Perhaps Catherine Farrugia (TMID, 13 October) needs to be told that Maltese is a far more phonetic a language than English.

In Maltese you’ll know how to sound a letter of the alphabet. English, remember, has it’s k & c for the k sound, as in “kitchen, kettle, kitten, kilt, kind...”; and “cat, cull, cucumber, constant ...”; not to mention the silent k; the k sound in the digraph ch “chemist, chrome, Christian, Christmas ...”

The best advice to any parent is, “wide reading”, in both languages; both silent reading, and reading out loud. The visual (text) and the verbal (reading out loud) practice are proven methods to improve reading and spelling, as does regular “dictations” of short passages, vocabulary bingos, etc.

“Practice makes perfect.” And yes, I’m a practising (Special Education Head) teacher and a parent, so I’m quite in touch with children / students’ reading / spelling problems, and parents’ concerns.

Lucy Calleja

Sydney

Australia