A teacher who pronounces library as "liberry"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP this is a true story.

I can still remember in vivid detail when I was in early ES and my dad made fun of one of my teachers because she called a wreath a “reef.” He also made comments about her education and intelligence.

I didn’t have the framework to understand the racism and classism involved, but I knew my dad was looking down on a person I loved and respected in a way that didn’t seem fair.

I still remember this and I’m 40. It honestly still makes me think less of my dad. I love him and forgive him all his flaws, but this episode sticks in my mind. And I am perfectly capable of pronouncing “wreath” correctly.

So maybe there are more important things to think about here than the pronunciation of “library.”

Thanks for sharing that story -- it resonates with me, especially what you wrote about understanding that your dad was looking down on your teacher even though you didn't have the vocabulary to explain why. Kids pick up on these cues...

As another poster said, we need to treat each other with a little grace. And yes, there are more important things to think about than a mispronounced word, whether it's liberry, reef, or nucular.

We just keep lowering and lowering the bar. Yes, the person teaching your kid should be able to pronounce wreath correctly, assuming they don’t have a speech issue. Especially if they’re teaching elementary school children who are learning speaking (sounding out words), pronunciation, etc.

Your dad was not tactful, but he was also not incorrect in his observation. Plenty, if not most, of Black people pronounce their words correctly, btw.

Jesus.

I must be perfect every single day in front of my class if I don’t want to be deemed “uneducated”.

Noted.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure you never say "sherbert" or "Feb-uary." If so, you're just an uneducated hick. We've said "expresso" enough that it's becoming acceptable.

I'm starting a coalition for people against liberrian discrimination, not to be confused with Liberian.

Seriously, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ever thought that when slaves were brought here, their mouths were adapted to a whole other language with making sounds Europeans could not make? And with language, culture, family ties, ancestors stolen, perhaps old linguistic patters did not fully adapt? That's what I think.

No one said this teacher was black. Stop assuming. This has nothing to do with dialect. This absolutely has to stop- it's dragging this thread on and on to a place it was never intended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Liberry drives me nuts, too, but I wk der how many of these same complainers pronounce the first R in February or say mis-chee-vee-ous or use flinder when they mean founder.

Ain't nobody perfect.

No they aren't. But if you teach 4th grade, you need to correct yourself because that is not the word. When we know better, we do better. That is all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ever thought that when slaves were brought here, their mouths were adapted to a whole other language with making sounds Europeans could not make? And with language, culture, family ties, ancestors stolen, perhaps old linguistic patters did not fully adapt? That's what I think.

No one said this teacher was black. Stop assuming. This has nothing to do with dialect. This absolutely has to stop- it's dragging this thread on and on to a place it was never intended.

Black people say lie berry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regional dialects are one of the beautiful things about our vast nation. I’ve loved living all over and traveling to places where I could enjoy the local way of speaking one of our primary shared languages. There are many words that are commonly mispronounced despite the speaker knowing the proper spelling and pronunciation. It’s a kind of colloquialism.

If the teacher spelled it ‘liberry,’ then I might be concerned. Being concerned about a widespread misusage that is colloquially used in most of the country is very anal retentive.

And understanding this is so important!

I had a coworker who called a buffet a buff-it. I wanted to correct her each time but I was a new, junior employee and she was a senior employee. I had worked there for maybe 6-8 months when we had a client meeting. The head of their team turned out to be someone who was raised in the southern town next to my coworker. He also pronounced buffet as buff-it.

I was telling my mom about this and she reminded me that we had relatives in WV who live in Hurricane, WV. That is not pronounced like the word hurricane at all. They all pronounce it hur-a-kin.

Same with Houston St. in NYC. It would be Hew-ston like Houston, TX to most of the population outside of NYC. Only those living there or who had visited before know it's pronounced How-ston.

A different pronunciation doesn't mean a lower IQ. -Something my mom reminded me that I have passed along to my kids.

Nope, these people aren't teachers, though. Secondly, truncated mispronunciations are not the same thing. Lieberry is something kids say, as it is hard to manipulate the r in there- same with February. There are so many words like that- sketti for spaghetti, hostable for hospital. These are not dialects, ethnic coding, or anything. These is immature language development because no one stopped them as they were growing up.
If you are a teacher, get it together! You will make slip ups with a lot of things, but yes you can do this. For instance, you may also want to say what is really on your mind when your class is out of control, or you have to sit through a day's worth of mind-numbing PD, or some parent cusses you out- but you cannot. So, you don't. You reframe what you WANT to say with something professional.

This is the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ever thought that when slaves were brought here, their mouths were adapted to a whole other language with making sounds Europeans could not make? And with language, culture, family ties, ancestors stolen, perhaps old linguistic patters did not fully adapt? That's what I think.

