Toddler misreading 'pet' with full confidence leaves people howling with laughter

When children begin to learn English, their innocent attempts at reading can often lead to hilarious mispronunciations. They try to make sense of a lot of info, which is why they often end up creating fresh interpretations that bring laughter and joy to those around them. It also reminds us how the process of learning can be a fun one. Dee Smith (@daudreasmith) posted her daughter's funny attempt at reading a simple word on TikTok. The video has become quite popular, with 17.3 million views and 17.3K comments on the site.

We see a text overlay at the beginning of the video that reads, "Just when I thought I was about to post about how good she can read." The little girl can be seen holding up her textbook, pointing her finger at the word "Pet." She thinks for a bit before reading out "Hamster Ball" in the slowest possible manner. Smith shares in the caption how her 4-year-old daughter is presently working on blending sounds and how the incident has her laughing quite a bit. She writes, "Now she know she don't seem no hamster ball."

Viewers found the video quite funny and expressed their thoughts about it in the comments section. @...kihara said, "FYI: I have this on a loop and I'm laughing out LOUD every time." @mrswaveman_ pointed out, "The fact that she's making audible thinking noises just to be loud and wrong."

@j.stewards_laboratory shared, "I took my 3-year-old for his checkup, and the doctor asked if he knew his shapes to do the eye test. I said yes; they pointed to a square and he said squirrel." 

In fact, mispronunciation is a problem that adults face as well. Two years back, Tyler Adams, a professional American soccer player, got into a bit of trouble because of a mispronunciation at a press conference. He was accused by an Iranian reporter of not saying the country's name properly but handled the situation calmly and in a very respectful manner. Most people would have lost their cool, but Adams took the high road, as reported by TODAY.

The journalist started by telling him that he was supposed to say "eye-ran" instead of "ee-ron." He then fell under criticism for playing for a country "that has so much discrimination against Black people in its own borders." The situation could have spiraled out of control, considering how his team was going against Iran in the World Cup the next day. He pointed out how discrimination existed everywhere in the world. Adams then said, "One thing that I've learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the US, we're continuing to make progress every single day."

His father was Black, but he grew up in a white family, which exposed him to different cultures, allowing him to assimilate into different cultures as an adult. Adams said that people should be more patient and understand the situation better before making such harsh critiques. He highlighted how education would play a key role and pointed out how the reporter had corrected his pronunciation. Adams continued saying, "So, yeah, it's a process. I think as long as you see progress, that's the most important thing."

You can follow Dee Smith (@daudreasmith) on TikTok for more lifestyle and mom content.