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One of my fantasies is to have Antonio Banderas whisper sweet nothings in my ear. "Quiero pollo para la cena," he says in Spanish- smooth, soft and slow. I, dressed in a French maid's uniform, whisper, "How would you like it? Broiled, baked or fried?"

In order to understand the Spanish statement above, one must pay attention to its tone and its context, as well as the sounds in the words. A non-native speaker can be taught the pronunciation of the letters, but it takes a practitioner of a language, or, at least, someone pointing to a picture of a chicken dinner on a menu, to understand what is being said.

Reading is complex- neither sequential nor linear. Learning to pronounce or "sound out" the words we see in print (also known as Phonics) is only one aspect of reading. Can you say "Quiero pollo (key-air-o poy-yo)?" Sure you can. But do you know what it means?

The following terms describe the interactions that take place in the brain while you read. A good reader incorporates all of them to understand the message she is reading.

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. Phonics is the ability to attach the sounds of letters and words to the ones we see in print. An English speaker can stretch the word "chicken" to sound like "ch-i-ck-en" (phonemic awareness). When a reader sees the letters "ch-i-ck-en" together, she can blend their sounds together to make "chicken" (phonics).

Have you heard the Spanish word "pollo" before? If you know how to pronounce the letters you see in print, you can stretch their sounds to say the word- "poy-yo".

Oral Language and Vocabulary
By the time a child attends school she has heard thousands of words and phrases. A young child, even before she can speak, will fetch her shoes when you tell her she is going to the park.

A successful reader draws from her knowledge and experience with language to match what she sees on a page. She can put the sounds of the letters together to make "poy-yo", but if she has never heard it or has no reference for it (an image of chicken does not pop into her head), then she is word-calling, not reading.

Fluency
Reading speed, phrasing and intonation play important roles in reading comprehension. How quickly can a child recognize known words? How quickly can she figure out unknown words? Can she phrase her reading like "talking"? Can she imagine Antonio's smooth voice whispering, "Quiero pollo para la cena?"

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