No one said this teacher was black. Stop assuming. This has nothing to do with dialect. This absolutely has to stop- it's dragging this thread on and on to a place it was never intended.

Black people say lie berry.

All of them? Really? Racist much, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ever thought that when slaves were brought here, their mouths were adapted to a whole other language with making sounds Europeans could not make? And with language, culture, family ties, ancestors stolen, perhaps old linguistic patters did not fully adapt? That's what I think.

No one said this teacher was black. Stop assuming. This has nothing to do with dialect. This absolutely has to stop- it's dragging this thread on and on to a place it was never intended.

Black people say lie berry.

All of them? Really? Racist much, huh?

So many people of all races say lie berry. Including many white people. Why are the racist picking on black people for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just make sure you never say "sherbert" or "Feb-uary." If so, you're just an uneducated hick. We've said "expresso" enough that it's becoming acceptable.

I'm starting a coalition for people against liberrian discrimination, not to be confused with Liberian.

Seriously, people.

It's a class thing, as so many posts here make clear. I'm "educated," you're not. It's been disheartening to see this discussion unfold over something as innocuous as going to the liberry instead of the library. Does this pronunciation, which may not be standard, cause problems with clarity? Is it a way to draw a line between "us" and those "lesser than?"

I'm going to have some sherbert now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP this is a true story.

I can still remember in vivid detail when I was in early ES and my dad made fun of one of my teachers because she called a wreath a “reef.” He also made comments about her education and intelligence.

I didn’t have the framework to understand the racism and classism involved, but I knew my dad was looking down on a person I loved and respected in a way that didn’t seem fair.

I still remember this and I’m 40. It honestly still makes me think less of my dad. I love him and forgive him all his flaws, but this episode sticks in my mind. And I am perfectly capable of pronouncing “wreath” correctly.

So maybe there are more important things to think about here than the pronunciation of “library.”

Thanks for sharing that story -- it resonates with me, especially what you wrote about understanding that your dad was looking down on your teacher even though you didn't have the vocabulary to explain why. Kids pick up on these cues...

As another poster said, we need to treat each other with a little grace. And yes, there are more important things to think about than a mispronounced word, whether it's liberry, reef, or nucular.

We just keep lowering and lowering the bar. Yes, the person teaching your kid should be able to pronounce wreath correctly, assuming they don’t have a speech issue. Especially if they’re teaching elementary school children who are learning speaking (sounding out words), pronunciation, etc.

Your dad was not tactful, but he was also not incorrect in his observation. Plenty, if not most, of Black people pronounce their words correctly, btw.

Jesus.

You lost me at "Jesus." Make your argument without insulting your audience.

[Anonymous]

It’s FCPS, all teachers are stupid there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP this is a true story.

I can still remember in vivid detail when I was in early ES and my dad made fun of one of my teachers because she called a wreath a “reef.” He also made comments about her education and intelligence.

I didn’t have the framework to understand the racism and classism involved, but I knew my dad was looking down on a person I loved and respected in a way that didn’t seem fair.

I still remember this and I’m 40. It honestly still makes me think less of my dad. I love him and forgive him all his flaws, but this episode sticks in my mind. And I am perfectly capable of pronouncing “wreath” correctly.

So maybe there are more important things to think about here than the pronunciation of “library.”

Thanks for sharing that story -- it resonates with me, especially what you wrote about understanding that your dad was looking down on your teacher even though you didn't have the vocabulary to explain why. Kids pick up on these cues...

As another poster said, we need to treat each other with a little grace. And yes, there are more important things to think about than a mispronounced word, whether it's liberry, reef, or nucular.

We just keep lowering and lowering the bar. Yes, the person teaching your kid should be able to pronounce wreath correctly, assuming they don’t have a speech issue. Especially if they’re teaching elementary school children who are learning speaking (sounding out words), pronunciation, etc.

Your dad was not tactful, but he was also not incorrect in his observation. Plenty, if not most, of Black people pronounce their words correctly, btw.

Jesus.

I must be perfect every single day in front of my class if I don’t want to be deemed “uneducated”.

Noted.

Sincerely asking, is it truly that difficult for you not to say it? Some in this thread have posited that if the teacher mispronounces it, that it's no big deal as the parents can correct the child at home, but this is suggesting that once it's ingrained, it's impossible to fix (something that most people consider trivial to pronounce, is something you consider "being perfect" suggesting it takes inordinate focus).

[Anonymous]

Shouldn’t we just be glad that people are reading books??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP this is a true story.

I can still remember in vivid detail when I was in early ES and my dad made fun of one of my teachers because she called a wreath a “reef.” He also made comments about her education and intelligence.

I didn’t have the framework to understand the racism and classism involved, but I knew my dad was looking down on a person I loved and respected in a way that didn’t seem fair.

