The Alphabet

Our Alphabet consist of 26 symbols n our kids r introduced to this pretty early.  Few if any ppole ever give th ABCs a second thought once they leave th first grade.  They were given a tool n never wondered if it was sharp enough, if it required preventive maintenace, nothing.   They went about their lives happy n content.

But th current ABCs could use an update.  N we shouldnt stop thinking of ways to improve it just bcause we have a nice tune to go with it.  Hell we blieve in progress, we update computers, computer languages, cars, houses, books....so why not this?  Why not now?

Our alphabet shoud b in order of Frequency.  Now these come to me from my grand-daughter, so u might want to LOOK it up!  E, T, AisonhrdlucmfwypGVBKjqxz.  So if E is th most used letter n Z is th least used letter does it not make sense to teach th letters u will use most first.  In fact I submit to u that if ppole never learned th Z, it would make absolutely no difference in their lives.

Most successful ppole, educated, with degrees, r unable to compile a list of 10 words that bgin with Z.  If u ask them to tell u what starts with an x , they say xylophone.  Interestingly enough, th flash cards we used in grade school work...we still remember that xylophone....starts with an x.   However it is unlikely they will ever use th noun.  Why teach a word that a student will have no need for?   In most transactions this would b considered fraud, ppole would b up in arms, they would sue.  Well guess what....u have been shortchanged, your kids have been short changed n now perhaps u will pay more attention to what we teach them at such a critical point in their lives.   We need to change the curiculum.  

Now most of this will not matter to our smart kids.  They will b able to compensate.  But in those cases where th kid is not so smart, we compound th problem by labeling him dumb, he is not able to compensate n his self esteem will suffer always.  N all bcasue we insist on teaching them words they will never use.

Now th smart kids will eventually come to terms with this....but this causes unnecessary academic dlays.  Our information doubles every couple of years....dlays is something we should try to minimize. 

Now one of th things we need is standards.  So if we teach 80% of th alphabet, th student can b responsible for th other 20%.

Facts
80% of th English language consist of 1000 words.  I submit to u that this is the same in all languages, although I have not done th leg work.  These should b in order, in our dictionaries, n they should know these words in all their forms.  So all dictionaries in America should have these words right up front.

Th other 20% r covered by th second 1000 words. 

Most of th English language consist of th first 14 letters.   Wheel of fortune is a game that should b played by kids.  Let them spin th wheel.  Give them a trip to th next grade.

So what if we evaluate all those 1000 words n reduce them to as few letters as possible, abbriviate?  We can make th print bigger.  So th kids with th glasses may not have to sit in th front row, especially if th kid with th problem doesnt wear glasses.

If we dont make th words bigger, we get a smaller book.  This will translate into much savings.
Imagine if we drop th e in ex, th number of words bginning with e will increase, th x will go up in frequency.  All those words will b shorter by at least one letter.

This is th challenge for educators, teachers, students, parents, th dept of education, unions.