "S"s in "mission,"

and "S-H" in "sheep,"

a "T" in "vacation"

and a "C" in "social."

The triangle symbol lets the reader know
the "ooo" sound is needed.

The "ooo" sound can be made
four different ways,

with one "O" in "move,"

two "O"s in "school,"

an "E" in "flew" and a "U" in "super."

How about those silent letters?

They're underlined and easy to see.

Here is an example
of our symbols in action.

Notice the three different sounds of "U."

We hum a tune for you.

Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm,

distinguished professor
of English education

at Boise State University

and a nationally recognized
literacy expert,

conducted a small scale
teacher research study

with our program.

He concludes that it works

because it reduces
the cognitive overload

that is typically experienced
by those learning to read English.

We have conducted several pilot programs
in detention facilities,

which were highly successful.

Nardagani has been approved
by the Idaho State Department of Education

for use in Idaho schools.

Using nardagani, Sven, in 5th grade,

learned to read with our symbols
in eight one-hour lessons.

(Applause)

He was elated to be able to read books
coded with our symbols.

(Video) Sven: It was pretty hard,

but when I started to work with them,

it is now easy.

I'm going on safari.

(Laughter)

I see zebras graze on safari.

Wow!

I see animals all around me

on safari.

(Applause)

I did it!

Narda Pitkethly: You did do it!

(On stage) So Sven learned
to read our coded books

in eight one-hour lessons.

Several months later,

he no longer needed the symbols.

Last year, in high school,

Sven became a proud member
of the National Honor Society of America.

(Applause)

Sven says,

"I once thought reading was impossible;

now I know all things are possible."

Thank you.

(Applause)