Our son Lam reads at a Grade 3 level. He's still learning the subtle nuances of the written language, but still, not bad for a 6-year-old. He loves reading to his friends and helping them read stuff.
He also loves to play Chaotic. He uses much of his Tooth Fairy money on the trading cards, which he registers so he can play online against people from all over the world. As long as he stays focused on the game and doesn't get distracted by one of his toys or bugged by his sister, he's damn good! I wonder if those folks realize they're getting their butts kicked by a 6-year-old...
Anyway, one of his favourite cards is call "Hymn of the Elements", which is a mugic or special ability/power.
When he first got the card, he read it as "Hymen of the Elements". Rather unfortunate, eh? We just patiently corrected him, and went on with life. The correction didn't stick, and he just kept calling it "Hymen of the Elements".
So, the other night, I overheard Roomie teaching him why he had to make more of an effort to say it right.
On a piece of paper, Roomie wrote the word "hymn" and beside it, "hymen"...
Roomie: "When you say 'hymen', this is the word your saying, not that word."
Lam: "Okay."
Roomie: "You see, just by adding a letter, you changed the meaning of the word. Do you know what that second word means? It means something that's in a woman's body."
Lam: "Oh." *still not sounding convinced that it matters*
Then under those two words he wrote another word...
Roomie: "Now, what does that word say?"
Lam: "Pens."
Roomie: "If you add just one letter to the word, right here, what does it say now?"
Lam: *after a fit of giggles* "Penis."
Roomie: "See, just one letter makes a difference. Now, will you remember?"
Chances are, he will.
Or he'll just remember that it takes just one letter to change "pens" into "penis"...