I still remember this and I’m 40. It honestly still makes me think less of my dad. I love him and forgive him all his flaws, but this episode sticks in my mind. And I am perfectly capable of pronouncing “wreath” correctly.

So maybe there are more important things to think about here than the pronunciation of “library.”

Thanks for sharing that story -- it resonates with me, especially what you wrote about understanding that your dad was looking down on your teacher even though you didn't have the vocabulary to explain why. Kids pick up on these cues...

As another poster said, we need to treat each other with a little grace. And yes, there are more important things to think about than a mispronounced word, whether it's liberry, reef, or nucular.

We just keep lowering and lowering the bar. Yes, the person teaching your kid should be able to pronounce wreath correctly, assuming they don’t have a speech issue. Especially if they’re teaching elementary school children who are learning speaking (sounding out words), pronunciation, etc.

Your dad was not tactful, but he was also not incorrect in his observation. Plenty, if not most, of Black people pronounce their words correctly, btw.

Jesus.

I must be perfect every single day in front of my class if I don’t want to be deemed “uneducated”.

Noted.

Sincerely asking, is it truly that difficult for you not to say it? Some in this thread have posited that if the teacher mispronounces it, that it's no big deal as the parents can correct the child at home, but this is suggesting that once it's ingrained, it's impossible to fix (something that most people consider trivial to pronounce, is something you consider "being perfect" suggesting it takes inordinate focus).

I’m not remotely worried about “lie-berry.” I’m appalled by the several posters on this thread mocking their teachers for ONE mistake during the course of a school year.

I’m going to make mistakes. I’m overtasked and exhausted by Monday afternoon each week. I don’t have hours to prep a lesson. Sometimes I only have minutes. Apparently I’m expected to be a 100% correct subject matter expert even though I’m given no time to prepare, research, take ongoing courses, etc. The statements on this thread (“A teacher must be held to the highest standard”) stand in direct contrast to the way we are often treated (“teachers have it easy and they are overpaid”).

I’m wondering why we are so disrespected while we’re simultaneously held to impossible standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP this is a true story.

I can still remember in vivid detail when I was in early ES and my dad made fun of one of my teachers because she called a wreath a “reef.” He also made comments about her education and intelligence.

I didn’t have the framework to understand the racism and classism involved, but I knew my dad was looking down on a person I loved and respected in a way that didn’t seem fair.

I still remember this and I’m 40. It honestly still makes me think less of my dad. I love him and forgive him all his flaws, but this episode sticks in my mind. And I am perfectly capable of pronouncing “wreath” correctly.

So maybe there are more important things to think about here than the pronunciation of “library.”

Thanks for sharing that story -- it resonates with me, especially what you wrote about understanding that your dad was looking down on your teacher even though you didn't have the vocabulary to explain why. Kids pick up on these cues...

As another poster said, we need to treat each other with a little grace. And yes, there are more important things to think about than a mispronounced word, whether it's liberry, reef, or nucular.

We just keep lowering and lowering the bar. Yes, the person teaching your kid should be able to pronounce wreath correctly, assuming they don’t have a speech issue. Especially if they’re teaching elementary school children who are learning speaking (sounding out words), pronunciation, etc.

Your dad was not tactful, but he was also not incorrect in his observation. Plenty, if not most, of Black people pronounce their words correctly, btw.

Jesus.

I must be perfect every single day in front of my class if I don’t want to be deemed “uneducated”.

Noted.

Sincerely asking, is it truly that difficult for you not to say it? Some in this thread have posited that if the teacher mispronounces it, that it's no big deal as the parents can correct the child at home, but this is suggesting that once it's ingrained, it's impossible to fix (something that most people consider trivial to pronounce, is something you consider "being perfect" suggesting it takes inordinate focus).

I’m not remotely worried about “lie-berry.” I’m appalled by the several posters on this thread mocking their teachers for ONE mistake during the course of a school year.

I’m going to make mistakes. I’m overtasked and exhausted by Monday afternoon each week. I don’t have hours to prep a lesson. Sometimes I only have minutes. Apparently I’m expected to be a 100% correct subject matter expert even though I’m given no time to prepare, research, take ongoing courses, etc. The statements on this thread (“A teacher must be held to the highest standard”) stand in direct contrast to the way we are often treated (“teachers have it easy and they are overpaid”).

I’m wondering why we are so disrespected while we’re simultaneously held to impossible standards.

Not one mistake! Stop this victim thing, and I am a teacher. You shouldn't support this at all. It's LOTS of "lieberries"- every day. Probably more of this is her language base with several examples, who knows? It's 4th grade, not a cocktail party.
Nobody.goes.to.a lieberry.unless.they.are.seven.years.old.

Enough! Grow up.